NHTSA Complaint #11532547 — 2021 FORD ESCAPE

In the fall of 2022, the driver door on my 2021 Ford Escape would not close properly and I took to the Ford Dealership as I told them it felt unsafe as I felt the door wanted to fall off when driving as the door was physically moving in and out. They laughed at me and said that would never happen. After two visits, they realized the weld had broken on the door and said they would order a new one. They said they had never seen that on a passenger vehicle. It took 12 weeks for the door to arrive and they first said they would cover the rental vehicle and then came back the next day and said they would not cover a rental vehicle even when I said I felt unsafe driving it. So I kept driving it because it was my only vehicle. Ford Corporate tried to charge me $571.00 to pay for my part of the repair. They also dismissed that it was a larger problem. I have documentation regarding these interactions. The dealer stepped in and covered my portion of the repair. After they replaced the door, I reported the door appeared to be falling of the hinges and they investigated and said because they do not replace doors at the dealership often, they improperly installed the door as one of the hinge bolts was already missing. In April, 2023, I traded my 2021 Escape in for a 2022 Escape as I did not feel safe because of the door and the dealer agreed. It cost an additional $5,000 to get out of the lease, but it was worth my safety.