NHTSA Complaint #11632992 — 2017 FORD ESCAPE

Sept. 2024, while driving my 2017 Ford Escape, four-cylinder Eco boost engine 2 L down the highway, without warning all the dash lights came on and the engine quit running leaving me stranded on the side of a very busy highway. I had not noticed any engine problems at all until this moment. After a Good Samaritan told me the radiator was almost completely empty of fluid, he added water to my radiator reservoir and told me to immediately ‘gently nurse it’ to an auto repair shop. Which I did. The shop owner took several hours to examine the engine. He told me it ran hot because the radiator fluid had leaked into the oil. He later told me the smoke also coming from the tailpipe, the way the engine was hesitating to start up and radiator fluid in the oil was an indication my engine had a cracked head. He showed me the oil which was a chocolate brown. The shop owner told me it was not supposed to be that color. He told me it was a direct indication that my radiator fluid/antifreeze had leaked into the oil. He informed me this would lead to complete engine failure, and I needed to immediately take it to a shop/dealership where the engine could be rebuilt or completely replaced (he already had several vehicles he was currently working on and would not have time to get to it for several months). I drove my SUV home which was just 4 miles from this shop. It took me awhile to make arrangements for a local Ford dealership. In the meantime, I had not tried to start it back up at all. The morning I was to take my SUV to the dealership it would not start at all. I had to call a wrecker to have it towed to the Ford dealership, where they confirmed the findings of the initial mechanic. My SUV only has 89,748 miles on it. I still owe $11,000 and it will not start at all.