Brake warning lights came on again. They have not come on for 2 days, and they are back on. Had car serviced a week earlier. Ford said they can't find anything wrong with brakes, but they "suspect" master cylinder possibly. Internet search yields disturbing information about other Ford Escape hybrid owners having similar issues. Lights seem to occur more on days where temperature is higher.

- Martinez, CA, USA

I was just about to get onto the freeway on-ramp, when I noticed that the car felt funny. I looked at the dashboard and saw that the ABS light and the brake system warning lights. The display read, "check brakes soon" I called a friend for assistance. He added some brake fluid and suggested I bring it to be serviced. I drove home. I called the dealership in the morning and made an appointment to drop the car off as soon as possible. When I started the car in the morning, the lights were off, but I dropped it off at the dealership anyway. The service provider, [xxx], said they couldn't find anything wrong, but they "thought" that it was the master cylinder. They said the brakes looked fine, and if I had any more problems to call back. I left the dealership. Drove around the corner to get onto the freeway and the lights came on again. (5:35pm). I stopped as soon as I could get off the freeway and called [xxx] back. He said to bring the car back in the morning and he would look at it again. I brought the car back in the morning 7:15am. The lights were off again. I picked the car up at 5:15 pm and [xxx] re-iterated his previous suggestions. I drove the car home, and the lights came back on as I was exiting the free-way. Again, the brakes took more pressure to stop. I called don and asked if there was a payment plan available. He said no. I asked if I replace the master cylinder and the problems persists, what would our next step be? he said essentially that we would address that if that should happen, but that typically one problem may co-exist with another problem, so until they address the first problem, they may not be aware of the 2nd problem. I also sent an E-mail to the Ford company this afternoon. I asked if Ford has taken any action against the numerous amount of complaints with similar situations as are posted on the internet regarding this issue. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Martinez, CA, USA

Driving along, my wife suddenly noticed that braking was extremely difficult. Dashboard states ABS system failure, and regen system failure. She pulled over and turned car off. Restarting, failure lights still come up, braking still extremely difficult. A look under the hood, and the brake fluid is almost completely gone! it'd been filled at last oil change (less than 1500 miles ago) took car to Ford dealership. After 2 days, they determined that the master cylinder and hcu needed to be replaced, that they would be special order parts and that it'd cost extra $ for repairs due to the complexity of the repair. (I'd told the dealership that I'd researched and this is a very common issue, Ford has many tsbs out for this, calls into question the training or the ability of this dealership to properly do the repair) Ford is the only supplier for parts for this particular repair, and they charge a premium price for them! $7000 for parts and labor to repair a safety related problem that Ford should be voluntarily recalling. If they're not going to issue a safety recall, they should at least make the parts available for a lot less money! consumer traded the vehicle in July 2014 to mark miller Toyota in salt lake city, ut. Updated 6/8/18

- Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Approximately one week ago when driving I applied the brakes and had very little effectiveness during a stop in slow speed traffic. Instinctively I kept pressing the pedal down harder with no improvement. Did not hit anything but was shaken up. I blew it off thinking I braked too late. On 1/26/2013 while driving on the highway during low speed traffic again same incident occurred. Traffic was heavy and we were rolling about 15 mph. Brakes did not respond effectively, caught my attention and pushed very hard. Plenty of room in front though to somewhat coast-brake to a stop. Less then 30 seconds later, traffic still stop and go, with plenty of room to brake I pushed on brake pedal with no braking. Pushed the pedal as hard as possible- nothing- and coasted into the rear end of car in front of me. Low speed impact with minor damage to car in front. Front bumper, grill and radiator damage to my car. Thankful it was not during high speed driving. Did some research on internet to find it has been happening in the hybrid vehicles with the "hydraulic control unit" sometimes not functioning. Taking car to dealers to drop it off for collision estimate and have them look into braking system. Approximate cost repair according to other reports about this problem is $4,000.I feel very unsure about driving this vehicle again once it is fixed and if problem can be identified. And if Ford can not find the problem where do I go with it? numerous complaints from owners in reports I read last night where Ford could not find problem only to have it happen to owner again. I am now in that same boat.

- Boyertown, PA, USA

My wife left work yesterday and when she started our 2008 Ford Escape hybrid fwd the ABS light and check brake lights were on. During her short drive home the regenerative braking system disabled warning came across the info display. Braking felt funny so we took it to be serviced and were slapped with an estimate of $4700 to replace they hydraulic control unit. The vehicle only has 69,000 miles on it and we find it absurd that we should be making a $4700 repair in that time frame with that many miles. After doing a quick google search it seems that this has occurred in multiple Ford Escape hybrids since 2005 and in most 2008 models with the same amount of miles. We are going to make the repair, but we will never buy another Ford in our lives. This seems like a problem that is apparent for 2005 and newer Ford Escape hybrids. Do something Ford. And if you're thinking about buying this vehicle, don't.

- Sun City, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. The contact was driving 35 mph and attempted to brake when vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle was taken to dealer however the exact failure was unknown. There were several repairs made to vehicle but the specific details were unavailable. The repairs did not remedy the failure permanently. The dealer advised the contact to declare the vehicle as a lemon the fifth time that the failure recurred. The failure ceased for two years before recurring. The manufacturer was made aware of the recurring failure however no further assistance was provided. The VIN was unavailable. The current mileage was 64,000. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Coconut Creek, FL, USA

I was on a road trip with a passenger in my vehicle. We stopped in barstow, ca for lunch. While pulling into a parking space, my vehicle suddenly accelerated jumping the parking block and the curb. I was able to stop the vehicle from going into the building but not before hitting some newspaper vending machines. The front bumper sustained minor damage. I have been driving for many years and have never experienced anything like this. Both my passenger and myself were pretty shook up afterwards. The person sitting in the car next to us who witnessed this event said that there was an older man standing right where we jumped the curb a few moments earlier. Fortunately, he had left or this incident would have been much worse.

- Englewood, CO, USA

This is my second submission. This morning while driving to work the ABS light came on along with a "check brake system" message and "regen brakes disabled". in the past when this happened I still had brakes but had to mash them down to get the vehicle to stop. This morning I was unable to stop the vehicle. My vehicle then went off the road and into a drainage ditch. The vehicle needed to by lynched out and towed to the dealership. I am thankful that I was only going about 30mph and ended up in a ditch rather than a busy intersection. This is a serious issue and I don't ever want to drive that vehicle again. I have 2 small children who I am thankful were not with me.

- Midland, TX, USA

The ABS system has been getting disabled intermittently and the check break light has been coming on. Breaks have not been working properly resulting in my vehicle going to far into an intersection when trying to stop at stoplights. Thankfully no accidents have occur yet. Took it to a dealership and they told me I needed a new master cylinder. Another place did a diagnostic on it and told me that the master cylinder is fine and the alarms are being set off because the battery ports were corroded. They cleaned them, cleared the codes. A few days later the alarms were coming back on again.

- Fort Worth, TX, USA