2018 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the "Parking Brake - Fault Service Now" message illuminated and remained illuminated. The contact stopped driving the vehicle out of fear of causing brake damage or engine damage. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

Like thousands of other customers, my engine needs to be fully replaced at only 30K miles due to coolant leaking into the engine. I am fortunate to have purchased a bumper to bumper warranry for over $4K, but this is FORD'S issue and THEY should be replacing the engines at no cost to their customers. It's terrible they are able to get away with screwing over people who still are paying off their loans without a car that runs. There should be a class action lawsuit filed, period. After my engine is replaced, I will be selling this crappy, unreliable car because I don't trust it won't happen again and after my 6 year, 60K warranty expires. I purchased it used from a BMW dealership that was a trade in and only put on 6K miles in 2 years. I've driven foreign cars that have been reliable with no costly repairs well over 100K miles. This is criminal!!!

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge began to indicate that the engine was overheating, after which the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that coolant intrusion had damaged the engine, requiring an engine replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 64,000.

The car was stalling while driving and coming to a complete stop while accelerating. No warning lights were on. I called an independent mechanic shop and they came out to diagnose the issue. They informed that the powertrain light was now on and that car would not go into first gear. I called the Ford Service Center to schedule a service appointment and I was informed that the car had a recall notice. I took the car in for the recall service and was informed that they completed the service for the recall but that the car was having the same issue.

Engine failed due to timing chain, a common issue for these motors & part of the reason they discontinued this models engine. The car was running when the engine failed. The vehicle is currently at a mechanic, with diagnosis of engine failure due to timing chain. The car has not been looked at by police, manufacturer, insurance or other. There were NO indications of the problem prior to the engine failing.

On 02/28/2024, I was driving on the freeway taking my child to school. going about 65mph and the RPM gauge started to swing left to right. My car started to slow down. I was able to pull over to the side of the freeway safely. As I pulled over the car came to an abrupt stop and the screen flashed "Transmission Failure". I called my insurance, and they informed me that it was not an insurance issue and to check to see if any recalls were on my car. I checked and it stated that there was a recall regarding my transmission parts. I had the car towed to the closest dealership. At the dealership they stated that I had a Certified Preowned and my warranty covered the cost for the service. I was informed that a rental car would be covered for 5 days at $38 a day. I was also informed that it would take them until 03/07/24 to breakdown the car and transmission to locate the exact issue that needed to be fixed. I received a call on 03/08/24 stating that the issue was the transmission and approval would need to be obtained from Ford to either replace the transmission or fix the parts. Ford authorized the replacement transmission on 03/12/24. I was then informed that the new transmission would be delivered by 03/21/24. On 03/25/24, I called the dealership since no call was made to me and was informed that the transmission being shipped was unable to be located. I called Ford corporation and filed a complaint due to lack of communication and prolonging my rental car usage. On 03/26/24, I spoke with the manager of the dealership and was informed that the transmission was not lost but was on backorder. He stated that he would need to find parts to rebuild the transmission at this point. He also stated that he would need to get approval from Ford to outsource the parts needed to rebuild the transmission. He stated that it would be another 2 weeks before my car may be fixed and given back to me. I now have to continue with my rental usage and the current total is $2000 and rising.

Went out to start the car one morning. It started up no problems. About 2 mins after starting it the car completely stopped running. No check engine light came on or anything. I thought it was the battery so I replaced the battery. Upon further digging I found out there was a recall in the engine from 2022 that I was NOT notified of. I took the vehicle to two different dealerships one that is just up the block from my house and the second one is where I bought the car. Both places confirmed that it was Infact the recall problem, where the coolant leaks into the engine and destroys the engine block. The second dealership reached out to ford. Ford has refused to help fix the engine even though I was never sent or made aware of the recall on the engine.. I have also talked to a third ford dealerships who confirmed that there has been several vehicles with this same problem that does will NOT fix either. As a result I have a vehicle I CANNOT drive that I have to continue to pay for and ford is only offering me $5,000 as a trade in value but I owe $20,000. Had I been notified of the recall I would have been able to get it fixed BEFORE anything happened. I would have a in perfect condition car that was still usable. It is now financially hurting me. Ford should be held financially responsible for the gross negligence they are putting me through.