Severe rust in the passenger side rear wheel well- where the shock mounts. Shock is about to push thru the rust into the inside of car. Rust was disguised by undercoating by previous owner or dealer. Loud noise when going over bumps, etc. Unsafe to drive.

- Greenville, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 65 mph, a loud snapping noise was coming from the rear passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the inner quarter panel and the passenger side wheel well were rusted and corroded. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 137,000.

- Freeman, MO, USA

Had my 2005 Ford Escape in for service and mechanic stated that there is severe rust on undercarriage and rear wheel wells. Mechanic stated that the car will not pass inspection because of this safety issue and that the rear shock mounts are rusting through. I contacted Ford and they stated that only the 2001-2004 models are covered under the new recall and to keep my receipts for any work I have done to fix it. I am the original owner with no accidents and under 50,000 miles on the vehicle. I have researched this problem and have read hundreds of people with the same problem..

- Ridley Park, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the rear passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was confirmed that the rear passenger side inner fender wheel well needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 69,800. The VIN was unavailable.

- Emeigh, PA, USA

I began to hear a thumping sound from the passenger rear side like something was loose. It turns out that the wheel well is rusted through and the shock absorber is in danger of breaking loose which could cause further damage and make the vehicle difficult to control.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

I was driving down the street when I noticed a banging noise coming from the rear of the car. When I parked the car and investigated I realized that the passenger side rear wheel well was rusted out. My shock is not longer attached to the car and every time I hit a bump it slams into the car.

- Syracuse, NY, USA

We were driving our Escape on city roads when all of a sudden we heard a banging noise coming from the right rear side of the vehicle. After inspecting what was causing the noise, we found that the shock had completely went through the interior of the car. We can see the pavement from the inside of our trunk. We have been noticing an enormous amount of similar complaints for this problem and would like to know why there hasn't been a recall yet. We have always bought Ford cars because they have been safe for our family, however, we may have to reconsider next time. We still have not had the issue fixed and cannot drive the vehicle.

- Saline, MI, USA

Right rear wheel well has on my 2005 Ford Escape has rusted completely through. The shock absorber is banging against the inner interior molding when the vehicle goes over a bump. There are large holes in the passenger compartment and the shock absorber is about to separate entirely from the wheel well leaving the suspension on the right rear side of the vehicle compromised. The wheel well on the left rear of the vehicle is in tact.

- Woolwich, ME, USA

During a move in which we were towing a trailer, we noticed the right wheel well was rusting out pretty bad when we could see straight through to the ground from the storage compartment for the electrical connectors. About 8 months later, driving back from a camping trip I started to hear a repeating "thud". my fiance and I couldn't figure out what it could be. I called my mechanic and as soon as I started to explain the sound and where it seemed to be coming from...he knew what had happened. His brother who also had an Escape had just had the same issue. The right rear wheel well had continued to corrode and rust, causing the shock to break. He referred me to a place that did the necessary repair/welding. They re-molded the well and replaced the shock. A $750 job. Said that they had several...I think they said at least 6 Escapes in for the same thing just in the last two weeks.

- Rochester, NY, USA

The right rear wheel well is all rusted out and the mount for the shock is barely attached. This is suspect because no other wheel wells on the car have corrosion like this.

- Redondo Beach, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. While traveling approximately 30 mph, the rear passenger side shock fractured and punctured through a rusted hole into the rear interior of the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the underbody was rusted, the rear shock was rusted on the rear passenger side, and a large hole near the rear wheel well was present. The contact removed the rear shock, but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 83,000.

- Sord City, PA, USA

The right rear wheel well has completely corroded, and the shock absorber upper mount has almost completely separated from the body, making the vehicle undrivable.. the left rear shock absorber mount looks like new...no sign of rust. Looking online at Ford forums, there are alot of people complaining of this very problem. Furthermore, model years 2001-2004 Ford Escape were recalled for the very same problem.

- Poland, OH, USA

I had to replace the rear shocks on this vehicle. In doing so the auto repair fatality showed me that the entire center of the right rear wheel well was corroded away, leaving big hole. The garage told me that they had seen this on several of this mode (2001-2007) I talked to a couple of dealers that told me the same thing. One even told me that he thought it should be a recall.

- Berea, OH, USA

I have previously filed a complaint after taking the above car to a body shop when I noticed some rusting in the wheel well area. The body shop (X3) explained this was a known issue with Ford (prior to the 2001-2004 recall). I contacted Ford via E-mail, and filed a complaint here. The wheel wells in the rear of the vehicle were peeling, and I was told the shock mount would eventually punch through to the inside of my vehicle rendering the vehicle unsafe. This weekend, this exact thing happened. Ford has never acknowledged my issue, and I noticed the complaints on differently online forums have increased significantly since I first noticed the issue. My vehicle is well-cared for with all appropriate maintenance completed. The body shops I went to did not want to fix my vehicle because they felt Ford needed to acknowledge the problem.

- Mount Vernon, OH, USA

Excessive wheel well rust such that the shock mount has disconnected.

- Fitchburg, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 35 mph, the contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the rear passenger side of the vehicle. The contact discovered that the wheel well was rusted out. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that the shock mount was rusted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 92,300.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

A severe rattle started in the right rear wheel well of my 2005 Ford Escape hybrid. A body shop determined that the right rear wheel well had nearly completely disintegrated due to rust and that the shock mount was hanging by a thread. An internet search performed by the shop revealed that this is a common problem to this make and model manufactured in the years around 2005 and that it occurs only the in right rear wheel well. The left rear wheel well is intact and solid.

- Alton, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. While driving over bumps in the road at various speeds, the contact could hear a hard knocking sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rear passenger side wheel well was rusted and corroded along with part of the subframe. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 135,000.

- Trenton, MI, USA

While traveling in Virginia last summer on I-81, the body end of the rear passenger side shock-absorber came loose from the frame. We stopped shortly after we felt and heard something that was clearly abnormal and a mechanic told us the car was so rusted in that wheel well that the top of the shock had nothing to hold to. We were on a long trip, so we had the shock cut out until we got home. None of the other underbody areas showed significant rust, according to the mechanics we consulted, so we subsequently paid several hundred dollars to have a new wheel well fabricated and installed along with new rear shocks on both sides. We see no recall for this problem but on the web we quickly found several owners of the same model car describing the same problem - the passenger side rear wheel well rusting out. How can this not be a design issue? certainly it's significant a safety issue, especially since the area of severe rust was not apparent from looking at the car. Now the driver side is showing significant exterior rust at the lip of the wheel well, so we will be sending it in to have our mechanic see if the same problem is happening on the rear driver side. Help! thank you for anything you can do.

- Rome, NY, USA

The right rear shock broke loose as a result of extreme rust in the right rear wheel well around the shock tower.

- Wyoming, MI, USA