NHTSA Complaint #10721040 — 2014 FORD ESCAPE

MOST RECENT AND TROUBLING INCIDENT WAS TRAVELLING DOWNHILL AROUND 30 MPH, NOT PRESSING GAS PEDAL, AND ENGINE RPMS ROSE TO OVER 4000 AND STAYED WITH THE ENGINE MAKING A DISTINCT NOISE THAT EVEN A 12 YEAR OLD NOTICED WAS NOT RIGHT. AFTER APPLYING BRAKE AND REACHING BOTTOM OF HILL, THE RPMS EVENTUALLY REDUCED. SO FAR THIS EXTREME CASE WAS A ONE TIME OCCURENCE, BUT SEEMS RELATED TO OTHER BEHAVIOR. DURING REGULAR IN-TOWN TRAVELLING THE ENGINE JUST DOES NOT SEEM TO CHANGE GEARS CORRECTLY OR SMOOTHLY. RPMS WILL REMAIN BETWEEN 2000-3000 REGARDLESS IF YOU ARE GOING 10 MPH OR 55 MPH, BUT PROBLEM IS NOT CONSISTENT. MULTIPLE TIMES WHEN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC AND ALSO GOING INTO REVERSE, THE CAR ALMOST STALLS AND DOES NOT ACCELERATE AS QUICKLY AS IT SHOULD GIVEN THE PRESSURE ON THE GAS PEDAL. IT SEEMS AS IF ALL OF THESE TYPES OF ISSUES ARE RELATED TO THE SAME CORE PROBLEM WITH THE ENGINE/TRANSMISSION AND I SEE OTHER COMPLAINTS HERE SIMILIAR TO THIS. I'VE HAD THE CAR FOR 8 MONTHS AND IT SEEMS TO BE MORE FREQUENT AS TIME PASSES. THESE ISSUES ARE MUCH MORE NOTICABLE WITH DAILY DRIVING, BUT MY HUSBAND HAS NOTICED DURING THE FEW TIMES HE DRIVES THE CAR. HE SAYS IT IS JUST A "CLUNKY" DRIVING CAR, BUT CAR FEELS VERY UNRELIABLE WHEN DRIVEN ON A DAILY BASIS ESPECIALLY FOR THE PRICE.