NHTSA Complaint #10352951 — 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID

OUR 2008 FORD ESCAPE (HYBRID) SHUTS DOWN WITHOUT WARNING. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED AS A FAILED COOLANT PUMP FOR THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. WHEN WE TRIED TO HAVE IT REPAIRED, WE LEARNED THAT THERE WERE 891 REPLACEMENT PUMPS ON BACK ORDER - THESE ARE NOT ORDERS FOR NEW MANUFACTURING, BUT FOR REPLACING FAILED PUMPS. THESE ARE JUST THE ONES ON BACK ORDER AND DO NOT INCLUDE ONES ALREADY REPLACED, OR THOSE OWNERS THAT HAVE NOT TAKEN THEIR ESCAPE FOR DIAGNOSTICS. OUR ESCAPE HAS SHUT DOWN SEVERAL DOZEN TIMES AND IT HAS ALMOST ALWAYS BEEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON AN INTERSTATE. THERE IS NO WARNING, THE VEHICLE SHUTS DOWN AND GIVES US A MESSAGE TO PLEASE STOP SAFELY. THE VEHICLE WILL RE-START ONCE IT HAS BEEN SHUT OFF, BUT THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO COAST TO THE SHOULDER WHILE AVOIDING OTHER VEHICLES. WE THEN HAVE TO MERGE BACK INTO INTERSTATE TRAFFIC. FORD IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE, BUT HAVE TOLD US THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH "RECALLING THE PART" AS THAT IS UP TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT! *TR