NHTSA Complaint #10154170 — 2005 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID

THIS REPORT IS FOR THE THIRD OCCURRENCE (THERE HAVE BEEN 2 PRIOR OCCURRENCES IN THE PAST 6-8 WEEKS). THIS VEHICLE HAS ROUGHLY 17,900 MILES AND KEEPS SHUTTING ITSELF DOWN WITHOUT MUCH (IF ANY) WARNING. THIS TIME, I HAD ABOUT 2-4 SECONDS WARNING (WHICH WOULD NOT BE ADEQUATE IF THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN ON A HIGHWAY OR BUSY ROAD). I WAS IN A PARKING LOT ABOUT TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC WHEN THE YELLOW WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON. BEFORE I COULD DO ANYTHING, THE VEHICLE SHUT ITSELF OFF. AT ABOUT 16,000 MILES, THE "HIGH MOTOR TEMPERATURE" WARNING CAME ON. I WAS ABLE TO GET OFF THE HIGHWAY AND GET IT TOWED. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME IT WAS A BAD ELECTRIC WATER PUMP AND REPLACED IT. (I WAS LATER TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THE WATER PUMP THAT FAILED WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM AT FORD - APPARENTLY A TRUCK CARRYING THESE WAS IN AN ACCIDENT AND BOXES OF THESE PUMPS LITERALLY FELL OUT OF THE TRUCK. FORD SUPPOSEDLY TESTED THEM AND DECIDED TO USE THEM ANYWAYS). ABOUT A WEEK LATER, I COULD TELL THERE WAS STILL SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. (IT HAD BEEN "SURGING" FORWARD WHEN COMING TO A STOP WITHOUT WARNING AND HAD MANY OTHER NOISES/ISSUES THAT WERE A SIGN THAT SOMETHING WAS STILL WRONG). I BROUGHT IT BACK - AND AFTER THEY EXAMINED IT THEY ASSURED ME THAT EVERYTHING WAS FINE. WITHIN 2 WEEKS, WE WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THE "HIGH MOTOR TEMPERATURE" LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. MY HUSBAND GOT OFF AT THE FIRST EXIT AND TRIED TO GET IT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP THAT WAS 2 BLOCKS AWAY. UNFORTUNATELY, WITHOUT WARNING, IT POWERED ITSELF DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF A CITY TRANSIT BUS. THIS TIME, THE DEALER SAID IT WAS THE WATER PUMP AND FUSE AGAIN AND REPLACED BOTH. AFTER GETTING THE VEHICLE BACK, I WAS STILL CONCERNED SINCE THIS SEEMED TO BE A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE (HAVING IT POWER DOWN IN FRONT OF A CITY BUS IS ENOUGH TO SCARE THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU). THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. *NM