2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID Complaints

I HAVE A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH APPROXIMATELY 34,000 MILES ON IT WITH A HISTORY OF NO ACCIDENTS AND WELL KEPT MAINTENANCE. HOWEVER, THIS MORNING WITH NO NOTICE THE BRAKE ABS INDICATOR LITE UP WITH A WARNING "REGEN BRAKED DISABLE" AND "CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM MESSAGE CENTER" FOR WHICH I DROVE IT DIRECTLY TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP. ONE HOUR LATER AND TWO CODES I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF C-1475 AND C-1312 AND AN ESTIMATE OF $5400 FOR THE REPAIR LEFT ME IN SHOCK. NOT UNDER WARRANTY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND A CAR BARELY USED IN 5 AND A HALF YEARS COULD HAVE SUCH A MAJOR CATASTROPHIC PROBLEM IF IT COULD NOT BE LINKED TO A PROBLEM WITH THE MANUFACTURER? I AM LUCKY I WAS NOT ON THE FREEWAY, AS THE BREAKS BECAME DIFFICULT TO USE ON THE WAY TO THE DEALERSHIP. FORD NEEDS TO OWN UP TO THIS PROBLEM, AS THERE HAVE BEEN MANY COMPLAINTS BEGINNING AS EARLY AS 2005 MODELS. I UNDERSTAND WEAR AND TEAR ON A CAR IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OWNER, HOWEVER, IF IT IS MAINTAINED WELL AND EVEN THE MECHANIC HAS NEVER SEEN THE HCU AND ECU GO OUT AT THE SAME TIME, FORD NEEDS TO OWN UP TO THEIR MISTAKE. *TR

WHILE DRIVING THE CAR I CAME TO A STOP SIGN AND THE STEERING WHEEL STARTED TO VIBRATE AND JERK WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED. THIS CONTINUED FOR THE DRIVE TO WORK, AT EACH STOP THE STEERING WHEEL WAS MOVING. WHEN LEAVING WORK, AFTER STARTING THE CAR, FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING. TURNED OFF THE CAR AND RE-STARTED IT, THE POWER STEERING CAME BACK. SINCE THAT TIME THE PROBLEM HAS BECOME MORE FREQUENT. SOMETIMES I HAVE TO RESTART THE CAR A FEW TIMES BEFORE THE STEERING ACTIVATES. WE JUST DROPPED IT OFF AT A DEALERSHIP FOR INSPECTION, OUR LOCAL GARAGE COULD GET NO HELP FROM FORD ON WHAT WAS REQUIRED FOR THE REPAIR OR WHAT THE COMPUTER CODES MEANT, OTHER THAN THEY WERE RELATED TO THE STEERING COLUMN. SO NOW WE ARE BEING TOLD BY FORD THAT THE REPAIR CAN RANGE FROM $600 TO $1,500.00 TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT THEY ARE NOT SURE WHAT IT IS, AND THAT THEY DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT WAS REPORTED ON THE INTERNET IS THE CAUSE. IF ALL OF THE SYMPTOMS MATCH THE OTHERS LISTED HOW CAN THE PROBLEM BE SOMETHING ELSE? *TR

WHILE TRAVELING AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS (65 -70 MPH) IN THE MIDDLE LANE, MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID HAD A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER WITH A RED TRIANGLE EXCLAMATION MARK INDICATOR LIGHT IN THE DRIVER MESSAGE CENTER READING 'STOP VEHICLE SAFELY', HAD TO COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE WHICH WAS VERY DANGEROUS, THIS SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER INCIDENT ALMOST ENDED IN ME BEING REAR ENDED AND THEN IN A COLLISION AS I TRIED TO CROSS OVER TO THE EMERGENCY LANE. COULD YOU PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS. I WILL BE TAKING MY CAR INTO THE SHOP TOMORROW TO SEE WHAT THEY SAY. I SEE ON THE INTERNET THAT MANY OTHER FORD ESCAPE OWNERS HAVE HAD THIS SAME THING HAPPEN TO THEM. *TR

PULLING AWAY FROM COMPLETE STOP AT STOP SIGN THE ENTIRE CAR SHUT DOWN SUDDENLY LEAVING DRIVER WITHOUT ANY POWER TO PULL TO CURB OR TO SAFELY LEAVE ROADWAY. MESSAGE ON DASH READ "STOP SAFELY NOW". CAR TOTALLY DISABLED. RESTARTED AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES. STAR FORD OF GLENDALE HAD CAR FOR A COMPLETE DAY TO DETERMINE NATURE OF PROBLEM - AT END OF DAY HAD NO REASON FOR COMPLETE AND SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. DRIVER AFRAID TO TAKE CAR ON FREEWAY FOR FEAR CAR WILL LOSE POWER ON FREEWAY AT HIGH SPEED. *TR

STOPPED AT INTERSECTION WAITING TO TURN LEFT. TURNED THE WHEEL LEFT TO MAKE THE TURN WHILE APPLYING THE ACCELERATOR. THE POWER STEERING SUPPORT WENT OUT, MAKING IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN THE VEHICLE. THE WHEEL WAS PARTIALLY TURNED AND WOULD ESSENTIALLY NOT TURN ANY FURTHER. AT THE SAME TIME IT FELT LIKE THE BRAKES WERE NOT AS EFFECTIVE EITHER. AFTER APPROXIMATELY TWO SECONDS, POWER WAS RESTORED TO THE STEERING AND I WAS ABLE TO RECOVER AND COMPLETE THE TURN. THIS HAS HAPPENED THREE TIMES, ALL IN LEFT TURNS FROM A STOP WHILE ATTEMPTING TO BEGIN THE TURN. AFTER THE THIRD TIME I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE FORD DEALER REPLACED COMPONENTS OF THE STEERING COLUMN IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIX THIS, AND SO FAR IT HAS NOT RETURNED.

WE WERE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 80 GOING ABOUT 70 MPH WHEN THE ENGINE SUDDENLY SHUDDERED AND QUIT. A RED TRIANGLE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT IN THE CENTER APPEARED ON THE DASH WITH THE MESSAGE "STOP SAFELY NOW". FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS A SHOULDER AND NO TRAFFIC IN THE RIGHT LANE, SO WE PULLED OFF. WE SHUT THE ENGINE OFF AND RESTARTED IT A FEW MINUTES LATER. WE PROCEEDED, STAYING IN THE RIGHT LANE AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED. THIS OCCURRED 5 TIMES INCLUDING ONCE ON THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY BRIDGE. IN RESEARCHING THIS, I FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH FORD ESCAPE HYBRIDS AND THAT IT IS A FAULTY MOTOR ELECTRONICS COOLANT PUMP. FORD HAS ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM (TSB08-24-5), BUT HAS NOT YET ISSUED A RECALL. SINCE THIS IS A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT COULD LEAD TO INJURY OR DEATH, I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO FORCE FORD TO ISSUE A RECALL. *TR

THE FIRST TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS APPROXIMATELY 5 MONTHS AGO (EST. 132K MILES) WHILE DRIVING IN CITY TRAFFIC, I SWERVED AND BRAKE QUICKLY TO AVOID A ROAD HAZARD (LARGE POTHOLE) ESTIMATED SPEED WAS UNDER 20 MPH. THE POWER STEERING FAILED AND THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO RUN IN ELECTRIC (HYBRID) MODE AND WAS ABLE TO MUSCLE IT OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. RESTARTING THE ENGINE RESOLVED THE ISSUE AND THE CAR HAS BEEN FINE UNTIL TWO WEEKS AGO. THE SECOND TIME WAS IN LATE NOVEMBER, MILEAGE 135K, WAS SLOWLY TURNING INTO A TRAFFIC CIRCLE AT APPROX. 10 MPH, WITHOUT WARNING POWER STEERING FAILED THE SAME AS THE PREVIOUS TIME. I WAS ABLE TO STOP AND RESTART THE CAR WHICH RESTORED THE POWER STEERING. AFTER THE SECOND EXPERIENCE I DID SOME RESEARCH ONLINE AND AM SEEING THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND HAS BEEN REPORTED TO YOUR AGENCY (THREE DIFFERENT WEB SITES WITH MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS). I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A RECALL HAS NOT REQUIRED - SOMEONE WILL GET HURT IF THIS HAPPENS AT HIGHWAY SPEED TO AN INEXPERIENCED DRIVER. I HAVE WORKED AS A PROFESSIONAL MECHANIC AND HAVE A DECENT COMPREHENSION OF VEHICLE SYSTEMS (1974 - 1995), MY COMMENTS ARE BASED ON YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. I HAVE NOT VERIFIED THIS, BUT ONE OF THE WEB POSTS STATES THAT TOYOTA EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUE AND DID A RECALL. HTTP://WWW.ESCAPE-CITY.COM/VIEWTOPIC.PHP?F=38&T=21918&P=316290&HILIT=STEERING+FAILURE#P316290 HTTP://WWW.GREENHYBRID.COM/DISCUSS/F26/LOSS-POWER-LEFT-TURN-29211/ HTTP://WWW.HYBRIDCARS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?100317-POWER-STEERING-FAILURE/PAGE5 I WILL APPRECIATE YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS SO THAT FORD WILL TAKE STEPS TO RECTIFY THIS DANGEROUS CONDITION. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY OTHER SAFETY CONCERNS WITH THIS VEHICLE SINCE WE PURCHASED IT NEW IN 2008. I PLAN TO REPORT THIS TO MY SENATOR, AND STATE OFFICIALS. PLEASE ADVISE THE BEST WAY TO MOVE FORWARD. *TR

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IN MY FORD ESCAPE HYBRID 2008 SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING AT HIGH SPEED (INDICATOR WITH A TRIANGLE SHAPE AND AN ADMIRATION SIGN INSIDE). THE "STOP SAFELY NOW" SIGN WAS DISPLAYED AT THE SAME TIME. I COULD NOT ACCELERATE ANYMORE, THUS LOSING FULL CONTROL OF THE CAR. I PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER, TURNED THE ENGINE OFF AND TURNED ENGINE BACK ON. THE PROBLEM REPEATED FIVE TIMES. I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. WHILE DOING RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET I FOUND THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE RELATED TO THE COOLANT PUMP SYSTEM. FORD, PLEASE RECALL THE MODELS IMPACTED AND FIX THIS ISSUE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE PEOPLE GET KILLED. *TR

ABS LIGHT AND BRAKE LIGHT WENT ON HEARD A BEEP AND HAD NO BRAKES WHAT SO EVER . I EVENTUALLY STOPPED BY ENTERING THE CAR IN TO NEUTRAL AND HITTING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE. TURNED THE CAR OFF AND WHEN I TURNED ON AGAIN IT WENT AWAY, MY MECHANIC SAYS ITS GOING TO COST $1200 MASTER CYLINDER NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. I THINK FORD NEEDS TO RECALL THE PARTS RELATED WITH THIS ISSUE SINCE IT'S SAFETY RELATED. *TR

WHILE EXITING A STATE ROUTE ON A OFF RAMP I WAS APPLYING BRAKES ON A TURN. THE BRAKE LIGHT, ABS LIGHT, CHECK BRAKES WARNING CAME ON AND I LOST ALL OF MY BRAKES. FAULT CODES THAT ARE SETTING ARE U2023,C1526,C1477. FORD IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND TO REPAIR IT YOU MUST REPLACE THE MASTER CYLINDER $850 AND ABS PUMP ASSEMBLY $3500. *TR