2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID Complaints

I WAS DRIVING MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AROUND 70 MPH ON A TOLL ROAD WHEN THERE WAS A SUDDEN BEEP AND A "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE CAME UP ON THE SCREEN. THE POWER TO THE ENGINE CUT OUT AND I HAD TO COAST TO A SHOULDER SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS AHEAD OF ME. THE CAR REDUCE IT'S SPEED; I WAS ABLE TO BREAK BUT I WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE. IT SOUNDED LIKE THE ENGINE HAD COMPLETELY SHUT OFF. I WAS ABLE TO RE-START THE CAR AFTER BEING TOWED OFF THE FREEWAY AND WAS ABLE TO KEEP DRIVING THE CAR AS LONG AS I KEPT ME SPEED UNDER ~60MPH. THIS WAS A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE AND AFTER SEEING HOW WELL DOCUMENTED THE PROBLEM IS I CAN'T WAIT TO TRADE IN FOR A DIFFERENT BRAND. THIS WILL BE MY LAST FORD. *TR

1. I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT 71-73MPH WHEN A RED TRIANGLE WITH AN EXCLAMATION MARK APPEARD, MY ENGINE SHUT OFF, AND A "STOP VEHICLE SAFELY" MESSAGE CAME ACROSS THE DASH. THIS HAPPENED 3 TIMES IN ONE HOUR. EACH TIME, THE ENGINE SHUT OFF, AND I HAD TO PULL OVER. THE CAR WOULD START BACK UP PERFECTLY. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR TO A SHOP BY KEEPING IT UNDER 60MPH ON THE FREEWAY. 3. THE SHOP SAYS I NEED A MOTOR ELECTRONICS COOLING PUMP AND A PCM REPROGRAMMING. *TT

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 60 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE STALLED WITH THE STOP SAFELY NOW WARNING MESSAGE DISPLAYED. THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED WITHOUT ANY HESITATION. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY A DEALER AND THEY ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THE WATER PUMP HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 80,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED THAT REAR CENTER SEAT BELT FAILED TO FUNCTION PROPERLY. WHILE DRIVING AND MAKING A SHARP TURN THE SEAT BELT RESPONDED AS IT SHOULD BY LOCKING UP, BUT IT NEVER RELEASED OR BECAME LOOSE. THE DRIVER HAD TO FORCEFULLY PULL THE SEAT BELT IN ORDER TO REMOVE THE PASSENGER OUT OF IT. THE SEAT BELT WAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED BY A DEALER NOR WAS IT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 48,500.

I WAS DRIVING MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID ON THE HIGH WAY AND IT STALLED 3 TIMES AT HIGH SPEEDS. "STOP SAFELY NOW" CAME ON DASH. I DID TONS OF RESEARCH AND THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THE MOTOR OVER HEATING. FORD HAD BACKORDERS UP TO NEARLY 900 COOLANT PUMPS LAST YEAR. THIS IS VERY SCARY BECAUSE YOU JUST LOSE POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF HE HIGHWAY. TOYOTA JUST RECALLED THEIRS, WHY HAS FORD NOT BEEN ON THIS. IT IS ALL OVER THE INTERNET. I AM BRINGING MY CAR IN TO THE DEALERSHIP WITH PRINTED RESEARCH AND A LETTER OF CONCERN. I AM BLOWN AWAY THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE WITH THE STALLING AT HIGH SPEEDS AND FORD HAS DONE NOTHING. THIS IS VERY CONCERNING. *TR

2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID, APPROX 65K MILES. DROVE APPROX 10 MILES ON EXPRESSWAY WHEN SUDDENLY VEHICLE LOSSES ENGINE POWER, RED TRIANGLE WITH EXCLAMATION POINT, AND MESSAGE "STOP SAFETY NOW." COASTED WITHOUT POWER TO PULL OVER ONTO SHOULDER. ANOTHER MESSAGE READ "ELECTRIC MOTOR TEMP HIGH." I TURNED OFF VEHICLE WAITED 2 MINUTES, TURNED ON VEHICLE AND DROVE APPROX 1/4 MILE AND AGAIN VEHICLE LOSSES POWER WITH SAME STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE. THIS OCCURRED 9 TIMES WHILE ON THE WAY HOME, AND ONCE ON THE JR EXPRESS WHICH IS 2 LANE SO I STOPPED ALL TRAFFIC. VERY DANGEROUS. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE AND HASSETT FORD SERVICE, NY TELLS ME THEY CAN NOT DO ANYTHING. CALLED FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND THEY WILL NOT DO ANYTHING. ARE THEY WAITING UNTIL THERE IS A DEATH AS A RESULT OF ENGINE POWER LOSS ON A 65 MPH EXPRESSWAY TO OFFER A REPAIR? NO ONE FROM FORD WILL OFFER A REPAIR. A PROPER INVESTIGATION IS NECESSARY AND A RECALL TO REPAIR THIS PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY BEFORE A SERIOUS CRASH FIRE OR DEATH OCCURS. *TR

I OWN A 2008 ESCAPE HYBRID. ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS MY ESCAPE'S ENGINE STALLS/SHUTS DOWN AT SPEEDS OVER 40 MPH. THE RED TRIANGLE ON THE RIGHT OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS UP AND THE DISPLAY READS 'PULL OVER SAFELY NOW'. I CAN IMMEDIATELY START THE CAR AGAIN AND GO, BUT IT WILL ONLY TRAVEL 1-2 MILES BEFORE STALLING/SHUTTING DOWN AGAIN. TYPICALLY, IF I WAIT 3-5 MINUTES I CAN GO AND HAVE NO MORE ISSUES FOR A WEEK OR A MONTH (IT WENT ONE TIME 9 MONTHS BEFORE IT HAPPENED AGAIN). THERE IS NO RHYME OR REASON FOR THIS; IT HAS HAPPENED IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER AND 40 DEGREE WEATHER, RAIN OR SHINE. LAST NIGHT DRIVING HOME ON THE INTERSTATE, IT SHUT DOWN EVERY 1.6 TO 5.4 MILES ON MY 42 MILE COMMUTE HOME. I LET IT SIT FOR OVER 10 MINUTES AND IT STILL SHUT DOWN. I DROVE IT TO WORK THIS MORNING, NO TROUBLES. I HAVE HAD IT IN THE SHOP MULTIPLE TIMES AND THEY REPLACED THE BATTERY SAID THE WATER PUMP AND NOTHING HAS WORKED. I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE NEW AND THIS PROBLEM STARTED APPROXIMATELY 23K MILES IN. FORD IS TELLING ME THEY REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING IT, BUT DON'T HAVE PROBLEM TAKING MY MONEY TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT. I AM AFRAID THIS IS GOING TO LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT AS MOST OF THE TIME WE ARE ON THE INTERSTATE TRAVELING OVER 65 MPH WITH TRACTOR TRAILERS NEXT TO US. I HAVE READ NUMEROUS BLOGS WITH OTHER ESCAPE HYBRID OWNERS HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE. *TR

I OWN 2008 MODEL OF FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. ON THE INCIDENT DAY, THE CONTROLS AND BATTERY FAILED SUDDENLY WITHOUT PRIOR INDICATIONS OR WARNING SIGNS. SIGNAL LIGHTS AND DOOR LOCKS FAILED TO OPERATE. IN THAT CONDITION I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A NEAREST FORD DEALER ON THE DAY. SINCE TWO WEEKS, THE PROBLEMS HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED. I'VE BEEN TOLD OF COMPUTER AND CONTROL MALFUNCTIONS, AND THAT PARTS ARE BEING REPLACED ONE AT A TIME EVERY 2 OR 3 DAYS. I FEAR EVEN AFTER THE VEHICLE GETS FIXED THAT SIMILAR FAILURES MAY OCCUR, AND THERE MAY BE RISKS TO DRIVE ON HIGHWAYS IN FUTURE . *TR

2008 FORD ESCAPE HEV NEEDS A HCU (HYDRAULIC CONTROL UNIT) REPLACED AT 61,667 MILES. CAR WAS PARKED (EMERGENCY BRAKE OFF) AND WHEN STARTED BOTH ABS AND BRAKE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP THIS MORNING AND THEY INDICATED IT WAS FAULTY. THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH 2005 AND LATER FORD ESCAPE HEVS. MIGHT BE WORTH INVESTIGATING. WE WERE LUCKY THE BRAKES DIDN'T ACTUALLY FAIL WHILE DRIVING! *TR

DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY WHEN I SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER. THE DASHBOARD OF THE VEHICLE SHOWED A SYMBOL OF AN EXCLAMATION POINT SURROUNDED BY A TRIANGLE. MOREOVER, THE DASH STATED "STOP SAFELY NOW." AT THIS TIME WE HAD BEEN TRAVELING IN A WORK ZONE THAT WAS ONE LANE, AND SURROUNDED BY CONCRETE BARRIERS, WITH NO SHOULDER. A TRACTOR TRAILER WAS FOLLOWING CLOSELY, SO WHEN I ALL OF A SUDDEN WENT FROM 65 TO NO POWER WHATSOEVER, I WAS ALMOST HIT. FURTHERMORE, I HAD TO BLOCK TRAFFIC TO TURN OFF MY VEHICLE AND TO RESTART IT. MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID REPEATED THIS SAME OCCURRENCE MANY TIMES. SINCE THE FIRST INCIDENT, THIS HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES, UNFORTUNATELY ALL OCCURRING ON HIGHWAYS WHERE I WAS TRAVELING AT SIGNIFICANT SPEEDS. I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF MONEY THAT HAS NOT RESOLVED THIS RECURRING PROBLEM, WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY HAZARD. FORD HAS NOT POSTED ANY RECALLS, BUT THE BLOGS HAVE SHOWN THAT MANY OTHERS HAVE SUFFERED FROM THIS OCCURRENCE. PLEASE STEP IN AND ADVICE FORD THAT ALTHOUGH THE "LIMP HOME MODE" MAY BE FOR THE SAFETY OF THE VEHICLE, IT IS NOT SAFE FOR ME.