NHTSA Complaint #10966727 — 2013 FORD ESCAPE

VEHICLE OVERHEATED NUMEROUS TIMES WHILE IN MOTION AND AT REST ON THE HIGHWAY AND ON CITY STREETS. TEMPERATURE SPIKED SUDDENLY AT RANDOM. CHECKED COOLANT LEVELS. COOLANT WAS LOW, SO ADDITIONAL COOLANT WAS ADDED. HAPPENED 3 TIMES BEFORE TAKING INTO FORD DEALER. ENGINE WAS TORN DOWN TO BLOCK. COOLANT LINE WAS FOUND LEAKING INTO ENGINE. COOLANT WAS FOUND IN CYLINDER 3. A GROOVE FORMED IN THE ENGINE BLOCK. HEAD GASKET FAILED BECAUSE OF THIS. ACCORDING TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP, NOTHING COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO CAUSE OR PREVENT THIS. THERE WAS NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT THE DAMAGE WAS OCCURING. SPOKE WITH FORD REPRESENTATIVES. SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS APPROX. 12,000 MILES OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY, NO REPAIRS OR REIMBURSEMENT WOULD BE PROVIDED BY THEM. SPOKE WITH THE EXTENDED WARRANTY REPS. BECAUSE THE PART THAT INITIALLY FAILED WAS A NON-LUBRICATED PART, NO SERVICES WOULD BE COVERED. THE COST TO REPAIR THE ENGINE IS $9,411. COST TO TEAR THE ENGINE APART AND DIAGNOSE WAS $1585.08. BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE AT 62,000 MILES IN GOOD FAITH THAT THIS WAS A RELIABLE VEHICLE. ALL SERVICE WAS DONE ON TIME WITH RECOMMENDED SERVICE, WITH SERVICE RECORDS ON HAND