NHTSA Complaint #10794394 — 2013 FORD ESCAPE

ON 10-10-2015, OUR 2013 FORD ESCAPE 4WD STARTED DISPLAYING AN ABS ERROR CODE, ALONG WITH A TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM ERROR AND A "HILL START ASSIST NOT AVAILABLE" ERROR MESSAGE, SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE ABS BRAKES WOULD ENGAGE AT LOW TRAVEL SPEED. WE TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, WHO DETERMINED THAT A REAR WHEEL SENSOR HAD FAILED. THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR TWO WEEKS AND RETURNED IT ON 10-21-2015. IT HAD 24,273 MILES ON IT. NOW, 3 WEEKS LATER, ON 10-16-2015, THE VERY SAME PROBLEM HAS RECURRED, WITH THE DASH LIGHTS DISPLAYING FOR THE ABS SYSTEM FAILURE, THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM FAILURE AND THE "HILL START ASSIST NOT AVAILABLE". THE ABS SYSTEM ENGAGES AT LOW SPEEDS CAUSING THE BRAKES TO GRAB, RENDERING THE CAR UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THIS CAR IS A 'LEMON' IN OUR OPINION, AS IT HAS HAD 5 MAJOR BREAKDOWNS, INCLUDING A MAJOR ENGINE PROBLEM AT 720 MILES, A FAILURE OF THE AIR BAG CONTROLLER, TWO PROBLEMS WITH THE ABS SYSTEM, AS DOCUMENTED HEREIN, AND TWO RECALLS RELATED TO THE ENGINE POTENTIALLY CATCHING ON FIRE DUE TO A FUEL LEAK (A RECALL, FOLLOWED BY A RECALL TO FIX THE RECALL). I SINCERELY BELIEVE THAT THIS VEHICLE IS DANGEROUS AND HAVE ASKED THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY TO BUY BACK THIS VEHICLE SEVERAL TIMES, BUT THEY HAVE REFUSED TO DO SO. I FEAR THAT MY WIFE AND I ARE NOT SAFE WHILE DRIVING THIS CAR DUE TO THE HIGH NUMBER OF DEFECTS ON THIS ONE PARTICULAR VEHICLE. I AM REPORTING THIS ABS/TRACTION CONTROL PROBLEM SINCE IT HAS NOW HAPPENED TWICE, AS I BELIEVE IT LIKELY IMPACTS OTHER FORD ESCAPES MADE AT THE SAME TIME, AND LIKELY INDICATES A BAD BATCH OF WHEEL SENSORS THAT ARE FAILING PREMATURELY IN THE FIELD. SINCE THE FAILURE OF THE WHEEL SENSOR DISABLES THE ABS AND TCS SYSTEMS, THIS IS A DANGEROUS DEFECT, AS IT CAN HAPPEN COMPLETELY AT RANDOM. MY WIFE WAS 100 MILES FROM HOME LAST TIME AND HAD TO DRIVE BACK WITH THE ABS & TCS NOT FUNCTIONING.) THIS CAR IS "UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED"! *TR