2005 Ford Escape: windshield wiper failure

Filed Mar 23, 2011 · 126,642 miles · PA

Driving down the road at approx. 45 MPH, I hear a loud pop, and the rear window exploded. Nothing hit it, wiper was not on, rear defrost had turned off about 5 minutes prior. Luckily all of the glass, and I mean all because the entire rear window is gone, was either in the back of the truck or on the bumper. Now I am out almost $300 plus for what reason? Then I see I am not the first this has happened to. I don't know if other rear window components need replaced yet as I am still waiting to get the window replaced.

Filed Jan 3, 2011 · Visibility · 37,000 miles · MI

I was traveling about 30 MPH and was the only one on the road. The roads were covered with a light dusting of fluffy snow, and it was chilly.. About 21 degrees. The defroster had been on, but I had physically turned the defroster off about 5 minutes before the 'explosion'. I heard a horrible noise and was completely shocked to see there was very little of my rear window left. What?!!?! How could such things happen? And what a mess! There was glass everywhere, paint had been chipped, the shocks were hanging out, the wiper and motor were at an awkward angle...things were dangling everywhere. Unfortunately, it was a sunday and nothing was open to help with the repair until monday. So far, my insurance company has been somewhat helpful, but I've still had to pay out of pocket to get my vehicle repaired. Why do I even need to pay anything for something I did not cause?? My calls to ford haven't really gotten me anywhere yet, except to only reiterate there is no recall for such issues. I agree that with this many voiced complaints, ford should at least acknowledge there is an issue.

Filed Dec 27, 2010 · Visibility · 130,500 miles · 00

The rear window in our 2005 ford escape spontaneously exploded as I was driving along the road. The temperature was about 5 degrees celsius and it was raining. I was using the window defogger and the rear wiper. The explosion sounded like a shotgun blast and a large amount of glass flew into the vehicle. There was also glass on the rear bumper. My daughter and two of her friends were in the back seat when this happened, and glass flew in toward them. I maintained control of the vehicle, but was quite startled by the loud explosion! The driver's side hydraulic lift was hanging outside of the vehicle and the passenger side lift was still attached to a chunk of glass and in place in the frame of the window. My guess is that the hydraulic lift failed, exerted pressure on the window, and caused the explosion.

Filed Dec 29, 2009 · Visibility · 77,000 miles · KY

The rear glass hatch imploded just after exiting an interstate highway. Most of the glass was confined to the cargo area, a little glass reached the second row of seats and only a few shards reach the driver front seat area. Conditions at the time we 32 degrees with snow and rain, requiring the use of the rear window heater to keep off icing and use of windshield fluid to permit viewing while in heavy traffic in the cincinnati ohio area. The only indication of a problem prior to the explosion was a low hissing sound coming from the rear just moments before it happened. Repairs the next day found no problems with wiper, wiper motor or shorts in the electrical harness to the window defroster elements of the glass. No injuries were caused to my 2 passengers by the flying glass. However should this have happened just 20 seconds earlier while on the interstate in heavy traffic, the shock to me, the driver, could have caused an accident, since the first impression I had was that the vehicle had been struck, then upon realizing that the window had blown out I thought we might have been shot at.

Filed Feb 14, 2009 · Visibility · 67,000 miles · NY

I was driving home the temp was about 25 degrees and my back window exploded , nothing hit it just shattered into 1000 pieces. The sound scare the proverbial .... Out of me . The rear defrost had been on earlier but I had shut it off 5 minutes prior to incident. I had glass replaced, which was covered by my insurance , but I had to pay for the cost of wiper motor.

Filed Dec 19, 2008 · Visibility · 28,000 miles · NH

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. While driving approximately 30 MPH in the snow, the front windshield would not defrost and the windshield wipers became inoperable. A local repair shop replaced the windshield wipers. The defrost system would not defrost the windshield during inclement weather for over a year. The vehicle was driven to a local repair shop and the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure; however, he replaced the thermostat. The manufacturer stated that they were not responsible for the repairs. The dealer advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for repairs. The current mileage was 44,000 and failure mileage was 28,000. Updated 01/09/09. *lj updated 01/09/09.

Filed Sep 11, 2008 · Airbags · 52,000 miles · AZ · crash · 1 injury

My wife was driving our 2005 ford escape. She failed to yield and hit a 2006 dodge charger, that was going close to 45 MPH, in the passenger's side smashing in both of his doors. The front of her car is damaged enough to break off the engine mount, front bumper is gone, windshield wiper fluid reservoir was actually on the pavement. All of this and the airbags were not deployed. The shop that the car is being repaired at says that the airbags should have been deployed in this type of accident. Had this been at a slightly higher speed we would be looking at a death, not an injury.