2009 Ford Escape Hybrid

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.

WHILE DRIVING, THE 2009 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID SLOWED SUDDENLY AND WHILE I STILL HAD POWER, I WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE. I WAS ON A BUSY ROAD AND THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO TO GET MY VEHICLE TO "GO". THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT CAME ON AND WE WERE ABLE TO ENTER A NEIGHBORHOOD AND PULL OVER. WE TURNED OFF THE CAR AND LOOKED THROUGH THE MANUAL BUT COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING. THE CAR STARTED UP AGAIN AND SEEMED TO DRIVE NORMAL BUT WITH THE "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" ILLUMINATED. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. UPON INVESTIGATION, IT APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE AND WHILE THEY REFUSED TO ISSUE A RECALL, FORD HAS ISSUED A "CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM" TO EXTEND THE WARRANTY ON THAT PARTICULAR PART - WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE HYBRID MODEL. THIS PROBLEM IS THE EXACT ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE OTHER ESCAPES AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE HYBRID IS EXCLUDED FROM THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. THAT WAS NOT ONLY TERRIFYING BUT DANGEROUS.

ON WED, JUN 3, 2015 - I WAS DRIVING, ENGINE CUT OUT AND WOULD NOT LET ME GO OVER 35-40, WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON, I PULLED OVER, STOPPED, TURNED IGNITION OFF, WAITED A MINUTE, TURNED BACK ON, WRENCH LIGHT STAYED OUT. ON FRI, JUN 5, 2015 - I CALLED THE LOCAL FORD DEALER FOR AN APPOINTMENT, GOT ONE FOR MON, JUNE 8, 2015. AS I STARTED DRIVING, THE SAME THING HAPPENED EXCEPT AFTER I STARTED THE CAR AND BEGAN DRIVING AGAIN THE WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON AND THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER. MON, JUN 8, 2015 - WAS CALLED AND INFORMED THE THROTTLE BODY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, AND THAT IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE CONSUMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03. WAS TOLD IT ONLY APPLIES TO GAS MODELS NOT HYBRIDS. I WILL BE CONTACTING FORD TO FILE A FORMAL COMPLAINT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING AT 70 MPH, THE VEHICLE LOST POWER. THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, BUT THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACCELERATE. THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE OR REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 110,000.

DRIVING ON 26E IN CHARLESTON, SC, I SUDDENLY LOST POWER AND WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE NOR MAINTAIN SPEED. I PULLED OVER AND TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF AND IN DOING SO, A GRINDING SOUND CAME FROM THE ENGINE. I RESTARTED THE ENGINE AND BEGAN OPERATING NORMALLY FOR SEVERAL MINUTES AND BEGAN TO NOTICE THE RPM'S WOULD INCREASE AND DECREASE WITHOUT ADJUSTING PRESSURE ON THE PEDAL. AT THIS POINT I NOTICED I HAD LIMITED ABILITY TO ACCELERATE AND VERY SLUGGISH. THIS ISSUE CONTINUED TO HAPPEN SPORADICALLY OVER THEN NEXT 2 WEEKS UNTIL 9/12 WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS PRACTICALLY UNABLE TO BE SAFELY OPERATED DUE TO THE LACK OF POWER. I TOOK IT TO AN AUTO PART STORE AND THE DIAGNOSTIC INDICATED TROUBLE CODE P2112 "THROTTLE BODY STUCK CLOSED". I TOOK TO A FORD DEALER TO REPAIR THE OPEN RECALL FOR ELECTRIC POWER STEERING AND ASKED FOR AN ESTIMATE FOR THE THROTTLE BODY. CAR IS CURRENTLY IN MY DRIVEWAY AWAITING ME TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT TO GET REPAIRED ON MY DOLLAR... DOESN'T SOUND LIKE I AM THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS ISSUE. *TR

STOPPED AT RED LIGHT WHEN CAR BEGIN TO RUN EXTREMELY ROUGH, SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND WHEN LIGHT TURNED GREEN IT WOULD ONLY ACCELERATE UP TO 20 MILES PER HOUR. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP THIS MORNING (08/14/2014) AND IT IS THE THROTTLE BODY ISSUE LISTED IN DP12006 FOR FORD ESCAPE VEHICLES. THE REASON FOR THIS CASE IS FORD MOTOR COMPANY / RANDALL REED FORD WANTS TO EXCLUDE A 2009 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID FROM THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03 AND HAVE ME PAY FOR THE REPAIR. YOUR HELP IN GETTING THIS RESOLVED IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. *TR

DRIVING 65MPH ON INTERSTATE, YELLOW WRENCH LIGHT APPEARED ON DASH, VEHICLE LOST POWER DURING RUSH HOUR. FORCED TO CROSS THREE LANES OF 65MPH TRAFFIC GOING 5-10MPH (LIMITED BY VEHICLE'S COMPUTER NO MATTER HOW FAR I PUSHED THE GAS PEDAL.) AFTER SHUTTING CAR IGNITION OFF AND RESTARTING, WRENCH LIGHT STILL ON. SHUTOFF IGNITION AGAIN, REMOVED KEY, OPENED DOOR (INTO TRAFFIC) TO COMPLETELY SHUTOFF ELECTRONICS, RADIO, DRIVING LIGHTS, ETC. RESTARTED VEHICLE AND WRENCH LIGHT WAS NOW OFF. PROCEEDED TO DRIVE WITH THE VEHICLE SURGING FASTER/SLOWER AS I DROVE. A DIAGNOSTIC CODE DTC P2112 WAS RETRIEVED INDICATING "THROTTLE ACTUATOR CONTROL SYSTEM - STUCK CLOSED" WHICH IS COVERED UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY BY FORD CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03 IN RESPONSE TO NHTSA?S OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) ACTION NUMBER : DP12006. WHEN I CONTACTED FORD ABOUT THIS THEY RESPONDED THAT MY PARTICULAR VIN WAS NOT COVERED. THE FORD CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03 EXTENDS THE WARRANTY FOR THE THROTTLE BODY TO 10YEARS 150,000 MILES. MY ESCAPE HYBRID IS 5 YEARS OLD WITH 86,XXX MILES BUT THEY SAY IT IS NOT COVERED. WHY? I HAVE THE DEFECTIVE PART NUMBER THROTTLE BODY 9LE-BC INSTALLED IN MY VEHICLE SINCE NEW, WHICH HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED BY PART NUMBER FORD OEM # DS7Z-9E926-D AND, WHICH FORD IS INSTALLING UNDER THIS PROGRAM TO REPLACE MY DEFECTIVE PART. WHY AM I BEING DENIED WARRANTY REPLACEMENT WHEN I MEET ALL OF THE CRITERIA THEY HAVE LISTED? DURING A CALL TO FORD 1-800-392-3673 ON 6_23_2014 I WAS TOLD THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW WHY MY PARTICULAR VIN VEHICLE IS NOT COVERED EVEN THOUGH I MEET THE CRITERIA FOR THE REPLACEMENT, HOWEVER THEY CAN POSITIVELY CONFIRM THAT IT IS NOT COVERED. I WAS FURTHER TOLD THAT I CAN BRING THE VEHICLE TO A DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSIS, BUT THERE WILL BE A DIAGNOSTIC FEE I WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY EVEN IF I DO NOT AUTHORIZE ANY OF THE REPAIRS THAT MAY BE NEEDED. *TR