2009 Ford Escape Hybrid

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING AT A LOW SPEED AND ATTEMPTING TO PARK WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL DEPRESSED, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED INDEPENDENTLY. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO THE FRONT OF ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 95,000.

I WAS DRIVING LOW SPEEDS IN A PARKING LOT AND CRASHED DUE TO A POWER STEERING FAILURE. I WAS TRYING TO TURN 90 DEGREES BUT IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL EVEN WITH BOTH ARMS. I HAD A LOW-SPEED CRASH THAT WRECKED MY FRONT END. I CHECKED WITH FORD DEALER BUT THEY STATED THE POWER STEERING RECALL DID NOT APPLY TO MY FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. I'M DISAPPOINTED THAT THE SAME FAULTY STEERING SYSTEM IN MY HYBRID IS NOT COVERED.

ON MARCH 9, 2016, OUR 2009 ESCAPE HYBRID COMPLETELY "STOPPED" IN TRAFFIC ON BOULDER HIGHWAY, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA WHICH OCCURRED ABOUT 1 MILE FROM A CARWASH THAT WE HAVE FREQUENTLY USED NO LESS THAN 15 TIMES ANNUALLY. OUR VEHICLE HAD COMPLETELY STOPPED IN TRAFFIC 5 TIMES WITHIN A 1 MILE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE INITIAL STOP ON BOULDER HIGHWAY TO OUR RV PARK. AT THE INITIAL STOP IN TRAFFIC MY WIFE AND I HAD TO PUSH OUR VEHICLE INTO A GAS STATION BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESTART. EACH TIME THE VEHICLE STOPPED THE RED MASTER VEHICLE ELECTRICAL HAZARD WARNING LIGHT HAD COME ON AND THE DIGITAL PANEL SHOWED THE MESSAGE "STOP SAFELY". THE MASTER VEHICLE ELECTRICAL HAZARD WARNING LIGHT "INDICATES HYBRID COMPONENT FAULT/FAILURE THAT WILL CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO SHUTDOWN OR FAIL TO START". THE VEHICLE DID BOTH. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO FORD COUNTRY IN HENDERSON, NEVADA. A DIAGNOSTIC TEST WAS PERFORMED, HOWEVER, THE COMPUTER RESULTS SHOWED AN ABS AND TRANSMISSION ISSUE, BUT NO HYBRID PROBLEM. THE ABS AND TRANSMISSION ERROR CODES EVENTUALLY CLEARED THEMSELVES. THE FORD TECHNICIANS STATED THAT SINCE THE UNDERCARRIAGE HAD BEEN WASHED, AS ALWAYS, AN ELECTRICAL SENSOR HAD PROBABLY CREATED THE FAILURE. I QUESTIONED THE IDEA THAT CAR WASHING COULD CREATE THE PROBLEM SINCE THE ONLY OPENING TO THE HYBRID BATTERY IS THE VENT LOCATED ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE NEAR THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THE MASTER VEHICLE ELECTRICAL HAZARD WARNING LIGHT FAILURE RESULTED IN THE COMPLETE SHUTDOWN OF OUR VEHICLE IN TRAFFIC AND IS WORRISOME SINCE OUR EXPERIENCE COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A MAJOR ACCIDENT WITH POSSIBLE FATAL CONSEQUENCES. IF A REGULAR CARWASH IS THE DIAGNOSIS FOR THE WARNING OF A "HYBRID COMPONENT FAILURE", WHICH COMPLETELY SHUTS DOWN THE ENGINE IN TRAFFIC, THERE MAY BE A VEHICLE DESIGN ISSUE. AND, THE FACT THAT THE ESCAPE'S COMPUTER FAILED TO STORE THE ERROR CODE IS ALSO ALARMING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND THE STOP SAFELY NOW WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. AFTER TWO MINUTES, THE VEHICLE RESTARTED NORMALLY. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE FAILURE OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY SIX TIMES IN FOUR MONTHS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 26,000.

TODAY MY WRENCH INDICATOR CAME ON AND THEN ROUGHLY 8-10 MINUTES LATER MY VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST SPEED WHILE TRAVELLING AT ROUGHLY 55-60 MPH IN THE FAST LANE, IT DROPPED DOWN TO ~40 MHP NO MATTER HOW MUCH I PRESSED THE GAS. I HAD TO CAUTIOUSLY GET OVER INTO THE SLOW LANE AND LUCKILY MY EXIT WAS CLOSE. AFTER THE EXIT THERE WAS A RED LIGHT WHERE I STOPPED AND RESTARTED, THEN IT SEEMED FINE. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT WITH THE ACCELERATOR MALFUNCTIONING, IN THE PAST YEAR OR MORE I HAVE HAD 5-6 INSTANCES WHERE I START MY CAR FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AND WHILE IN PARK OR REVERSE THE ENGINE REVS REALLY HIGH LIKE IT'S STUCK, AT 2K-2.5K RPMS. IT EITHER STOPS DOING THAT ON ITS OWN OR I RESTART THE CAR AND IT STOPS AND SEEMS FINE. IN THE PAST YEAR I HAVE HAD 4-5 INSTANCES WHERE I WAS DRIVING AT LOW SPEED SOON AFTER STARTING MY CAR IN THE MORNING AND IT WOULD NOT ACCELERATE PROPERLY FOR SEVERAL SECONDS, THEN FINALLY IT WOULD. I HAD ONE INSTANCE PERHAPS 3 MONTHS AGO WHERE I WAS DRIVING ON CITY STREETS AT 25-30 MPH WHEN IT WENT INTO "LIMP" MODE AND WOULD ONLY TRAVEL AT PERHAPS 15 MPH NO MATTER HOW MUCH I ACCELERATED, I PULLED OVER AND RESTARTED THE CAR AND IT SEEMED FINE AFTER THAT. THIS SEEMS TO BE AN OBVIOUS PRODUCT DEFECT SIMILAR OR THE SAME AS THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03 THAT I HAVE BEEN READING ABOUT. I CALLED FORD AND THEY TOLD ME THAT MY CAR WAS NOT PART OF THE CSP, AS HYBRID MODELS WERE NOT INCLUDED, WHICH MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE SINCE I AM HAVING PRECISELY THE SAME PROBLEMS THAT WERE THE SUBJECT OF THE CSP AND PRESUMABLY THE EXACT SAME THROTTLE BODY PARTS WERE USED ON MY CAR AS NON-HYBRID MODELS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THE STEERING FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS COASTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THE STEERING POWER RESUMED. THE FAILURE RECURRED A COUPLE OF TIMES. THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 110,000. THE VIN WAS NOT PROVIDED.

WHEN DRIVING AT ALL SPEEDS, BUT MORE SO AT SLOWER "CITY" SPEEDS, THE POWER STEERING HAS FAILED AND CONTROL CAN ONLY BE MAINTAINED VIA MANUAL STEERING WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AND MANEUVER. THIS VEHICLE HAD BEEN "REPROGRAMMED" WITHOUT ANY REPORTED SYMPTOMS IN 2014 AND HAS NOW EXPERIENCED THESE ISSUES APPROXIMATELY 10K MILES LATER. THIS REPROGRAMMING WAS DONE THROUGH A PREVIOUS RECALL PROGRAM THAT DID NOT HAVE AN ADEQUATE REPAIR TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

IN 2013, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, WHILE DRIVING, THE CAR LOST POWER COMPLETELY UNDER ACCELERATION, WHILE GOING UPHILL ON CITY STREETS. I HAD TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE, TURN THE CAR OFF, WAIT AND TRY TO START THE CAR AGAIN. AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS THE CAR TURNED ON AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE NORMALLY. AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT, THE ENGINE INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON. AT THE DEALERSHIP, THEY INFORMED ME THE THROTTLE BODY ACCENTUATOR WAS FAULTY, NOT UNDER WARRANTY ( CAR 3 YEARS OLD AT TIME) BECAUSE IT WAS REALLY AN ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION. THE WAS REPLACED IN 2013. NOW AGAIN IN 2016, ENGINE LIGHT ON AGAIN...SAME DIAGNOSIS. PART REPLACED AGAIN, NOT UNDER WARRANTY. DEALERSHIP SAYS IT HAS NO INDICATIONS THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM IN THE FORD ESCAPE HYBRIDS. ENGINE LIGHT STILL ON...YET TO BE RESOLVED.