1995 FORD ESCORT Complaints

MY CAR HAS ONLY 17,000 MILES AND THE "HEAD GASKETS" ARE LEAKING. WHEN I CHECKED WITH THE DEALER, I WAS TOLD THE I WAS PASSED THE "3 YEAR/36'000 MILES WARRANTY" AND THE REPAIR WILL NOT BE COVERED. I'M BEING TOLD BY MY REGULAR MECHANIC THAT "HEAD GASKETS" SHOULDN'T FAIL AT SUCH A LOW MILES DRIVEN!!!

WE ARE JUST SUPRISED THAT THE CAR WOULD NEED A VALVE JOB AFTER ALL IT IS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD. WE BOUGHT IT WITH THE ORIGANAL WARRENTY AND PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRENTY TO 60,000 MILES WHICH HAS NOW EXPIRED. WE HAVE BEEN GOOD WITH DAILY MAINTNENCE AND HAVE HAD THE CAR IN ON MANY WARRENTY REPAIRS. HAVE HEARD THAT FORD HAS BEEN HAVING SOME COMPLAINTS ON THE CYLINDERS MALFUNCTIONING.

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE SEAT BELTS IN REAR, RESTRAINING CHILDREN, WOULD MAKE RETCHING NOISES BEFORE JAMMING. TOP OF SEAT BELT WOULD NOT RETRACT AFTER CHILD HAS LEANED FORWARD QUICKLY BECAUSE THE BELT IS LOOSE. BEEN REPAIRED TWICE ON BOTH SIDES. PARTS WERE BACK AN ORDER, AND DEALER WAS NOT ABLE TO REPAIR IT. *AK CONSUMER IS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THE RESTRAINT SYSTEM BECAUSE IT FAILED 3 TIMES IN 5 YEARS. *YH

ON JULY 9, 2000 WE REALIZED WE HAD A FUEL LEAK. THE NIGHT BEFORE I HAD FILLED THE GAS TANK COMPLETELY FULL AND ON JULY 9, 2000 WHEN WE GOT INTO THE CAR IT HAD ONLY 3/8 TANK OF GAS. THE CAR HAD ONLY BEEN DRIVEN .5 MILES SINCE THE FILL UP. ON JULY 11, 2000 I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY LOOKED AT IT THE NEXT DAY AND SAID I HAD A HOLE IN THE FUEL TANK. THE MECHANIC SAID THE PART SHOULD BE IN THE NEXT DAY AND THE CAR READY THE NEXT AFTERNOON WHICH WOULD BE JULY 13, 2000. BEFORE NOON ON JULY 13, 2000 THE MECHANIC CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THE FUEL TANK WAS ON BACKORDER AND HAD NO CLUE WHEN IT WOULD BE IN. THERE HAVE BEEN 2 RECALLS ON THE EXACT MAKE, MODEL, AND YEAR OF MY CAR; HOWEVER, I WAS TOLD THAT MY VEHICLE WAS NOT INVOLVED. YOUR COMPLAINT FILE HAS OVER 24 COMPLAINTS WITH THE EXACT SAME THING AND THEY WERE ALSO NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. MY FUEL TANK HAS BEEN ON BACKORDERED FOR 33 DAYS, WHY ARE THEY IN SUCH DEMAND?? IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH ALL OF THE 1995 FORD ESCORTS. IT IS GOING ON THE 6TH WEEK SINCE I TURNED MY CAR INTO THE DEALER. IT HAS BEEN 33 DAYS SINCE THE DAY THE FUEL TANK WAS ORDERED AND STILL NO IDEA ON WHEN I WILL GET MY CAR BACK.*AK

FUEL IS LEAKING FROM UPPER PART OF FUEL TANK, BY THE HEAT SHIELD ATTACHMENT. EXACTLY SAME PROBLEM AS STATED IN RECALL # 97V144000 FUEL TANK. OWNER WAS TOLD THAT THIS VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL AND WOULD NOT BE SERVICED FREE. THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED. *AK

GAS WAS LEAKING FROM SEAMS OF THE FUEL TANK. GAS LEAKED WHEN IT FILLED UP PAST SEAMLINE OF THE TANK. MANFACTURER HAS ADVISED CONSUMER THATVEHICLE WAS NOT A PART OF A RECALL. *AK

THE AIRBAG COMES ON AND WILL STAY ON FOR A LITTLE WHILE AND GO OFF. IT HAS COME ON SEVERAL TIMES. CONTACTED CHARAPP FORD AND INFORMED ME THE FIRST TIME THAT TO BRING THE CAR IN WHEN THE LIGHT STAYS ON. THE SECOND TIME IT CAME ON AND WENT OFF, THEY TOLD ME TO BRING MY CAR IN. BROUGHT MY CAR IN ON 7/25/00 AND TOLD ME THAT THEY COULD NOT DO ANY DIAGNOSTIC TESTING UNTIL THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON AND FLASHED. SAID THAT THERE WAS NO SAFETY ISSUE AS FAR AS IT WAS COMING ON AND OFF, AND THAT IT WAS FINE TO DRIVE IN THAT CONDITION. COME BACK WHEN AIR BAG LIGHT FLASHES ON AND OFF. *AK

THE SPRINGS ACTUALLY BROKE INTO PIECES, WHICH IS VERY HARD TO BELIEVE BECAUSE OF THE THICKNESS OF THE SPRINGS - TRANSMISSION ONLY WENT OUT AT 82,000 MILE, WHICH IS ALSO HARD TO BELIEVE. BUT AFTER SPEAKING WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO REPAIR THEM, THEY INFORMED ME THAT THE FORD ESCORT TRANSMISSIONS USUALLY GO OUT AT 60,000 MILES. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE AND FORD IS AWARE OF THIS SITUATION. THE PERSON WHO IS REPLACING MY TRANSMISSION AT THIS TIME IS GOING TO BEING ON HIS 5TH FORD ESCORT WITHIN IN A WEEK ESTIMATING THE MILEAGE INFROMATION OF BEING REPLACED BETWEEN 54,000 AND 85,000 MILES. WHY CAN THIS NOT BE A RECALL???? PLEASE ADVISE. *AK

AUTOMATIC SHOULDER BELT ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE DOES NOT MOVE BACK OR FOURTH, BUT THE MOTOR CONTINUES TO RUN. BELT IS STUCK 3/4 OF THE WAY ON THE RAIL, CLOSEST TO THE STEERING WHEEL. WHEN CONTACTING THE DEALERSHIP, OWNER WAS TOLD THAT FORD WAS NO LONGER MANUFACTURING THOSE TYPE OF BELTS. PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED. *AK

DRIVER MOTORIZED SHOULDER BELT FAILED IN THE FORWARD POSITION. THIS EFFECTIVLY ELIMINATED THE SAFETY FEATURE OF THE SHOULDERBELT FOR A THREE WEEK PERIOD WHILE THE PART WAS ORDERED. ACCORDING TO NHSTA ON-LINE STATISTICS, FAILURE OF A PAT OF THE MOTORIZED SHOLDERBELT SYSTEM IS THE MOST COMMONLY REPORTED PART FAILURE ON THIS YEAR AND MODEL VEHICLE. BEING MY PROFESSION IS SAFETY, I AM CONCERNED THAT SINCE THE VEHICLE CAN BE DRIVEN WITH THIS PART BROKEN, DRIVERS MAY NOT GET IT REPAIRED. I ALSO FEEL THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD BE PAYING FOR THIS FAILURE INSTEAD OF THE CONSUMER. *AK