NHTSA Complaint #11503280 — 2017 FORD ESCAPE

Purchased in March 2022 at approximately 47,000 miles on it. Drove until November 2022 with 59,802. The following occurred prior to stopping operation of the vehicle. Started running sluggish. Noted temperature starting to increase. Noted coolant empty, refilled and continued to drive vehicle. Then shortly after noticed the check engine light was on and white smoke upon start up. Engine light on reports misfire cylinder 3. Had compression test done as it was losing coolant again. Pressure test showed leaking of coolant into cylinder 2 and 3. Stopped driving vehicle. Spoke to Ford to see if they could help, was advised to take to a Ford dealership. Ford dealership reports the same findings leaking coolant in the cylinder 2 and 3, engine needs replaced costing over $8,000. Spoke to Ford again reports that repairs will be paid for as it is still under powertrain warranty. This was also reported to the Ford dealership, so they ordered the engine. When engine arrives was told in fact it was not covered under warranty and the Ford representative "miscalculated" and they were "sorry" but there is nothing they can do. Dealership also filed a complaint/goodwill request on my behalf which was declined because "I'm not a loyal Ford customer" as it's my first, now last Ford vehicle. Ford is aware of this engine issue as they have a TSB out about released in June 2022 but have failed to do anything about. As I should not be replacing an engine under 60,000 miles let alone if I continued to drive and have my motor seize up. They are so much aware of the issue they changed the design of the engine. It's not fair to consumers to have Ford not taking responsibility for their mistakes/misinformation. Also was informed the have my correspondence with the representative stating it was covered and they'd pay for it but they will not provide me with copies.