Engine cradle, part of the frame is under recall,is broke. Dealer applied "band-aid" manufacturer declines to replace broken cross-member, even though it is under recall. Recall #14v165000
2004 Ford Escape suspension complaints
Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 154, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I just purchased a used 2004 ford escape xlt with only 45,000 miles on it (12 years old, 45,000'what I thought was a diamond in the rough). It had undercoating to protect from rust when it was new. Very well taken care of, like new inside! So imagine my surprise after driving it 2 months when the passenger side rear wheel well started falling apart (wasn't like that when I bought it). Within a 3 week span it was almost completely destroyed. Again it was protected with undercoating and still rusted out all those years in a garage being barely driven!!! I asked about getting both sides done while it's in the shop and mechanic said the driver side rear well was fine and in good shape, almost no rust at all. Ford stocks only the passenger wheel well, not the driver side. This is obviously a known manufacturing failure/substandard part that ford doesn't want to own beyond selling you the replacement part. I'm losing appreciation for "american made" values. This one is especially upsetting because it's a brand I previously held in high regard. This easily could have been dangerous at high speeds on my trips.
Right rear fender well rusted away showing inside of trunk liner and making loud banging noises
Shock frame support on right rear side completely rusted out making vehicle unsafe to drive along with entire area rusting out prematurely. I can see the outside thru my speaker grill. How could this not be a safety recall when it is clearly a ford defect? Repair quotes in the $2000- $2500 range.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford escape. While driving at an unknown speed over a bump in the road, the vehicle emitted a clucking noise. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing, which indicated that the front suspension bar was fractured. The front suspension bar was replaced. The contact also stated that the brake lines also failed due to corrosion. The brake lines were replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 125,715. ..updated 02/01/16 *bf
Right side rear shock absorber tower rusted out
Right rear wheel well rusted through and the shock and spring punched through the body of the car. Highly dangerous, as our children and my wife drive the car, but the only indication that this occurred was an occasional loud noise (mimicking a shock absorber bottoming out). Until I inspected the vehicle, nothing else, such as handling or other factors warned of the dire situation. For instance, my wife travels back and fourth to her parents via a busy highway covering about 50-60 miles multiple times a week and this could have caused a fatal crash. My guess if we have been driving on this based on the occasional noise for 2 months.
Ford's 14s02 recall was to deal with excessive rust on a subframe unit. If the recall inspection of the subframe did not result in characteristics warranting replacement, ford instructed dealers to install a cross brace. Approximately 13 months after our 2004 ford escape had the cross brace installed the subframe unit failed while we were driving. The car violently jerked to the side and if there had been another car or any obstacle on that side of our vehicle we would have hit it. I contacted ford several times and on each occasion was told ford would not cover the cost of the repairs because they had already installed the cross brace - which was not the part that failed and was not the part for which the recall was initiated. The repair cost over $800. At the time of the incident the escape had fewer than 60,000 miles. During each on my calls to ford, and after being told ford would not cover the repair costs, I asked to speak with a supervisor. Each time I was told they could have a supervisor call me 1 business day later, but they would not give me a time when I could expect the call so I had to be available at any time throughout the day. To summarize, the band-aid ford put on to deal with the subframe problem (the cross brace) did not fail. The part for which the recall was initiated did fail even with the cross brace. Ford is denying coverage for the repair costs.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford escape. The contact noticed that the front passenger side subframe was separated from the lower control arm. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced the failure listed in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v165000 (structure); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.
I was driving down the road and the shock and wheel detached due to the corrosion of the back of the frame.
Wheel well rusted through to interior of car, shock dislocated from wheel well. We just moved to raleigh from michigan. See related news articles: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/04/07/ford-recall-fusion-escape/7427299/ http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/almost-400-000-old-ford-escape-suvs-recalled-1560352974 http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/ford-motor-company/dearborn-michigan-/ford-motor-company-factory-defect-to-escape-vechicles-dearborn-michigan-904056 http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2004/ford/escape/suspension/problem.aspx
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford escape. The contact stated that the rear passenger side shock tower completely rusted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 111,200.
While driving home, I heard a loud bang coming from the passenger-side rear wheel. When I got home and looked at it, I noticed the strut had completely rusted away from the frame. I researched this issued on the internet and have found it to be very common to the year and make of this vehicle.
I have 2004 ford escape the rear shock towers rusted out I think ford shoud recall for fix at there cost others have that issue to I think it a safety issue and it needs to be fixed.
Right rear shock breaking free due to rusted out inner fender well. Called ford. They wont back the problem even though thousands of owners have complained and there are currently no replacement parts for repair. This is an unsafe situation and causes a swerve in stability. It is also causing repairs to be made unsafely with cob job fixes. It needs to be addressed with ford to do something about it...updated 08/27/15 *bf updated 12/3/15
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford escape. The contact stated that the recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v165000 (structure) was received in may of 2014. In june of 2014, the vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the subframe and the lower control arm. The remedy included installation of a newly designed reinforcement cross-brace. The recall remedy was not performed on the vehicle. In july of 2015, while driving at various speeds an abnormal pumping sound was heard coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the lower control arm failed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,450.
My escape has completely rusted out on the rear passenger wheel well. The strut is just hanging there. I can not believe this is not a safety issue. Does someone have to die to get a recall. Come on ford stand up and do something.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford escape. While driving approximately 20 MPH over a speed bump, an abnormal noise came from the rear of the vehicle without warning. The failure recurred on several occasions while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear passenger shock tower had excessive rust and fractures, and had begun to detach from the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 97,911.
The car began making a loud creaking that I suspected was the back window or something inside. It got worse after a couple of days. I pulled over and checked those and then the wheel wells, and the back right wheel well was rusted so badly that the shock mount was nearly completely detached. It detached the rest of the way over the course of the 2 mile drive to my home. This is apparently a common problem with this make and model, especially in the 201-2004 range, and can affect handling. It has been referred to as a factory defect and a recall was issued for this in some vehicles, but not mine. The local ford dealership will not look at it because any repair would require alteration to the body, so they've referred me to a body shop.
My wife was going to the store and hit a small bump in the road at approx. 35mph. When she returned home she said there was a rattle in the rear of her car/truck. I took a look and the top of the shock and the shock housing was completely broken away from the suspension of the car/truck. The entire wheel well broke away from the car/truck. Can not drive our car/truck in this condition. Glad she was not hurt. Could have got caught in rear wheel. I see a lot of these cars/trucks with same problem. Ford needs to repair my ride!!!!
Changed the rear shocks after a week with the new shocks in I noticed a noise when going over bumps the shock mount is rusted out and the car is now unable to be driven until it is fixed and from what I have been reading most shops will not touch it because of a liability issue, not to mention if I find a garage that will fix it the cost is going to be more than the value of the vehicle! Why has this not been recalled yet? Very very dangerous!
Driving down the road when I heard a loud bang. Maybe hit a small pothole. Upon investigation, the entire sheet metal section where the rear strut mounts to the body was rusted through. All other wheel wells do not have this problem. Clearly a production problem with the underbody coating. Many other formal safety complaints talk about this particular wheel well. This vehicle was manufactured in kansas city assembly in 10/03. This should be investigated as a safety recall item as it can impact stability in cornering.
The right rear (passenger rear) wheel well has corroded so bad that the strut mounts are beginning to fail. All other wheel wells have not corroded at all.
Going 20 MPH down side road and hit pot hole. The part that you mount the rear shock to came apart do to rust and knocked a hole in rear wheel housing. Car is unrivalled and insurance will not cover do to it being a time related thing. There was no rust in wheel well or holes before. Very very disappointed. I insurance said it's a flaw in the design of ford. They have no recalls in past or present.
Rear passenger wheel well rusted shock came off. Ford won't fix it. Driving with one rear shock.
The right rear passenger wheel well rusted out, causing the sudden dislocation/breaking of the shock mount which in turned caused damage to my tire, and wore through the interior of the car. The damage is extensive and upon researching the issue, it appears that this exact thing has happened (only on the right rear side of the vehicle) to thousands of 2004/2005/2006 escapes. This has been a known issue since at least 20011/2012 and is a dangerous defect that is usually not cost effective to fix, based on the mileage of the cars at the time of the problem. Because the left rear does not experience this issue, it must be a defect in manufacturing and ford really needs to step up and offer a recall to fix it as well as reimbursing owners who've experienced the problem and chosen to do repairs to a vehicle in otherwise great running order.
Right rear wheel well completely rusted out and shock mount which was bolted to it fell and is hanging next to and on the wheel along with a ball of sharp twisted metal from the wheel well. Heard noises from back of car past month or so but thought it was something in the cargo compartment. Then went over pothole and loud bang like the exhaust pipe fell and was dragging. Then a burning rubber smell. The metal piece is about to pierce the tire and the shock itself is hanging and banging against tire. Car is undrivable and may be unfixable in that the fix would be worth more than the car. I of course can not get another car right now due to financial reasons so without a car now because of this. The other wheel wells seem fine, no rust. Though there is a few rust spots on the bottom of the running boards and one of the doors (which there should not be in this day and age any rust) to have this immense amount of rust only in one well tells me something is wrong with the design or the paint job at the factory. If a tire blows out it could kill someone traveling at highway speeds in an SUV . This is a defect, not aging. Needs to be a recall. Though the car is 11 I have less than 90,000 on it. I should not have to trash the car due to body rot at 90,000. If this was due to aging or weather all the wheel wells would be like this.
Rear passenger wheel well where the shock mounts to the body is completely rusted out and detached from the upper body of the vehicle. I was traveling on the interstate at about 65mph when this piece broke loose from the rest of the body. This is very dangerous, and almost caused me a serious accident on a busy highway. There are hundreds of other complaints filed just in this database alone with the same exact issue, rust/corrosion of the rear passenger wheel well where the shock mounts to the body. The ford dealership that I had my vehicle towed to told us that they have recently seen 4 or 5 other escapes that have the same exact issue. Please investigate, this is a serious safety concern.
The right rear wheel well rusted out and separated from vehicle body. Created suspension problem and hazardous driving condition. This is apparently a known issue with several ford products according to the repair shop that has not been addressed by ford.
Clunking noise and rough ride. Found passenger side rear wheel well extremely rusted out and shock essentially detached from vehicle. The rest of the vehicle has no rust aside from small surface rust on non-painted pieces. Searched online to find this problem is extremely common with these escapes, yet no recall has been issued despite the obvious defect and safety concerns.
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