2023 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine and the front driver’s side tire. In addition, the instrument panel was occasionally turned off independently. Additionally, during rainy weather driving the brakes were making abnormal sounds. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were occasionally illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer on several occasions and was diagnosed; however, the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer, Mullinax Ford of Kissimmee (1810 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy, Kissimmee, FL 34744); for a second opinion; however, the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was also taken to a third local dealer, Tropical Ford (9900 S Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL 32837); but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that an unknown material might have intruded into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

I was driving home to Aspen, CO from Denver. I was about 44 miles from my home, on the other side of an 11,000 ft mountain pass. As I was passing another vehicle, the car died. The dashboard light said "engine coolant over temperature". The car died as I was pulling back into the right lane. The person behind me swerved around me. I had to have the car towed to a dealer that is 2 1/2 hours from my home. It's been sitting at the Ford Dealership in Salida, CO for 9 days. They keep telling me they will get it in to diagnose the problem but every day it's the same story and they do nothing. After doing online research, that make, model and year vehicle engine issue has been reported by many owners. There was no warning about this issue. It simply died while driving on the highway.

I've had this thing less than 6 months, I've already had the engine rebuilt with 34 parts a month and a half in and the drivers side rear door handle replaced during this time because it would not open from the outside and only the inside despite being unlocked. All of this occurred at the beginning of May 2024 and it sat for 3 months due to the engine being basically rebuilt with most parts being on backorder. Today the same door is having the same issue, only this time the same exact door won't open neither from the inside or outside, which is a huge safety hazard in my eyes if I got into an accident and had passengers in the backseat. I do have video proof of this too.

Within a block of my wife pulling out of our apartment complex onto a 55mph highway to travel to work in the morning, the vehicle had several lights on the cluster illuminate and indicated that it was overheating and went into limp mode. She was able to move to the shoulder and call me. The amount of traffic on this highway and the speed in which she lost power made this a very unsafe event. The check engine light had come on and the vehicle indicated maximum engine temperature, service engine soon light illuminated as well as powertrain fault. The vehicle was towed to the selling Ford Dealer and the condition was confirmed and the vehicle still indicated high temp even after sitting overnight. It was diagnosed from a service bulletin as having a faulty head that had manufacturing debris in it which was released into the coolant system and blocked the coolant temperature sensor. Warranty covered parts have been ordered with some being on Backorder. The vehicle is still in the shop awaiting parts and we have been provided a loaner. We have only owned the vehicle three months and 1500 miles when this occurred. Ford declined a buyback request on the vehicle and offered no remedy except warranty repair.

On 1/29/24, I drove around town to run errands and on my second stop, I tried starting the car and it would not start, but it went into "accessory mode". I received SEVERAL warnings: Pedestrian Sounder, Memory Recall Failure, Front Collision Sensors, Tractions Control, Check Engine Light, etc. It also stated it would sound an alarm if we tried turning it on again. I sat there for 10 mins and tried turning it on after getting in and out of the car, looking underneath to see if oil or gas was leaking, which nothing was leaking. I kept trying to start the vehicle with no success, still getting the warnings. My spouse arrived after 15 mins and when she opened the hood and wiggled some cables around, we were able to start the car up and it was like it went through a factory reset as the memory for the driver seat went really close to the steering wheel. We called roadside assistance thinking we need to get this towed to a dealership but cancelled it after seeing it would start and my spouse driving it around the grocery parking lot carefully. When we got it to the dealership, it wasn't having those issues and they couldn't do much for it. On 2/10/24, the check engine light came on. We took it to the dealership on 2/12/24 and they told us the PCM malfunctioned. They did a software update on the PCM, which the dealership said has fixed the problem for now. Just worried this is going to happen again and will happen when I'm in a place where maybe my spouse can't come or we are traveling long distance. Prior to this incident, the dash (MPH, Gas level, Oil level, Engine Temp) of the vehicle, which is entirely digital, flickers like there is a short in the wiring somewhere. It doesn't happen every time we drive it, just sometimes (maybe 35% of the time). This was happening shortly after purchasing the vehicle in July 2023. I have a feeling that something relating to the electrical components, battery, chip/software/firmware in the Ford Escape needs to be replaced entirely.

Engine does not start or crank. It is available for inspection upon request. Pregnant wife and child were left stranded in the cold until I could pick them up. Problem has occurred on three separate occasions: 6/29/23 - No DTCs generated, Ford dealership did not do any work 9/22/23 - No DTCs again, but Ford dealership replaced a module and cleared other codes 1/29/24 - No DTCs. Dealership cleared other codes and informed of Ford SSM 52179 2023 Escape/Corsair - Intermittent No Crank/No Start Condition With Various Lost Communication DTCs Stored In Various Modules And Multiple Illuminated Warning Indicators Displayed In The IPC - Built On Or Before 07-Sep-2023. Dealership explained other customers have had complaints and Ford has no solution and is telling dealerships to return the vehicles to customers. Vehicle has not been inspected by any other party, including manufacturer, other than the dealership. There are messages for "Service AdvanceTrac" and "Park brake limited function, Service required" in the instrument panel each of the three occurrences.