To start, my 2005 Escape Hybrid has 17,800 miles. I had the front wheel bearings replaced at 3,000 miles (strange grinding brake-like sound coming from the wheels at slow speeds or turning left). Even after they replaced the wheel bearings, I still had grinding noises. At odd times (not easily reproducable), the truck would surge forward when coming to a stop. Then at 15,000 miles I was driving to work and the "high motor temperature" warning came on. Lovely. That ended up being a water pump failing (or so the technical bulletin from Ford thought). After being in service for almost a week, I picked it up from the dealer and on the way home noticed that the fans for the battery and the electric motor were on at least 3 times as much as before. A week later, I brought it back but they assured me that everything was fine and I must be crazy. About a week later, the "high motor temperature" warning happened again (this time I was 35 miles from home). I tried to get off the highway, but the truck just shut itself off right in front of a transit bus. (Apparently it will do that if it thinks the engine is in danger of serious overheating) Thank goodness I wasn't hit by the bus! So back it went for service (this time at a different dealership). The service manager said he thought the vehicle had a short - but couldn't find it and the TSB said to replace the pump and fuse again. A week later, I get it back, but he said he can't tell me that it's fixed. Great!

I raised a ruckus at my dealership and they called the regional service manager and an engineer to come look at my truck. They hooked it up to a computer, drove it around, looked it over and told me "I'm sure it's fixed". They offered me an extended warrantee to "try to make things right" and then sent me off with a data recorder hooked up to my truck "just in case something else happened". Well, wouldn't you know.....we went to pick up my husband's new Civic Hybrid and when I was leaving (following him), the truck had a "service soon" warning and yellow wrench light and then died within about 2 seconds. (I was about to pull into traffic when it happened). When it dies, it COMPLETELY shuts down....you can't even get it out of gear. It's pretty scary!)

So now it's been back at the dealer for a week (and counting). This time, Ford offered me a replacement vehicle. Sounds good huh.......well - they won't give me one equally equipped. I have to either take a stripped down version or pony up the cash to pay for the options I have. After the experiences I've had with Ford - let's just say I'll be dam**d to give them another penny.

I'm rather annoyed at how many problems my truck has had. I can't get anywhere with Ford customer service. And the best part is that the regional customer service manager is telling me that if I don't accept her offer, I have to take my death trap back and be stuck with it. (That's when I can get her to return my calls.....which is almost impossible).

I can file for the Lemon Law, but that takes 60+ days and in the meantime, I have to drive my truck (or pay $$$$ for a rental - which I just don't have the means to do right now).

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get higher up at Ford? Am I being unreasonable not wanting to accept a lower replacement vehicle?

 

Lemon law that sucker. Seriously get rid of it now. Ask someone at work if you can carpool with them.

 

X2. I hate to be negative but I would get rid of it ASAP via the lemon law. Paying for a replacement vehicle of equal equipment is BS because you already paid for those options when you bought the posessed one that you have. I wouldn't do it purely on principle.

How do you like your husband's HCH? I imagine you want the extra space of the SUV, but maybe something else would do the job? The Prius has a fairly roomy hatch if you just need to lug stuff on a regular basis.

 

I love hubby's HCH. If it had more room, I would get one myself. I've looked at the Prius, and it was OK but not quite big enough and is too much money compared to the HCH. I would rather get an HCH and suffer with the smaller space than pay the extra $6,000 for a comparably equipped Prius (the package with nav). But that's just me.

I called the Attorney General's office and they said I basically have to take Ford's offer. If I go lemon law, they will deduct 17% for mileage - which is about $6,500. They also said that if Ford mentions this offer at the hearing, the review board may take Ford's side because it is considered a "reasonable offer" to most people. (A month ago I would have probably jumped at this opportunity - but after everything I've been through, it's hard not to hold a grudge and have some hostility towards Ford).
All I can say is that after my experience with Ford, I won't do any further business with them. It isn't just the fact that I got a lemon - because that can happen with any vehicle. They just kept putting me in an unsafe vehicle and gave me the run around and made things very difficult for me (like not paying the rental car for the 25+ days it's been in the shop the past 2 months). The roadside assistance was a nightmare, nobody would ever return my calls, you can't get past the phone operators at the customer service line - all they do is take your complaint and call the dealer and then it's a loop with the dealer saying that Ford should handle it.

Here's one more thing that bothers me.....has anyone looked at resale values for these things? Talk about dropping like a brick! I was told I could only get $19,000 trade in by 4 dealers. There's a 2006 with only 6,000 miles (fully loaded with leather, etc.) at a Ford dealer near me for $24,995. That's just crazy! I really feel like I made a horrible decision buying this vehicle. If I could do it all over again, I would buy the HCH as my commuting car and a used Honda CRV for the weekend days when I need to carry cargo.

 

Bigsweeps...
so sorry for your experience! I agree with the others, use the lemon law. I looked into it when my FEH spent three weeks of the first two months of ownership in the shop (squeaky rotor noises, discussed on other threads) In my case, the dealership fixed the problem, and I've been good since (knocking wood.) I'd report your dealership to the BBB, as well.

My husband also has the '06 HCH, and LOVES it. I was wary about buying a Ford, but the Highlander was too big, and the FEH is just perfect for our family. I feel for you- I purchased the extended service plan from Ford and it covered my rental...did you buy the plan or will your auto insurance cover a rental while your "death trap" is in the shop?
Best of luck-

 

Just read your new post after writing and posting mine....yeesh! Unbelievable. You have every right to be angry. Just curious- what state do you live in?
Joan

 

I'm sorry to hear your troubles. I'd lemon law this thing, however any time you end up dealing with law there are a lot of gray areas that you can explore for relief. First, you were never given an offer to replace it. You can get away with that one if there are no documents which indicate any offer was given. Those would have to be singed documents, not just notes or indications to have validity. Most of the time dealers and car makers don't do things on paper because the may be stuck with whatever promise they made. This usually works against the average consumer, but it can work in your favor this time around.

You could also get a lawyer involved. Letters from lawyers tend to get attention. It depends on where the letter goes. If you think you are getting shafted by the trade offer they are giving you, then you can use a lawyer to represent you in this instance. I don't think you will find any lawyer that will sit there and say that you don't have to make up some kind of "price difference" between your unreliable, used vehicle and the replacement they offer, but a little effort on the part of the lawyer could shrink that price gap significantly enough that you might not mind biteing on it. Anyway, having a lawyer involved should you go to lemon law might be helpful also. But once you acknowledge the trade offer officially you can't claim ignorance of it anymore.

I seriously think that the major issue here is the inability of the Ford dealers to deal with a vehicle such as the FEH. They neither have the training or support to properly service these vehicles. The engine overheating issue is definintly a cause upstream of the waterpump or the parts they are replacing on a repeated basis. They have to get past what the computer is telling them and start looking at thing other than the obvious.

Dealer shops have this tendancy to not go any farther than necessary to fix an issue. Partly because a car sitting torn apart on the service floor is not making them money unless somebody is working on it and partly because there is no incentive from Ford or anyone else to "repair it once".

 

I'm in CT.

 

Oh - and I'm not the only one having problems with it overheating or dying. This is a complaint from the NHTSA's website:


Make: FORD Model: ESCAPE HYBRID Type: MULTIPURPOSE PASSENGER VEHICLE Year: 2005 Complaint Number: 10124042 Summary: I PULLED OUT OF A PARKING LOT DRIVING OUR NEW 2005 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AND APPROACHED THE FIRST INTERSECTION WHEN A MESSAGE FLASHED ON THE DASH "PULL OVER SAFELY NOW." BEFORE I COULD PULL OVER THE ENGINE TURNED OFF. AFTER A FEW TRIES, I WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE CAR ON THE BATTERY POWER THROUGH THE INTERSECTION (VERY SLOWLY) TO A BUSY BUS STOP. I COULDN'T START THE CAR AGAIN RIGHT AWAY. HOWEVER, ON BATTERY POWER AGAIN, I WAS ABLE TO GET BACK TO THE PARKING LOT. WE HAD THE CAR TOWED TO A FORD DEALERSHIP FROM THERE. IT TOOK THEM TWO WEEKS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG AND FIX THE CAR. WHEN THE INCIDENT HAPPEND, THE CAR HAD 260 MILES ON IT.




and a user at Edmunds is having the same issues
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.ef7402a/106

I'm sure there are more - but I just haven't found them yet.

 

dang such a shame, and i thought ford trucks had rock solid reliability