2006 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID Complaints

2006 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID - INTERMITTENT POWER BRAKE BOOST FAILURE. WHEN BEGINNING TO PRESS ON BRAKES FOR AN INSTANT THEY FEEL NORMAL AND POWER ASSISTED, THEN THE PEDAL FALLS AND ALL POWER ASSIST IS GONE. THE VEHICLE STOPS WITH GREAT PRESSURE IN THE LAST FEW INCHES OF PEDAL TRAVEL. 3 OCCURRENCES: AS OF OCTOBER 4, 2010 1. MAY 2010 AT THE END OF A FREEWAY OFF RAMP AT APPROXIMATELY 160,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE 2. 24 SEPTEMBER , 2010 ( APPROXIMATELY 180,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE) SAME BRAKE PROBLEM OCCURRED AFTER A STOP OF OVER 30 MINUTES, AND WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS BACKED UP, FIRST BRAKE PRESSING RESULTED IN AN INSTANT OF PEDAL , THEN PEDAL SNAPPING TO THE FLOOR AND CAR STOPPING AFTER APPLICATION OF MANUAL PRESSURE. DASH INDICATOR LIGHTS CAME ON A FEW SECONDS LATER. 3. ONE WEEK TO THE DAY LATER, 1 OCTOBER, 2010 AT APPROXIMATELY 188,500 MILES. FIRST BRAKE APPLICATION AFTER A START OF THE VEHICLE AND BACKING UP. PRESSING BRAKES RESULTED IN THE FAILURE DESCRIBED. APPROXIMATELY 30 OR 40 SECONDS AFTER THE LOSS OF BRAKE BOOST THE DASHBOARD LIT UP WITH "BRAKES" RED LIGHT AND OTHERSLIKE THE 'SERVICE SOON' WRENCH. I AM THE PURCHASER OF THE CAR NEW IN THE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AREA, AND THE PRIMARY ( OVER 90% OF THE TIME) DRIVER, COVERING OVER 110 MILES 4 DAYS A WEEK. *TR

2006 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID, RIGHT AFTER THE WARNING "STOP SAFELY NOW", THE CAR SHUT DOWN RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, AND IT HAPPENED THREE TIMES ON MY WAY HOME. AFTER WEB RESEARCH, IT IS QUITE COMMON FOR THE FORD ESCAPE HYBRID CARS. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS SINCE THERE IS NO TIME FOR YOU TO STOP SAFELY BEFORE THE CAR SHUT DOWN, NOT EVEN A 5 OR 10 SECONDS. THE DEALER CHECK IT OUT, IT WAS A WATER PUMP FAILURE CAUSED THIS, CALLED FORD, BUT FORD DENIED ANY ASSISTANCE. THE REPAIR COSTS MORE THAN $600.00. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND IT IS NEED TO BE FIXED. WHO IS GOING TO DRIVE A CAR WHICH WILL SHUT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WITHOUT ANY TIME TO RESPOND TO? *TR

DRIVING MY FORD ESCAPE HYBRID ON I 5 WA STATE. WARNING LITE CAME ON THAT SAID STOP SAFELY NOW AND MY ENGINE HAD STOPPED. I WAS IN THE LEFT LANE ON THE HIGHWAY AND HAD TO UNSAFELY MANEUVER 4 LANES TO THE RIGHT WITHOUT THE ENGINE ON.. I READ MY MANUAL AND IT SAID TO TRY AND START, WHICH IT DID. 3 MILES LATER IT DID IT AGAIN. THIS WENT ON FOR 4 OR 5 MORE TIMES. I GOT OFF THE HIGHWAY AND LIMPED TO A FORD DEALER. THEY REPAIRED IT, IT AS A HYBRID COMPONENT COOLING PUMP. IT COST ME $726.00. THEY WOULDN'T COVER IT. I VIEW THIS AS A SEVERE SAFETY PROBLEM. *TR

A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, I TOOK MY ESCAPE HYBRID TO HAVE THE BRAKES CHECKED OUT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THEY CHECKED IT OUT AND SAID EVERYTHING WAS FINE AND I WAS ON MY WAY A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER. THEN YESTERDAY, MY ABS AND BRAKE LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND THEN CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM CAME ON. AFTER THIS OCCURRED, MY BRAKES GO OUT AND THEN I MUST COME TO A ROLLING STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WHILE TRYING TO AVOID HITTING ANYONE. IT OCCURRED 6 TIMES AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS (20MPH & 70MPH) I THEN RETURNED IT TO THE DEALERSHIP YESTERDAY AND ASKED THEM TO LOOK OVER IT. TODAY, I AM TOLD THAT I NEED A NEW ABS SYSTEM INSTALLED WITH THE HYDRAULIC/ELECTRIC CONTROL UNITS TOTALLY $7,400. OF COURSE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THIS. I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE ONLINE AND HAVE NOTICED SEVERAL POSTING REGARDING A SIMILAR ISSUE HOWEVER STILL NO RECALL. I WOULD ASSUME A FACTORY DEFECT REGARDING THE BRAKES WOULD BE SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH FOR A RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED. *TR

I WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 40 MILES PER HOUR, APPROACHING A RED LIGHT AND BUSY INTERSECTION. I APPLIED BRAKES (VIA PEDAL) AS USUAL, BUT HAD NO BRAKING POWER / CORRESPONDING SLOWDOWN. I HAD TO JAM MY FOOT TO THE FLOOR AND COVER THE EMERGENCY BRAKE IN CASE I NEEDED IT, AND THANKFULLY I WAS THE FIRST CAR AT THE LIGHT SO THERE WAS NO ACCIDENT. THE REST OF THE DRIVE, IT TOOK AT LEAST 5 TIMES LONGER/MORE DISTANCE TO SLOW THE VEHICLE TO A STOP THAN NORMAL AND AT THE SAME MOMENT I LOST BRAKING POWER, A CHIME SOUNDED & BOTH THE ABS AND BRAKE(S) LIGHT ON THE DASH LIT UP; MESSAGE CENTER READ "SERVICE BRAKES SOON". I JUST HAD THE VEH IN FOR ITS 40K MILE SERVICE 2 DAYS AGO & IT HAD NOTHING WRONG WITH IT--BRAKES WERE ALL LISTED AS TOP CONDITION. NOW I'M ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE, UNSURE WHEN THIS CONDITION WILL RECUR (THE LIGHTS RESET & AND I CHECKED TODAY--THE BRAKES ARE WORKING AGAIN, FOR NOW.) WHEN THE CONDITION OCCURS, BRAKING IS AN ODD SLOW PULSING, LIKE A SLOWED DOWN VERSION OF AN EMERGENCY ABS STOP ("PUMPING THE BRAKES" FEELING.) I'VE NEVER HAD BRAKE PROBLEMS UNTIL THIS INCIDENT. WHEN I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTED IT, THE ABS & BRAKE LIGHTS CLEARED AND, FOR NOW AT LEAST, THE BRAKES *SEEM* TO BE WORKING BUT I CAN'T CHANCE IT. GETTING IT TOWED FOR SERVICE. *TR

RED BRAKE LIGHT AND SERVICE BRAKE SYSTEM LIGHT A CONSTANT PROBLEM THAT HAS NOT BEEN FIXED. I HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM SINCE MAY 2010 AND IT IS NOW AUGUST 2010 AND IT IS STILL NOT FIXED. WE OWN A 2006 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. WE HAVE HAD NEW BRAKES, A NEW WIRE HARNESS, SOME OTHER TIP REPLACED, AND A SENSOR REPLACED. WE HAVE EVEN HAD A FORD ENGINEER LOOK AT IT. I HAVE BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE I HAVE TWO SMALL CHILDREN. THE VEHICLENLY HAS 58,000 MILES AND I BELIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM IS THE ABS MODULE. BUT THE ABS MODULE SHOULD NOT BE GOING OUT AT 58,000 MILES. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN VERY FRUSTRATING. *TR

I WAS DRIVING IN TOWN, DOING NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY WHEN THE VEHICLE SUFFERED COMPLETE ABS BRAKE SYSTEM FAILURE. I AM NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE IT. *TR

BRAKING SYSTEM DEFECTS IN FORD ESCAPE HYBRID 2006. THE BRAKES FAIL, MULTIPLE TRIPS TO THE DEALERSHIP HAVE NOT RESOLVED THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM HAS GOTTEN WORSE. *TR

WHILE TEST DRIVING MY 2006 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AT THE BILL WALSH DEALERSHIP IN OTTOWA, IL FEB 2009, SALESMAN [XXX]TOLD ME THAT THE INTERMITTENT HIGH PITCHED NOISE FROM THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT WAS NORMAL. WHEN I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR SERVICE NOV. 2009 AT THE TOM WOOD FORD DEALERSHIP IN CARMEL, IN, I WAS TOLD THAT THE SOUND WAS DUE TO A FAILED BATTERY DOOR ACTUATOR. I WAS TOLD THAT FAILURE TO REPLACE THIS PART COULD RESULT IN THE BATTERY OVERHEATING, AND POSSIBLE EXPLOSION OF THE HYBRID BATTERY. I PAID TO HAVE THE PART REPLACED, AND IT BROKE AGAIN MAY 2010. AFTER DOING RESEARCH, I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

CATASTROPHIC BRAKE FAILURE CAUSING PROPERTY DAMAGE AND DAMAGE TO CAR. WE HAVE TAKEN OUR VEHICLE TO A FORD DEALERSHIP TWICE IN PAST YEAR TO FIND OUT WHY OUR BRAKES "CATCH" CAUSING A MOMENTARY LOSS OF BRAKING. THEY TOLD US BOTH TIMES THAT THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY PROBLEM AND SENT US OUT WITHOUT AN ANSWER OR FIX. THEN YESTERDAY WHAT WE FEARED FINALLY HAPPENED; DURING BRAKING THE BRAKE PEDAL SUDDENLY WENT TO THE FLOOR AND THE BRAKES FAILED CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO PLOW INTO A GARAGE DOOR. THE CAR IS BACK AT THE DEALERSHIP NOW AND EVEN DURING DROP-OFF THEY TOLD US THAT THIS COULDN'T HAPPEN AND THAT WE WERE MISTAKEN. *TR