2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

I HAVE EXPERIENCED AN UNUSUAL PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKING SYSTEM IN MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. I HAVE EXPERIENCED SEVERAL EPISODES WHILE BRAKING OF THE YELLOW ABS AND THE RED BRAKE WARNING LAMP LIGHTING UP AND THE DISPLAY SAYING "REGEN BRAKES DISABLED" OVER THE PAST YEAR. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE BRAKES ARE SLOW TO STOP THE CAR WITH A JERKING ACTION. ALL OF MY FAILURES HAVE HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING IN TOWN. ONCE I ENDED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION BEFORE THE CAR CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE ONLY WAY I COULD CORRECT THE ISSUE WOULD BE TO STOP THE CAR, DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL HARD TO THE FLOOR,THEN SHUT OFF THE VEHICLE. I WOULD THEN RESTART MY CAR AND THE BRAKES WOULD THEN RETURN TO NORMAL OPERATION. I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE ON LINE AND HAVE FOUND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE POSTING COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE. ALL COMPLAINTS ARE FROM OWNERS OF FEH'S 2005 TO 2008. WHY HASN'T THIS LIFE SAFETY ISSUE BEEN ADDRESSED? FROM WHAT I HAVE READ, THE REPAIR COULD BE FROM $3000 TO $7000 DOLLARS. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE HASN'T BEEN A RECALL. OR HAS THERE BEEN. PLEASE ADVISE. DL

86,000 MILAGE. ABS SEVICE LIGHT ON FOR COUPLE MONTHS. PAST 2 DAYS REGEN BRAKES DISABLED MESSAGE ON, AND RED BRAKE WARNING LIGHT ON, BRAKES A LITTLE STIFF IN OPERATION THUS FAR. APPARENTLY THIS IS A FREQUENT PROBLEM, AND $5000 TO FIX. CAN I RELY ON THE MECHANICAL BACKUP BRAKING? EVEN IF SO I AM NOW NOT CHARGING MY HV BATTERY, SO WILL BE JUST CARRYING AROUND A HEAVY LOAD, WITH NO BENEFIT TO THE CO2 ENVIRONMENT. WHEN WILL FORD BE REQUIRED TO RECAL & REMEDY THIS?

THE ABS BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING LIGHTS COME ON SERVICE BRAKES NOW IN MESSAGE CENTER MY WIFE DRIVES THE VEHICLE WITH MY CHILDREN AND AT TIMES THE BRAKE PEDAL GOES TO THE FLOOR VEHICLE DOESN'T STOP WHEN THIS OCCURS THIS IS A ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THE FORD ESCAPE HYBRID SINCE 2005 I THINK THESE ABS HCU SHOULD BE A RECALL DUE TO THE DANGER AND THE COST TO REPAIR THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE OF DEFECTIVE BRAKE PARTS. *TT THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE WAS REPLACED. *TR

ON AUGUST 4, 2016, THE "CHECK ABS" LIGHT CAME ON. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO THE MECHANIC AND THEY SAID THE ROTOR IS RUSTED SO THEY REPLACED THE RIGHT AND LEFT FRONT ROTOR AND THE RIGHT FRONT BRAKE DISC PAD. THE MECHANIC WAS UNABLE TO GET ANY OF THE WARNING SIGNS TO APPEAR SO HE THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS OKAY. TWO WEEKS LATER, THE "CHECK ABS" LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN, AND ABOUT 10 MINUTES AFTER THAT THE "REGEN BRAKES DISABLED" LIGHT CAME ON. THIS WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY SO THERE WASN'T MUCH I COULD DO. I NOTICED THAT EVERY TIME I BRAKED, THE CAR FELT LIKE IT WAS WOBBLING FROM SIDE TO SIDE. I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE SAME MECHANIC THE NEXT MORNING, AND HE SPENT TWO DAYS RUNNING TESTS ON THE DIAGNOSTICS AND SAW TWO CODES: 1) RIGHT FRONT WHEEL AND 2) COMMUNICATIONS INSIDE MODULE. THE MECHANIC BLED THE BRAKES AND TRIED TO TEST DRIVE THE VEHICLE AND ALMOST RAN INTO CARS IN THE PARKING LOT DUE TO BRAKE FAILURE. THUS HE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT I HAVE THE CAR TOWED. FINALLY, I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP SINCE HE SAID IT IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. THE DEALERSHIP CONFIRMED THAT THE ABS CONTROL MODULE/HYDRAULIC CONTROL UNIT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED, WHICH THEY ARE QUOTING AT $4600. I AM THANKFUL THAT I MADE IT TO THE MECHANIC AND REALIZED THERE WAS A PROBLEM BEFORE GETTING INTO A CRASH. THIS HAPPENED VERY RAPIDLY AND I WAS IN SOME SERIOUS DANGER. I GOT LUCKY, AND OTHERS MAY BE LESS FORTUNATE THAN ME. I HAVE READ NUMEROUS STORIES ON CAR FORUMS AND THIS THREAD AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THERE HASN'T BEEN A RECALL ON THIS YET. I THINK THERE SHOULD BE AN INVESTIGATION AND I AM WILLING TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION AND SHARE MY STORY TO BRING ATTENTION TO THIS ISSUE, AND HOPEFULLY PREVENT SOMEONE ELSE FROM GETTING HURT.

LAST WEEK I WENT OUTSIDE AND GOT IN MY CAR TO RUN SOME ERRANDS AND WHEN I STARTED THE CAR THE RED BRAKE LIGHT, ORANGE ABS LIGHT, AND THE CHIMER STATING "REGENERATIVE BRAKE DISENGAGED" "CHECK BRAKES" BEGAN TO LIGHT. THE BRAKES ARE WORKING (KNOCK ON WOOD) BUT ARE TRICKY TO OPERATE. THIS MORNING I TOOK THE CAR TO THE MECHANIC AND THEY STATED IT WAS MOST LIKELY IN NEED OF A NEW HCU COSTING AROUND $5,000 (I AM GOING TO GET THE VEHICLE CHECKED ONE MORE TIME BEFORE PARKING IT FOR GOOD). AS I READ THE COMPLAINTS ON NHTSA'S WEB SITE, IT APPEARS FOLKS AT NHTSA ARE FULLY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THIS SAFETY HAZARD (AS EACH PAGE IS FILED WITH SAME, IF NOT WORSE, COMPLAINTS) AND ARE NOT GOING TO ACT UNTIL SOMEONE GETS KILLED. IT IS ALSO BLATANTLY OBVIOUS THAT FORD IS NOT GOING TO ACT EITHER. THE 2008 ESCAPE HYBRID HAS BEEN A GREAT VEHICLE, UNTIL NOW (132,000 MILES). THE PRICE TO FIX THIS ISSUE IS SLIGHTLY LESS THAN WHAT THE CAR IS WORTH AND COMPARED TO ALL OTHER BRANDS MADE IT VERY FEW MILES. NOW IT IS TIME TO TURN MY OUTRAGE REGARDING THIS ISSUE OVER TO MY STATE REPRESENTATIVES. I CANNOT BELIEVE THEIR ARE NO CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED (IT IS A MATTER OF TIME, IF NOT ALREADY THE CASE). THIS ISSUE SHOULD WARRANT A RECALL, THEY ARE BRAKES FOR GOD'S SAKE. *TT *BF *TR

WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND AFTER APPLYING THE BRAKES. THE ABS WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, PLUS THE INFORMATION DISPLAY INDICATED "CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM" AND "REGEN BRAKE DISABLED". I WAS STILL ABLE TO BRAKE, BUT NEEDED TO APPLY MORE PRESSURE TO STOP AND THERE WAS A NEW NOISE WHEN I DEPRESSED THE BRAKES. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO MY LOCAL FORD DEALER, THE SERVICE ASSOCIATE TOOK IT FOR A TEST DRIVE AND NOTICED THE NOISE AND NEED FOR EXTRA PRESSURE ON THE BRAKES. AFTER THE TECHNICIAN HAD CHECKED THE VEHICLE THEY INDICATED THAT I NEEDED A NEW HCU UNIT AND THE ESTIMATED COST WAS $5,200+ *TT *TR

ONE MORNING, NO PRIOR WARNING, OR ISSUES WITH BRAKES OR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS WHAT SO EVER, I START TO DRIVE TO WORK AND AFTER TURNING OUT OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD ONTO A MAJOR STREET MY BRAKE LIGHTS LIGHT UP AND AT THE NEXT STOP SIGN MY BRAKES DON'T WORK! I PRESSED ALL THE WAY DOWN AND ENDED UP USING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE NOT TO GO THROUGH THE STOP SIGN. SOMEONE COULD HAVE DIED FOR SURE, AND IT WAS A HEART STOPPING SCARE! I PULLED OVER AND WALKED BACK HOME. LOOKED UP ONLINE AND FOUND MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS VEHICLES BRAKES SUDDENLY GOING OUT AND THAT IT IS A $5K FIX!! I HAD THE ESCAPE TOWED BACK TO MY HOUSE. THE NEXT MORNING I WANTED TO TRY A FEW THINGS TO ELIMINATE CERTAIN PROBLEMS I FOUND ONLINE. NOW, THE KEYLESS ENTRY DOESN'T WORK, I MANUALLY OPEN THE DOOR, STICK THE KEY IN, NO LIGHTS, NO SOUND, NOTHING. I TURN THE KEY AND AGAIN ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. WE HOOK UP CABLES AND IT STARTS RIGHT AWAY AND EVERYTHING WORKS. NO BRAKE WARNING LIGHTS SO I TRY A SLOW DRIVE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, BRAKE LIGHTS GO ON AFTER ABOUT 1/2 A MILE AND THE BRAKES ARE VERY SOFT, HAVE TO DEPRESS TO THE FLOOR JUST TO SLOW DOWN FROM 15 MPH. I CALLED FORD AND THEY SAID JUST BRING IT IN FOR DIAGNOSIS, FOR $200/HR MINIMUM 2 HOURS JUST TO TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT!! NO THANK YOU, $400 TO TELL ME IT'S A $5K PROBLEM WHEN THE CAR'S WORTH MAYBE $6K PRIVATE PARTY! SO I NOW HAVE A WORTHLESS HYBRID SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY. DO NOT BUY A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID!!! READ ALL THE COMPLAINTS MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE - FORD HAS NOT RECALLED!! *TR

ABS LIGHT, REGEN LIGHT CHECK, BRAKE LIGHT AND EMERGENCY BRAKE LIGHTS CAME ON AND BRAKES FAILED AND WORKED IN DEGRADED MODE. BROUGHT TO DEALER, THEY ADVISED RECALIBRATION AND INTERNAL BLEED PROCEDURE, ABS MODULE REFLASH AND CALIBRATION, WHICH WAS PERFORMED AT A COST OF $221.49 ADVISED IF CODE RETURNS , HCU REPLACEMENT WILL BE NEEDED AT $5400.!!!! OUTRAGEOUS, THE CAR WAS BOUGHT NEW AND MAINTAINED METICULOUSLY. CAR NOW HAS 79,397 AND WE ARE DEATHLY AFRAID TO DRIVE IT AS THE BRAKES MAY FAIL. WHEN THE BRAKES FAILED THE CAR WAS RESTARTED ON THE PEAKING LOT AFTER BEING STOPPED FOR 15 MINUTES