2011 Ford Escape Hybrid

THE POWER STEERING FAILED AS I PULLED MY ESCAPE FROM A PARKING SPACE ON A CITY STREET; I COULD GO FORWARD OR BACK BUT ONLY TURN THE STEERING WHEEL WITH GREAT EFFORT. I DROVE HOME WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY, BARELY ABLE TO TURN THE WHEEL FOR THE TURNS I HAD TO MAKE -- IT WAS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. I CHECKED THE NHSTA WEBSITE AND LEARNED THAT FORD HAS ISSUED A RECALL FOR MODEL YEAR 2008-2011 ESCAPES MADE IN THE KANSAS CITY, MO. FACTORY DUE TO POWER STEERING FAILURE AND THAT NHTSA HAS AN OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ISSUE. THE DEALERSHIP MANAGER TOWED IT THE NEXT MORNING AND TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD COST $2100 TO REPLACE THE POWER STEERING COLUMN AND HOUSING. WHEN I ASKED WHY IT WASN'T COVERED UNDER THE THE RECALL WHEN IT MET ALL THE CRITERIA, HE SAID BECAUSE IT'S A HYBRID - THE RECALL ONLY APPLIES TO NON-HYBRIDS. HOWEVER, THE MANAGER SAID HE WOULD TRY TO GET IT COVERED. HE WAS ABLE TO GET FORD TO COVER TWO-THIRDS OF THE COST; I STILL HAD TO PAY $500. THE MANAGER WAS GREAT, FORD WAS NOT. I'M EXTREMELY UPSET BY FORD'S POSITION THAT HYBRIDS AREN'T COVERED UNDER THE RECALL WHEN THE PROBLEM IS EXACTLY THE SAME AND THE CAR MET ALL THE CRITERIA. IT WAS A TERRIBLE WAY TO TREAT A LIFE LONG FORD OWNER. THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN WORSE IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE MANAGER WHO WAS VERY CUSTOMER-ORIENTED.

I BOUGHT MY FORD ESCAPE BECAUSE THEY ARE DEPENDABLE. BUT ON MY WAY TO WORK A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, MY CAR SLIPPED OUT OF CRUISE CONTROL CAUSING ME TO LURCH FORWARD AT 70+ MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. I COULDN'T REENGAGE CRUISE CONTROL AND THE WRENCH ICON WAS LIT ON THE DASH. THE NEXT DAY MY CAR WAS FINE SO I THOUGHT IT WAS A FLUKE. THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN. I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST AN ISSUE WITH CRUISE CONTROL SO I STOPPED USING IT. BUT THAT DIDN'T SOLVE THE ISSUE AND MY CAR WOULD RANDOMLY DOWNSHIFT WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY (THE WRENCH LIGHT COMING ON). WHILE IDLING, MY RPMS WOULD GO UP WITHOUT ME STEPPING ON THE GAS. BECAUSE OF MY BUSY WORK SCHEDULE, I SPENT ALMOST 2 WEEKS NOT KNOWING IF I WAS GOING TO GET STUCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IN 100 DEGREE HEAT EVERY TIME I GOT IN THE CAR. EVENTUALLY IT WAS THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, NOT THE WRENCH LIGHT, THAT CAME ON. I KNEW I HAD TO GET MY CAR IN. I WAS SO UPSET WHEN I LEARNED THAT THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY GETTING STUCK OPEN OR STUCK SHUT WAS AN ISSUE THAT FORD ALREADY KNEW ABOUT. I TAKE MY CAR IN REGULARLY FOR MAINTENANCE AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE EASILY BEEN FIXED BEFORE IT BECAME AN ISSUE. NOW THAT I CANNOT DEPEND ON FORD TO LOOK OUT FOR MY BEST INTEREST ABOVE THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, I WILL BE WIDENING MY SEARCH NEXT TIME I PURCHASE A VEHICLE.

THIS COMPLAINT IS CLOSELY RELATED TO A 2014 RECALL RELATIVE TO ELECTRIC POWER STEERING ASSIST ON FORD ESCAPE AND MERCURY MARINER VEHICLES, HOWEVER FORD STATES MY VIN WAS NOT COVERED UNDER THE RECALL. REF: NHTSA ACTION#DP15001, NHTSA 14V-284, FORD 14S05. PROBLEM: ON A NEARLY-DAILY BASIS, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST (WHICH IS ALL-ELECTRIC ON THIS VEHICLE) "DROPS OUT" BRIEFLY - TYPICALLY FOR 1-3 SECONDS - OFTEN DURING A TURN. THE VEHICLE STEERING HAS A STRONG TENDENCY TO "CENTER" SO FOR A DRIVER WITHOUT UPPER BODY STRENGTH THIS COULD EASILY CAUSE LOSS OF CONTROL. ON TWO OCCASIONS THE POWER STEERING ASSIST HAS STOPPED AND REMAINED INACTIVE AFTER RE-STARTING, WHICH REQUIRED ME TO VISIT A REPAIR SHOP TO HAVE THE SOFTWARE RESET - A 5 MINUTE PROCESS PERFORMED WITH A PROGRAMMED IPAD. FORD'S RECALL CENTER AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP CENTER TOOK THE CASE #, BUT WANT ME TO VISIT A DEALER AND PAY FOR A DIAGNOSIS. ISSUE HAS OCCURRED BOTH TURNING AND NOT TURNING; LOW SPEED AND HIGHWAY SPEED, COLD AND WARM WEATHER.

MY HUSBAND SIMPLY SHUT THE TRUNK OF THE CAR AS WE HAVE A HUNDRED TIMES BEFORE AND THE REAR WINDOW ABRUPTLY SHATTERED. WE WERE PARKED AND STATIONARY. WE'D HAD SNOW IN PORTLAND THE DAY BEFORE BUT THE IDEA THAT THE WINDOW COULDN'T WITHSTAND THAT TEMPERATURE IS RIDICULOUS. I'VE READ ONLINE THAT AN NHTSA INVESTIGATION WAS LAUNCHED IN 2011 INTO THESE KINDS OF EVENTS BUT I DO HOPE THAT SOMETHING IS DONE SOON, ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS COULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS: WE ARE THANKFUL THAT OUR TWO DAUGHTERS WERE STANDING CLEAR OF THE CAR WHEN IT HAPPENED.

WHILE DRIVING EASTBOUND ON I70 THROUGH KANSAS, MY 2011 ESCAPE HYBRID LOST POWER TO THE DRIVE TRAIN. WITHOUT WARNING, THE ENGINE STARTED RACING AS IF IT HAD SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL. WHILE COASTING, I PUT THE CAR INTO NEUTRAL AND THEN BACK TO DRIVE. IT CONTINUED TO BE UNRESPONSIVE TO MY STEPPING ON THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. I COASTED TO A STOP ON THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY. I DID NOT NOTICE ANY INDICATOR WARNING AT THE TIME, ALTHOUGH IN SUBSEQUENT SIMILAR EVENTS, THE STOP SAFELY HAZARD WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. I TURNED THE IGNITION OFF AND RESTARTED. THE CAR SHOWED NO SIGN OF ANY PROBLEM. I PUT THE CAR IN GEAR AND DROVE ON WITHOUT FURTHER TROUBLE. THE DEALER FOUND NO PROBLEM WITH THE CAR AND SUGGESTED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS SOMEHOW A RANDOM OCCURRENCE THAT WAS UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN AGAIN. AS I DISCOVERED, IT HAPPENED OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT ONLY ON LONG TRIPS, AND THE SERVICE PEOPLE COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. MOST RECENTLY THE CAR FAILED AS DESCRIBED NO LESS THAN 16 TIMES ON A 1300 MILE TRIP THIS SUMMER.

I DROVE AWAY FROM MY HOME AND FOR THE FIRST TWO BLOCKS FELT THAT THE CAR WAS ACTING SLUGGISH AND NOT ACCELERATING PROPERLY; I WAS HAVING TROUBLE GETTING OVER 15 MPH. I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR AND THE CAR SLOWLY ACCELERATED TO AROUND 25 MPH. THE WRENCH WARNING LIGHT ALSO CAME ON. I PULLED OVER, STOPPED AND STARTED IT AGAIN, BUT AGAIN THE ACCELERATION WAS VERY SLOW. I THEN TURNED AROUND HEADED FOR HOME, VERY AFRAID THAT IT WOULD SIMPLY ROLL TO A STOP. OVER A DISTANCE OF 10 BLOCKS, WITH THE ACCELERATOR PRESSED TO THE FLOOR THE ENTIRE TIME, I ONLY MANAGED TO GET TO 25 MPH AND THAT TOOK MANY MINUTES. I ONLY HAVE 71,000 MILES ON THE CAR, AND THERE WERE NO ISSUES AT ALL BEFORE THIS, NOT EVEN WHEN WE DROVE EARLIER ON THE SAME DAY.