My 2006 ford escape hybrid cut off the combustion engine while traveling down a country rd. Was able to pull off with declining power in the electric engine. Display read "pull over safely" and nothing else. I brought it in to both a ford dealership who referred me to a toyota dealership because they didn't have anyone who knew about hybrid cars. Since the problem did not occur at the time I brought it in and there were no problems showing on a diagnostic test they could not do anything. The SUV has done this numerous times since and sometimes shuts off both engines in the middle of the highway. I thought speed and hard driving were the problem which it tends to happen more so on 45min or greater drives but has been known to do this at 15mph in residential areas. Very scary, especially on crowded high speed roads as you cannot "pull over safely" with neither motor running. If their excuse is its a safety feature it is not very safe. I contacted ford via e-mail and they were nice enough to refer me back to the original ford dealership and send the dealership the e-mail I had sent to their customer support in confidence stating I did not trust the dealership and they should investigate their practices (for previous reasons relating to other car issues). Saw many posts in forums that this problem relates to the cooling pump for the electric motor. Ordering a new coolant pump online as I will not go to the ford (as I saw a post eloquently put) "stealership".
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid engine complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 55 of 55, newest first, as owners wrote them.
We were traveling on the freeway when a warning appeared on the display " stop safely now ". The engine lost power and we managed to move the car to the side of the road. I restarted the car and it appeared to work ok. Drove another 10 miles and the "stop safely now" reappeared and the car lost power. We pulled over. We waited for 10 minutes, restarted the car and it drove us home. Later when we were driving up our street, the same thing occurred.
Driving on the interstate and the car shuts down displaying a stop safely now error.... Apparently a faulty pump. The same pump that we've already replaced 3 times..... Not only is this annoying but it's a huge safety problem. The vehicle loses all power!
While traveling on an interstate hwy at 70 MPH and passing a semi, the engine shut off and the stop safely now warning came on. There was no warning, I lost speed and barely moved out of the way of the truck. This failure almost cost me and my passenger our lives. The car started again about half an hour later but only ran long enough to limp to a gas station. We called aaa, had the car towed to a dealership where they diagnosed it as either the ignition switch or the PCM...I have two sons who are top mechanics. This is not the problem. They believe a wiring harness for the hybrid battery is defective, and that there was a letter sent to all hybrid owners. I took this letter to the local dealership when I received it. They said it didn't pertain to my vehicle and did not perform the required maint. Really? This is a serious safety hazard. How many accidents, deaths, or near misses must happen before ford reacts and actually owns up? Fyi blogging is out there for us all!
While driving on highway at high speed (55mph), entire powertrain (gas engine and hybrid motor) completely shutdown with no warning leading to an abrupt loss of power and control of the vehicle, and was unable to completely pull off the road safely. The dashboard information center just displayed "stop safely now." there was no warning of this at all. Vehicle would not restart. After sitting for one hour, vehicle restarted and drove perfectly for another 3 days, then the same thing happened again on local streets, leaving the car in a very dangerous position in the middle of the street. Brought into shop and they could not find anything wrong with it. I am almost afraid to drive this vehicle anymore.
While driving at 70 MPH on the highway, vehicle suddenly stops without warning and displays a "stop safely now" message. This happens on longer trips. It is very dangerous as there is no warning and no way to get off the highway. We are no longer safe to travel on the highway in this vehicle. This is a danger to all on the road and has been reported over and over happening with these vehicles.
At 65 MPH on hwy 5 in los angeles the vehicle died and the " stop safely now" message came on. Fortunately, I was able to safely get from the 3rd lane to the shoulder. After putting the car in park and turning off the key I was able to restart and continue. About 15 miles later it did the same thing again with the same message. Again able to safely pull off the freeway and after putting it in park turned the key off and back on and was again on my way. Both times the cruise control was on so after that I did not use the cruise and have not had another occurrence.
I was driving down the highway in my 2006 ford escape hybrid going about 65 MPH and started to accelerate to pass another vehicle and my car suddenly shut down. It was as if I slammed on the brakes. And I could not pick up speed after that. There was no warning on my dashboard only the display saying to "stop safely now". I pulled over and let the car idle for a minute. There was still not other warning and the car was not making any noises and no steam coming from hood. I shut it down, waited a minute, then restarted it. It started back up fine. Nothing on the display now and still not making any noise. I pulled ahead a little to see if it would move and it did. I let it idle for another minute then proceeded back onto highway to try to get home. I got up to about 40 MPH and the same exact thing happened. I pulled back to side of highway and called aaa for a tow truck. When the tow truck came about 1 1/2 hours later, my car would not start at all at that point. Towed it to a shop who then said the car's oil was not reading on the dipstick. I had my oil changed in march by a reputable company and have always had my oil changed consistently. They told me my engine was gone and I needed a whole new one. I then had my car towed to a ford dealership, where I bought, it for a second opinion and he said the same thing that I needed to have my engine replaced due to internal engine noise. They also told me I needed the throttle body and coolant pump replaced. They also said no visible external oil leaks and no indication of internal engine use such as "blow-by". Their overall estimate to fix my car, including a new engine, is $8000.00. I never had at any point any indication that something was wrong with my car. No noises, no warning lights. I bought it brand new. I can't afford repairs of that magnitude. I called ford and they said there is nothing they can do.
August 2011 - had driven approximately 200 miles tn into va when stop safely now message appears. Pulled over, waited a few minutes and started the engine. No help available locally as it was small town late saturday. Decided to continue trip home - drove slowly in right lane for last 200 miles. No recurrance the rest of the way. My mechanic could find nothing wrong upon return home. Did not occur again until june 9, 2012 - about 150 miles from home. Same scenario - stopped for a minute then went on. Happened again on june 20, 2012. After stop and go traffic then running at 70 MPH when message appears, this time the engine shut down immediatly and I barely got onto the shoulder with traffic speeding by about 2 feet off my right. Tried to start again but message that the engine was dangerously heated appeared. After sitting for about 10 minutes, it started, I turned on the heat (despite 90+ outside temp) and got off at next exit and parked for about an hour. Started up and drove home. No other occurance since. My mechanic tells me now that I need a coolant pump based on the stored service code. Will cost over $700 part and labor. Just hope it fixes it. It is extremely dangerous when the engine shuts down with only seconds of warning. In the area I live, I wouldn't always be able to even get onto a shoulder safely.
Since 2010, when I've driven my car on the highway the stop safely light comes on. It stops right in traffic within minutes, leaving me know time to pull off. I've taken the car to the dealer and had all kinds of work completed from brakes to tuneup, then it starts again. This week was the work, june 3, 2012 the car stopped on a major highway in chicago and I was really scared for my life as other cars had to pull on their brakes. I have been to several dealers to tell me that nothing was wrong since 2012, while others tell me once we fix the brakes, the fuel filter, etc then the light will stay off, I've had no such luck. I invested a lot of money for this car only to be scared to drive it. I'm a mom of four children and I have not received any help from ford. I keep getting fix this or that only to have the same light come on and be stopped again, time after time.
On my way to work this morning the warning "stop safely now", illuminated on my dash and the vehicle immediately shutdown in the middle of the road. I was very fortunate that I was only going 25 miles per hour and immediately put my emergency lights on which prevented traffic from rear ending me. I had to have the vehicle towed awaiting diagnosis which I am being told by the deal will probably be related to the hybrid battery cooling system. This is a critical safety issues that must be addressed.
2006 ford escape hybrid, right after the warning "stop safely now", the car shut down right in the middle of the road, and it happened three times on my way home. After web research, it is quite common for the ford escape hybrid cars. It is very dangerous since there is no time for you to stop safely before the car shut down, not even a 5 or 10 seconds. The dealer check it out, it was a water pump failure caused this, called ford, but ford denied any assistance. The repair costs more than $600.00. This is a safety issue and it is need to be fixed. Who is going to drive a car which will shut down in the middle of the road without any time to respond to?
My 2006 ford escape hybrid caught fire in the middle of the night 8 hours after the car was last used.
I experienced a catastrophic engine failure while highway driving @ 70 MPH. There was a loud sound from the engine, then a "stop the vehicle safely now" warning, and the engine stopped functioning.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 ford escape hybrid. The contact has experienced multiple failures with the vehicle shutting off without warning. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle shut off and all of the instrument panel lights illuminated. In addition, a light illuminated that read, "stop safely now". The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but they could not duplicate or determine the cause of the failure. The dealer advised the contact to call the manufacturer. The manufacturer stated that the dealer would call him to take the vehicle back to the dealer. When the vehicle was taken back to the dealer, they still could not duplicate the failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer could provide a remedy for the failure. The vehicle continues to shut off while driving at any speed. The failure mileage was 37,692 and current mileage was 52,000. Updated 08/19/09.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history