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

I heard a rattle in right rear of Escape. When I inspected the right rear, I found the wheel house and shock tower is completely rusted out. The rest of the Escape shows no rust. I was told by a mechanic not to drive this vehicle. Parts for this repair are back ordered and I can, T get part until December at the soonest.

- Lincoln Park , MI, USA

Driving at highway speed my Ford Escape 2005 started to make loud banging noise from passenger side, behind the back seat. When we stopped the strut had completely broke away from car body and was loose and banging in the wheel well. I contacted my local dealership and they informed me a recall was done for 2000-2004 Ford Escapes for this issue, but no recall is available for the 2005. From recall information, it is the exact same wheel -rear passenger side in all the affected vehicles. This is a design flaw, and unsafe.

- Olathe, KS, 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

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the rear passenger wheel well was entirely rusted through the shock absorber. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

- Northville, MI, 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

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, a very loud banging noise emitted from the rear passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician discovered that the passenger side rear wheel well was rusted and corroded, causing damage to the rear passenger side shock absorber. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 55,870. Updated 3/18/15 updated 10/19/2015

- Chicago Heights , IL, 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. The contact stated that the passenger side rear wheel shock mount was rusted. The dealer stated that the failure was caused by excessive driving. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 139,000.

- Sauk Village , IL, 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

Our 2005 Ford Escape has a safety issue so bad that it's unsafe to drive. The right rear fender well has rusted out around the shock mount, ready to break free. [xxx] has a co-worker who drives a 2005 Ford Escape and when they took a look in his fender, they found the same problem. [xxx] has a co-worker that has a 2005 Ford Escape and it has the start of the hole. We have talked to Ford, there is no recall or repair campaign for it. They offered us an X plan to trade it in or they would fix it at full price. We have sent pictures to the Ford factory rep. He told us that Ford knows of this problem and that they have installed two new processes on the product line to fix it. He showed the picture to the Escape engineers and they agreed that it is a design fault and Ford is responsible for the unsafe state that it's in. Unfortunately none of them will put it in writing, in fear of losing their jobs. We also wrote an email to the national highway transportation safety department in Washington DC and still have not heard anything from them. We got quotes from different body shops in the area, both at $1200. And they have repaired other Ford Escapes with the same defect. The repair has to be done from the inside to replace the fender well. Thus all the interior trim has to be removed and welding blanket used so they don't burn your vehicle up. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Belleville, MI, 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

Right rear well totally rusted out including the area of the shock mount, leaving the shock with no support to stabilize it.

- Delancey, PA, USA

Passenger side rear wheel well is rusted out an several places to were that strut mount is loose an falling apart, an will cause an accident if not fixed. This is a known issue on that exact tire an the exact year in thousands of Ford Escapes. This is over $2000 and is apparent on drivers side as well. Vehicle failed safety inspection and with 2 small children to Transport and no funds to replace vehicle. I have read thousands of post online of people having the same issues and with recent recalls for similar body/suspension part failures in Ford vehicles of similar years feel this is a recall issue. Please look start investigation and protect the consumers. Thank you.

- Hudson Falls, NY, USA

Passenger side rear wheel well is rusted out an several places to were that strut mount is loose an falling apart, an will cause an accident if not fixed. This is a known issue on that exact tire an the exact year in thousands of Ford Escapes. This is over $2000 to repair at which the vehicle is not even worth that much. I am a single parent an not good enough credit to get a new car due to having cancer a few years ago having to let my credit go. Nor do I have $2000 to fix this problem. I still owe $4000 on the car as well.

- Blair, NE, USA

Right rear strut mount completely rusted through to where mount had nothing to mount to. Strut banging on wheel well.

- Frankton, IN, 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