2008 FORD ESCAPE Complaints

I BOUGHT MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE ON JANUARY 15 2013 AT 67,000 MILES IT HAS 78,000 MILES AND IS DOING WHAT SO MANY OTHER COMPLAINTS SAID ARE DOING. WHEN I GO TO TURN LEFT ESPECIALLY MAKES A LOUD BANG CLICK NOISE IN THE STEERING WHEEL/COLUMN. I DO HAVE A WARRANTY BUT OTHERS DON'T. THERE IS OVER 500 COMPLAINTS ON THIS ISSUE ON SAFE CAR.GOV. PLEASE DONT LET A DEATH BE A DECIDING FACTOR FOR A RECALL TO BE ISSUED AND TO SAVE A COUPLE BUCKS. EVIDENTLY THERE IS A PROBLEM. LIKE I SAID HAD MY CAR FOR ONE YEAR. *TR

THE VEHICLE'S STEERING BEGAN TO SHUTTER. THEN THE POWER STEERING SUDDENLY GAVE OUT. I WAS BARELY ABLE TO MAKE TURNS TO THE RIGHT TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY. THE CONDITION GOES AWAY AFTER STOPPING AND RESTARTING BUT LESS THAN A MINUTE AFTER RESTARTING, THE CONDITION RETURNS. I HAVE YET TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THE VEHICLE IN FOR REPAIR OF THIS ISSUE. THIS IS DANGEROUS. *TR

AFTER MAKING A LEFT TURN AND BRAKING AT A STOP SIGN, I EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER STEERING. *TR

WHEN I WOULD COME TO A STOP OR EVEN START TO SLOW DOWN AND START TO GO AGAIN MY CAR (TRANSMISSION) WOULD JUMP, REV UP TO 4/5 RPMS AND STALL IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC, I WOULD TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS AS SOON AS IT WOULD DO THIS AND IT WOULD DO THE SAME THING WITHOUT ME EVEN ON THE GAS, ALWAYS TWICE MEANWHILE AGAIN STALLING IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. MY (WRENCH) LIGHT ALSO CAME ON WHICH SHOWED POWERTRAIN/CONTROL THROTTLE. AFTER TAKING IT TO A FORD DEALERSHIP THEY ARE QUOTING ME $3500 TO FIX THE PROBLEM OH AND DID I MENTION MY WARRANTY ENDED A MONTH IN A HALF AGO! I KNOW I HAVE SEEN MANY OTHERS THIS IS HAPPENING TO AND SINCERELY BELIEVE FORD IS NOT STANDING BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT OR WANTING TO ADMIT THERE IS A PROBLEM. *TR

JUST AS MANY OF THE OTHER COMPLAINTS LOGGED ON THIS SITE ABOUT THE 2008 FORD ESCAPE MY ISSUES STARTED WITH A RATTLING OF THE STEERING WHEEL WHEN I WAS IDLING OR BREAKING. THEN A FEW DAYS LATER I TURNED MY CAR ON AND MY POWER STEERING WASN'T WORKING. I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTED IT WHICH RESULTED IN THE STEERING WORKING AGAIN. THIS HAPPENED A FEW TIMES FOR ABOUT A WEEK. I WAS STARTING TO THINK MAYBE THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AN I SHOULD GET IT CHECKED OUT. THE NEXT TIME I DROVE IT MY POWER STEERING COMPLETELY FAILED WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON ICE. I AM VERY GLAD I WAS BEING CAUTIOUS AND GOING SLOW. IF I HAD BEEN GOING FASTER I COULD HAVE HAD A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT. NOW I'VE READ ENDLESS COMPLAINTS ON LINE ABOUT THIS SAME PROBLEM AND AM HEARING IT COULD COST 1-2,000 TO FIX! PLEASE RECALL THIS BEFORE IT BECOMES FATAL! *TR

ON DEC 27 2013 WE WERE DRIVING ESCAPE . WHEN TRYING GO AROUND CURVE FORD LOST ALL POWER STEERING WHICH CAUSED US TO ALMOST HIT WALL. MY HUSBAND DROVE TO SIDE ROAD. SHUT IT OFF . WAITED FEW MINUTES STARTED IT POWER STEERING WAS BACK. TOOK IT TO GARAGE WAS TOLD POWER STEERING SENSOR WAS GOING OUT . WAS TOLD IT BE 1123.00 COST. IT HAPPENED AGAIN ON JANUARY 3RD 2014. WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND THAT FORD KNOWS ITS NOT WORKING RIGHT. NEED A RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT OR KILLED. OUR ESCAPE IS NOT ONLY ONE DOING IT. THE ONES WITH ELECTRIC POWER STEERING ARE FAILING. I'M SCARED DRIVE IT MUCH. *TR

MY DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING THIS CAR AND THE STEERING WENT OUT, IE: STEERING WHEEL HARD TO TURN.SHE WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND SHUT THE CAR OFF. WHEN SHE RE-STARTED, THE STEERING WAS FINE. THIS HAPPENED TO ME SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE IN THE EXACT SAME MANNER. LUCKILY, NEITHER OF US WAS GOING TERRIBLY FAST BUT THIS COULD HAPPEN ANYTIME AND AT ANY SPEED. THIS VEHICLE NEEDS RECALLED, AS I SEE MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE. I CANNOT ALLOW MY DAUGHTER TO DRIVE THIS CAR IN THIS CONDITION.TAKING IT TO MECHANIC FOR CHECK TODAY, BUT THEY TOLD ME ON THE PHONE THAT THIS IS VERY COMMON. I BOUGHT THIS CAR NEW IN 2008, AND HAVE BEEN VERY DILIGENT IN MY MAINTENANCE. THIS REPAIR COULD EXCEED $2000! THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE CORRECTED BY THE MANUFACTURER AS A DEFECT! *TR

POWER STEERING WENT OUT, THEN RESET ITSELF. HAS GONE OUT AGAIN, AND HAS NOT RESET. WENT OUT WHEN HIGHWAY DRIVING. SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. I HAVE READ NUMEROUS REPORTS ON THIS YEAR MAKE AND MODEL HAVING THE SAME ISSUES. FORD NEEDS TO RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED. *TR

MY WIFE ENCOUNTERED A STEERING FAILURE ON OUR VEHICLE YESTERDAY. UPON REVIEW BY MY MECHANIC HE REPORTED A FAILURE OF CODE B2278 AND THE REPORTED FIX IS THE REPLACEMENT BY FORD OF THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN. HE ALSO SUGGESTED I LOOK ONLINE BECAUSE THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AMONG THE MID-2000'S FORD ESCAPE HYBRIDS. THERE ARE DOZENS OF WEBPAGES, EACH WITH DOZENS OF ENTRIES SUCH AS THIS PAGE ( HTTP://WWW.ABOUTAUTOMOBILE.COM/COMPLAINT/2008/FORD/ESCAPE+HYBRID/STEERING ) DETAILING STEERING COLUMN FAILURES WITH NEAR TRAGIC RESULTS. A CLEAR PATTERN OF STEERING FAILURE IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE NHTSA'S EYES AS EVIDENCED IN THIS EMAIL. I AM IMPLORING YOU TO ACT. IT IS BAD ENOUGH THAT THE COLUMN COSTS $2,000 TO REPLACE. DOES MY SON HAVE TO DIE BEFORE THE AGENCY TAKES ACTION? PLEASE TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS AVAILABLE TO THE AGENCY TO ENSURE THE REASONABLE SAFETY OF FORD ESCAPE DRIVERS. I WILL BE HAPPY TO DIRECT YOU TO THE OTHER FORUMS OR ASSIST IN ANY MANNER THE AGENCY REQUESTS. TAKE CARE. *TR

STEERING WHEEL BEGAN TO SHAKE OR SHIMMY WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED AND IDLING. TURNED VEHICLE OFF AND BACK ON... THE BEGAN TO DRIVE, POWER STEERING WAS OUT COMPLETELY. THE VEHICLE WOULD STEER - BUT WAS VERY HARD TO CONTROL. PULLED OVER SHUT VEHICLE OFF, POWER STEERING RESUMED, BUT STEERING WHEEL WAS SHAKING AGAIN AT IDLE. VERY DANGEROUS IF IT WERE TO HAPPEN AT AN SPEED. MY DAUGHTER WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE, I AM VERY STRONG AND IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO CONTROL. THIS SHOULD BE RECALLED - AS SO FAR I SEE 190+ COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE, AND MANY OTHERS ON DIFFERENT SITES, WHILE TRYING TO FIND A DIAGNOSIS FOR THE PROBLEM. FORD SHOULD ADDRESS THIS IMMEDIATELY. *TR