NHTSA Complaint #11529265 — 2018 FORD ESCAPE

With 53,000 miles, this vehicle was brought in 5/6/2021 to address recall 19B37 (reprogram powertrain control module due to coolant intrusion into the cylinder bores). The recall was performed at this time. At this time, this was my company car (leased by Cardinal Health and managed through Element Fleet). I purchased the vehicle in April of 2022. I never received any additional information from Ford regarding this recall or the issue with the coolant. My company confirmed they never received any further information about this issue either. With 96,000 miles, I began having issues with the vehicle on May of 2023. The engine ran "rough" and was louder than usual. The "Engine Fault Service Now" light then appeared, so I brought it to a local shop and they replaced the spark plugs. The vehicle ran somewhat better for a couple of days, but was still a little louder than usual. In early June of 2023, the "Engine Fault Service Now" light came on again. I brought it to NAPA auto parts to run a diagnostic test. Nothing came up, but they noticed the coolant was low, so we filled the coolant and scheduled an appt with Ford dealer. Less than a week later, the flashing engine light came on, so I stopped driving it and had it towed to the Ford Dealer. They diagnosed it as a coolant intrusion in cylinder 3 and said it needs a new short block engine. The repairs are approx $8,000 so they directed me to Ford and told me to reference Customer Satisfaction Program 21NI2. I was told that the limitations to this program were that it had to be fixed prior to November 2022 or the vehicle had to have 84,000 miles or less. Because my vehicle didn't fit this criteria, I received no assistance. Ford was aware of this problem and is doing nothing to about it. They are allowing owners to drive a vehicle under potentially dangerous circumstances, and then are holding the owner accountable for the repairs.