This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was recently driving on the interstate and the gas pedal got stuck so the car started speeding up very fast and the brakes and emergency brake would not make it slow down. After this i found out there was a recall about this problem and it says the previous owner of the vehicle fixed it but it-€™s happened while i owned it so i don-€™t think it was fixed correctly.
Driving down the interstate coming from Georgia, it would downshift suddenly without warning. I have not been able to drive it in about 4 months.I thought I had everything repaired, then my truck stopped pulling in drive at a red light. My safety neutral switch is brand new and the position sensor. 10/12/2020 when problem arose after replacing sensors 02/09/2021 any ideas why it is doing this?
While I was driving on hwy 45 my Escape jumped out of gear and overdrive indicator showed it had turned off at the same time. Also it caused my vehicle to almost stoll while traffic was behind me and beside me. I had to shift gear shift until light showed again then shift it to drive. Also had to click overdrive back on several times until it kicked on. I had my sister and my 2 children 9yrs and 10 yrs old in vehicle when it happened. Also had my vehicle to start jumping and shaking like it was missing. Engine light is on all the time now, and airbag light. Is it safe to drive?
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. While driving 60 mph and passing another vehicle, the contact raised her foot off the accelerator pedal; however, the vehicle accelerated independently to 75 mph. The contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle slowed down to 70 mph. When the brake pedal was released, the vehicle began to accelerated to 75 mph. The contact depressed the brake pedal again with excessive force, but the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle slowed down to 45 mph, but the engine was still revving. The contact was able to coast the vehicle to the side of the road at 40 mph and quickly powered off the engine. Due to depressing the brake pedal with excessive force, there was a burning odor coming from the brake pedal. The vehicle was restarted while in the park position and the engine started to accelerate. The contact quickly powered off the engine. The contact's father inspected the vehicle and noticed that the cable connected to the throttle was caught in between the engine and the plastic engine cover. The contact's father maneuvered the cable and the vehicle drove normally. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The approximate failure mileage was 128,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact noticed that the K frame was corroded and the air bag warning indicator illuminated continuously. In addition, while the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle accelerated independently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the K frame needed to be replaced, the power control module needed to be repaired, and the air bags needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 172,470.
- Chicago, IL, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
My Escape started to miss, first it wasn't bad then started jerking and it started idling rough when I stopped at red light. When I started moving again it acted as if it would die and would go. If I get to 40 mph it is really bad. But this happened on main highway with other vehicles all around me and had 18 wheeler behind me and all of sudden my speed decreased and me and my children almost was in accident because of decrease in speed. It scared me and my two children. When I got it looked at the codes said it was missing on one cylinder then at one point all cylinders.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 12V353000 (engine and engine cooling, vehicle speed control) and 14V165000 (structure); however, the parts for the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the undercarriage of the vehicle, especially near the control arm, was corroded to the point that it failed inspection. Also, the vehicle's RPM monitor fluctuated between 0-5, failing to correctly indicate an increase in rpms. The failure caused the vehicle to rev up without the contact purposely causing an increase. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 244,310. Parts distribution disconnect.
I began merging onto I 820 when my vehicle (by itself) floored the accelerator. I tried pressing the brake (it wouldnt press down, it was hard as a rock). I used both feet to no avail. At 75-80 mph I jammed it into neutral. The RPM's were still at max. By this time it had slowed (I was on the shoulder of the hiway) to about 20 mph, then jammed it in park. I looked at the instrument panel and all the instruments were on 0. I hesitated then gave the car some gas, it was still running! I couldnt even hear the engine until I revved it. I proceeded to turn off the ignition. The car did turn off. I noticed a 17 yr old boy dying back in 2012 -13 from the same act my car did. Its bad enough to lose a child but to lose a child because of a malfunction from a vehicle and the company stating they will have to look into it further, is nothing short of total negligence and refusal to accept responsibility for ones error and we want to know what has happened to our youth? look who's raising them and giving them excuses.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. While driving at 65 mph, the cruise control failed to engage without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the vehicle speed control cable needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA campaign number: 12V353000 (engine and engine cooling, vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 131,496. Updated 11/23/15
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 30 mph, the engine began to rev unexpectedly and the throttle became stuck even though the accelerator pedal was not depressed. The brake pedal was engaged and the vehicle resumed normal operation. In 2012, the vehicle was serviced under NHTSA campaign number: 12V353000 (engine and engine cooling, vehicle speed control); however, the failure recurred twice after the remedy was performed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the idle air control was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000. Updated 6/3/15 updated 10/06/2017
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at 67 mph, the cruise control failed to disengage. As a result, the contact crashed into an embankment and the vehicle rolled over multiple times. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained minor scrapes and bruises and the two passengers in the rear of the vehicle sustained bumps, bruises and scrapes that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V353000 (engine and engine cooling, vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.
On 1/19/1993, I experienced uncontrolled acceleration in my 2003 Ford Escape. I turned off the engine and coasted to a stop. Fortunately, I was on a low traffic road. After towing the Escape to my mechanic, he identified that the acceleration cable was binding against the engine cover. After further identifying a recall related to this (NHTSA campaign number:12V-353), the car was taken to my Ford service center, who performed the modification. Upon picking up the car after repair and leaving the lot of the Ford service center, I immediately experienced uncontrolled acceleration a second time. Quickly hitting the breaks and performing a U-turn back into the Ford lot, I again turned off the engine and coasted to the garage area. This time I was on a multi-lane road in a high traffic area during 5:00 traffic and suffered near collision with multiple other cars. Upon investigating the cause with the service personnel, we observed that the cruise control cable had come loose and bound with the acceleration cable, resulting in the unintended acceleration. On multiple attempts to reconnect the cruise control cable, it became apparent that it would easily come loose and bind again with the acceleration cable. The cruise control cable was disconnected and fixed into location away from the acceleration cable. The dealer did not know or recommend any other method to fix the problem. My observation is that there was significant wear on the cruise control cable connection, possibly as a result of the interference condition with the throttle cover. The current Ford recall does not appear to adequately correct the problem or look for this additional problem.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently and no indicator lights illuminated. The engine rpms went from 800 to 4,000 in one day. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000.
As I was driving, I pressed the accelerator approximately 3/4 of the way to pass a vehicle. When I released the pedal- the vehicle continued to accelerate. I was eventually able to get the vehicle to stop after placing the transmission in neutral and firmly applying the brakes. As I came to a stop, the vehicle was beginning to smoke, and I feared it was going to catch on fire. I immediately exited the vehicle, and the engine was still running at full throttle. After several minutes, the vehicle began to smoke worse and then I heard a loud bang. The vehicle motor stopped and a large puddle of oil and metal was on the ground under the vehicle. I have since learned that there is an active recall for this exact problem from Ford due to a throttle cable sticking. Ford has refused to repair the additional damage caused to my vehicle caused by an active recall.
While driving to and from work, I have used my speed control at speeds of 75 to 80 and have the speed increase with no input from me. The speeds have gotten up to 90 before I could get it to disengage and this is only after numerous hard inputs on brake pedal and this has happened several times, this problem is after I had the repair done per recall12V-353. The repair was done on 8/17/13, mileage at repair was167,183. This vehicle did not have any problem with speed control before recall work was done. As of now 7/10/14 it is in repair shop to investigate this problem. Appr. 186890 miles on vehicle at this time.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle abnormally accelerated without warning. The vehicle was serviced under NHTSA campaign number 12V353000 (engine and engine cooling vehicle speed control) however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle later stalled while traveling 60 mph and the contact was able to stop the acceleration failure by forcefully applying the brakes. The manufacture was made aware of the failure. The dealer inspected the vehicle and advised that the throttle needed to be cleaned or replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileage was 140,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 mph he tried to accelerate and the rpms increased. The brake failed to engage until he put the gear shift into neutral. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road, where the vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The mechanic diagnosed that there was to much air going into the throttle body, and the cold air was freezing the throttle body and prevented it from functioning properly. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 76,000. Updated 3/5/14
I took my vehicle in for the recall due to involuntary acceleration and had the recall completed about 1-1.5 years ago. Today, when I was leaving work for lunch, the vehicle automatically began accelerating when it was taken out of park. When I would try to stop, the vehicle would stop for a second, then begin to try to accelerate again. I was able to make it home safely only because I thought to put the vehicle into neutral at any stop signs or stop lights, then back into drive when the lights turned green again. I only knew to do this because I had had the same type of issues prior to the recall. In this incident, I never once used the cruise control though. It accelerated all on its own. I had one other situation similar to this about a year ago, but that was when I was using my cruise control and it wouldn't disengage. My local Ford dealership will not look at it unless I pay the $80 diagnostic fee, which is ridiculous because this issue was supposed to have been fixed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fayetteville, AR, USA