May 30th, 2012 2008 ford escape stopped at a stop light, gas pedal was stuck rendering vehicle unable to move. Mileage was approximately 70,000 miles. Had vehicle towed to local ford dealership. They replaced the entire pedal assembly. Within about 3 months, the pedal seemed to start catching again. Problem is intermitted not continuous but very dangerous in heavy traffic. Owner must press firmly to get the gas pedal to work which causes the SUV to leap forward. Just over a year after the pedal assembly was replace, it is being replacing again due to the same sticking problem.
2008 Ford Escape acceleration complaints
Page 5 of 7: complaints 101 to 130 of 175, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The gas pedal sticks. I have been told it is most likely the throttle body. It is getting progressively worse and I fear it may lead to an accident if it is not repaired.
I have a 2008 ford escape purchased used in 2011, and from day one been having problems. I brought it back to the dealership within the first week I purchased it. It stalled while driving and they couldn't resolve/find the problem. The problem went away, only to come back to where the car stalled when ever I came to a stop and engine light on. Now it doesn't stall but has a rough idle, hesitates when shifting gears and the check engine and throttle light comes on.driving in traffic I feel I will get whiplash from it not accelerating when trying pressing the gas and it not going and bucking. I see im not alone with this problem. I feel ford should play a part in fixing this being that's its not the driver obviously its the car! If I could afford to get another car I would but have no choice to be stuck with this one.
At the time I was driving this car I was going around a curb in a parking garage when I suddenly lost acceleration on the gas pedal. The pedal went flat to the floor and apparently came undone from its cable. I was unable to drive the car and called a tow company. The tow driver hooked the cable back up for me and I was able to drive again. After searching on line, it appears that ford offers an inexpensive plastic clip that could prevent this in the future. This is the second time it has happened since I had this car. This is a defect on ford's part and there should certainly be a recall for this to prevent an accident from happening. Ford wanted me to bring the car in and charge me alot for the service. They need to acknowledge this problem since many other 2008 ford escape owners have had the same problem.
Just had the transmission on my 2008 ford escape give out on me. After reading multiple articles on the web, I saw it was a common issue with ford. Apparently there was a service notice for a ford car with the same transmission as my escape. I find it ridiculous that I have less than 50k miles on my vehicle and now am having to fix the transmission. I feel like ford should fix this issue at no cost to me because they are using faulty transmissions. That they know are defective.
After being at a stop my 2008 ford escape surges forward with the slightest acceleration being given to the gas pedal. I have nearly rear ended people on several occasions. I can't afford a new car. How safe is this for myself and a 4 year old son!?
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the throttle became stuck and the vehicle accelerated without manual force. The contact was able to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis but they were unable to duplicate the problem. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 93,000.
Vehicle fails to accelerate properly after a complete stop. Rpm's are raised to high before the transmission shifts into 2nd gear.
I pulled into a parking space at around 5-10 MPH, hit the brakes and the accelerator pedal stuck. The car took of at around 40-50mph jumped a fence and crashed into a ravine, hitting a big tree. I was pinned in the automobile hit my head and injured my leg. I was taken to the emergency room where I suffered a spinal cord injury and a huge hematoma on my left leg.
Sticky throttle. Especially when weather is cold. Something is not catching and I have to pump gas pedal to get it to catch. Please recall!!
Accelerator pedal sticks in the up position in cold weather. If slammed with driver's foot it will release then start operating...this is an unsafe driving condition. The problem occurs every winter. Vehicle was taken in for warranty work for this specific problem at least 5 times. Throttle body was replaced two times but problem has not been fixed. After the throttle body was replaced, the vehicle would operate correctly for a few months then the problem would return. Ford dealerships ( two different ones) and ford customer service center operator & supervisor refused to acknowledge any design problem with the vehicle .
Traveling on road. Press on gas pedal nothing happens. Gas pedal will not go down. No response from pedal .no warning lights come on. Car loses speed.car will not accelerate. Taken to ford dealer. Replaced throttle cable and gasket.
Traveling at 50 MPH down the highway and the car "stalled" and drastically lost speed. Was able to pull to the side of the highway, put it in park, and restart the engine. The car made it the 2 miles back home without further incident. Did research on the problem and discovered a website with complaints about ford's throttle bodies being defective and causing similar incidents. I took the car in for repair and the mechanic test drove the vehicle and experienced the same "stalling" two times. After he looked at the throttle body to see if it was broken or had blockage, and after he called the ford dealership for insight, he suggested replacing the throttle body. The throttle body was replaced at a cost of $624.30. There have been no further incidents since replacement.
I have almost been in many accidents recently on the highway and at green lights. The gas pedal keeps freezing and is like a wall. It will all of a sudden not move and no matter how hard I push it is stuck. Then all of a sudden it starts and accelerates really fast. Is very dangerous and today it almost got me into a serious accident on the highway when it all of a sudden wouldn't work.
This is an update to previous incident. $10486901 having spent the previous ($900) to find the problem, customer took the vehicle to a ford dealership repair shop. They agreed with the other mechanics that the instrument cluster was defective, but said that they could not give anything in writing till I paid their diagnostic fee ($135) and saw for themselves. I agreed. Now I have spent another ($1120) to replace the instrument cluster. I also have in writing from the ford dealership that the speed cannot be viewed while driving (it reads 0 MPH) and is a safety issue. Contact me for the next step.
I was stopped at a stop sign and went to take off and the gas pedal would not go down no matter how hard I pushed. This has happened periodically over the last two years when driving, however it would be for only just seconds. Today it went on for approximately 5 minutes and I lifted the pedal up and moved the mat to make sure it was not stuck underneath. After 5 to 10 minutes of sitting at the stop sign, it started to work again. I was able to drive for another quarter of a mile and it again locked up and I couldn't push it down and the car came to a standstill in the middle of the road. Fortunately no cars were coming. After another 5 minutes it started to work again and then worked fine as I drove 20 miles into work. Upon leaving work, the pedal locked up briefly approximately a dozen times and the would unlock. This time I was in rush hour traffic and it was much more hazardous. Today was extremely scared because the car came to a standstill with no power. If I had been on the freeway I would have caused an accident that could have resulted in major injuries.
I was driving my 2008 ford escape and was waiting at an intersection to turn left when the green light came on. I proceeded to step on the gas pedal so I could go but for some reason the gas pedal was hard and the car would not move no matter how hard I pressed on the pedal. I kept on pressing the gas pedal and eventually the vehicle bolted and went into the middle of the instersection where the left turning light signal was now gone and now found myself in the middle of incoming traffic. Traffic had to stop both directions and eventually after continuously pressing on the gas pedal, the car moved and eventually I was able to leave the intersection. The same situation occurred again a day later while driving and I had to continuously press on the gas pedal to keep moving while it was raining and then the day after that. This is becoming a hazard and a safety issue for me. I contacted ford but was told that because the car is no longer under warranty they cannot do anything about it. Since I have contacted ford before about the same problem I 2010 and received a letter 3 years ago to take the car to be fixed, I assumed that ford would have fixed it again since this is clearly a manufacturing defect issue with the gas pedal. I would like the ntsa to investigate this gas pedal that is sticking and hopefully force ford to recall such vehicles as they are a death trap especially for an expectant mother.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape xlt. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate from a complete stop and the accelerator pedal was extremely difficult to depress. Once the vehicle accelerated, it did so at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was later taken to the dealer where it was found that the throttle body failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Approximately 5 years later, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 120. The current mileage was approximately 84,000.
My gas pedal sticks, especially when it's cold out. I've talked to ford about it and 3 other mechanics and no one knows why. I have a heated garage so it's not frozen. Not sure what to do but is embarrassing and dangerous!
Gas pedal sticks, especially in cold weather. Have had to put car into neutral on more than 1 occasion due to pedal sticking at high speed. Also sticks when accelerating at low speed, making acceleration almost impossible.
When the vehicle is first started, it is impossible to press the accelerator and after a few moments, the accelerator will depress. There is no indication when the accelerator will be free and great care must be taken to avoid a sudden lunge forward. Just allowing the vehicle to idle and warm up does not seem to make any difference.
When the weather gets cold the gas pedal becomes stuck and will not depress. After repositioning foot, the pedal would depress. Yesterday on 12/27/12 the pedal would not depress while driving, which almost caused an accident because I could not accelerate when needed. I took the car to the ford dealer and the issue was with the throttle body, which had to be replaced. This seems to be a dangerous issue and a recall should be issued.
As the weather has been getting colder, I started to notice how difficult it was for me to accelerate. This incident has been occurring every morning. On wednesday I mentioned it to the ford service person and he said that it could be the body throttle. On thursday I noticed that the acceleration problem continued more frequently as I drove to work. Upon internet searching I saw an article about your investigation and wanted to add my information. Today I had the car serviced and the body throttle was replaced. With the weather getting colder and this part will mostly like will work hap hazardly, I feel that this is something that should be recalled by ford. How many fatal accidents and innocent people must become victims before safety procedures are implemented? [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape. While driving approximately 10 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed with a delayed response. There was a voluntary recall issued by the manufacturer related to the throttle however, the contact's VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer and an authorized dealer were notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 54,900. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape. The contact stated when he applied pressure to the accelerator it froze and stuck in place. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and was informed the failure was due to a throttle cable becoming detached from the pedal. The failure recurred numerous times but only whenever the weather was cold. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileage was 120,000. Updated 01/15/13*lj updated 1/23/2013 *js the consumer stated the failure was repaired twice and the failure recurred. Updated 1/23/2013
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape. The contact stated that while parked she placed the vehicle in reverse and depressed the accelerator pedal. The contact noticed the accelerator pedal was stiff and would not move. After depressing the accelerator pedal continually it finally responded. The failure occurred while stopped at a traffic light as well. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated there was a manufacturer recall but the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
Transmission issue: starting revving high on 1st gear skipping 2nd to 3rd. "slipping" took it in and was told after a scan that it would have to be rebuilt. Was told this also by ford as well as another 3rd party transmission place. All 3 of them admitted this is a very common issue. Paid 3000 to rebuild the unit. I was 3,000 miles over my ford esp. Ford refused to help me out at all. Many forums also list this as a problem.
I was driving my 2008 ford escape in a mall parking lot, and when I approach a stop sign the vehicle was extremely hard to stop. I had to use the full force of the brake all the way down to maintain the vehicle from surging/ crashing into cars in front of me. The engine was staying accelerated and would continue to climb in rpms even thou the gas pedal was not being pressed. I pulled off to the side away from other cars and put the car into parked. At this time the vehicle accelerated on its own to about 8000 rpms. The only way to stop the engine was to completely turn the car off with the key. Upon turning on the vehicle again the problem did not continue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floorboard. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis but the failure could not be replicated. The dealer stated that they replaced a part on the vehicle but the contact was unsure of what that part was specifically. Two weeks later the failure recurred. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 75,000. ....updated 10/11/12 *bf updated 10/17/2012
I was passing another vehicle - starting speed 40 MPH - when the escape went into passing gear the gas pedal stuck to the floor. I kicked at the pedal and the brake pedal trying to get the cruise control to release the pedal. I did not have the cruise control operating at the time as I had just went through a 45 MPH zone. I got my foot under the edge of the pedal and pulled it up. The car was up to 90 MPH on a two lane highway at 10:30 p.m coming into a curve. I have contacted ford motor company and they told me that there are no recalls for the 2008 escape, but I know there are recalls for other years for this same problem. The ford dealer repair shop could not make the pedal stick and told me there is nothing wrong with the car. I want to make ford and your agency aware that the 2008 escape has the same pedal sticking problem as the older models.
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