2022 Ford Escape: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Feb 6, 2026 · Acceleration · 35,000 miles · OR

The contact owns a 2022 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the cruise control feature became inoperable. The failure of the cruise control caused the vehicle to accelerate to 74 MPH unintendedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the dealer failed to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.

Filed Apr 25, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · OH

Timeline of Events: •~March 2024 – Ongoing: Intermittent system alerts begin appearing at random. Includes: •AWD Temporarily Disabled •Auto Hold System Fault •Park Aid Fault •Drive Mode Not Available •Hill Start AssistNot Available •Service AdvanceTrac •Pre-Collision Assist Not Available •Power Steering Loss •Cruise Control not working •BLIS acting erratic •Squeaky brakes and “locked up” feel when glitch occurs •4/11/24: First major cluster of alerts appears. All systems shut off at once. Power steering was lost, difficult to turn. •4/17/24: Vehicle brought in for oil change. Brakes, tires, battery all checked and are in good condition. •4/21/24: Alerts occur again while driving. Same issues appear and disappear at random. •4/22/24: Vehicle returned to dealership. Intermittent issues discussed. No clear resolution found. •4/25/24: Alerts triggered again. Becoming more frequent. Safety systems failing during normal driving.

Filed Jul 12, 2024 · Seats · WI · 1 injury

Driver's side seat: I use heated seat at times along with a/c to help my lower back pain. On [XXX] I was using it. I moved my right leg as I was driving with cruise control and I felt some skin tear off of the back of my thigh. Of course, it hurt and I immediately put my hand down and the seat was ridiculously hot! I had to keep my hand cupped underneath as I pulled off on the next exit. My daughter, [XXX] , was with me to witness this. She took pics in the gas station bathroom. I had 3 blisters total and 1 had ripped open with the skin hanging on the side. I have diabetes and diabetic neuropathy. Not a good combination with a defective heated seat that overheats to the point of blisters! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Oct 26, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · UT

During vehicle operation, on occasion, entire vehicle instrument panel goes dark and shuts off, which includes speedometer and warning lights. Cruise control deactivates and all displays and warning indicators de-luminate. System will turn back on and flash multiple error codes before returning to normal. Sync/navigation system will also go out.

Filed Jan 2, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · OH · crash

I used to drive my Ford Escape just perfectly and I was happy. I liked it. One day in December 2022, I drove my car normally and perfectly during the day. Then, after work, I went to do my shopping. After I finished shopping, I drove my car again. I changed the cruise control settings. After less than a mile, I was tuning left at low and normal speed less than 10MPH. Suddenly, I found the car accelerated on its own and I lost the control of the wheel. I did not feel the pedals under my feet, no resistance. Every thing was out of my control. Then, the car hit a tree. Fortunately, no injury, I had a pain lasted for weeks, but no injury. There are huge smokes, but no fire. The car was declared as a total loss, and I lost a lot of money. After that I was curious what happened to me. I found complaints about Ford Escape, in which the drivers stating the same experience as mine. The accelerated on its own after adjusting the cruise control. That’s inspired me to complain and warn other driver about the safety of this car. I don’t know the main reason the car accelerated, but I hope it will be investigated. However, I found that Ford has a recall in the last week of November (a week before my accident) related to fuel injection. I searched again and I found that the problems on car’s computer, fuel injector or ECU could lead to uncontrolled amount of fuel passing to the engine and may cause acceleration or burn. I am very lucky that the acceleration didn’t hit people or the car burnt from speed and heat. Again, I don’t know what happened, but I hope it will be investigated to safe lives of others. Photos can be supported upon request. The car is now with the insurance company.

Filed Aug 18, 2022 · Acceleration · VA · crash

On June 21 Inn the afternoon my wife and I were driving on I-94 near Minneapolis, MN in a rental car. Suddenly the car started accelerating on its own – and the acceleration was aggressive (“pedal to the metal” type acceleration). I hit the brakes but nothing happened. As the car continued to accelerate I pumped the brakes taped on the accelerator and hit the ignition switch but nothing would slow the car. I could see congestion further ahead of us with slow moving vehicles and all lanes occupied. I started looking for an escape route – one that would hopefully enable us to survive while not hurting/injuring others. To my right I saw a an entry or exit ramp and on the other side of the ramp was an embankment. I turned toward the embankment, crossing the ramp and going up the embankment not knowing what was on the other side of it. I must have been going at least 100 mph when I topped the embankment. As we went over the embankment I looked down and saw a parking lot that looked vacant. It seemed to me that the parking lot was 6-8 feet below us (the EMT later said it was 10-12 ft). We both lost consciousness when we hit the ground in the parking lot (and the air bags deployed). When we regained consciousness we had hit an object in the parking lot. The rescue squad arrived soon thereafter. An hour earlier that afternoon I was adjusting the cruise control when suddenly the car accelerated unexpectedly. I hit the brakes and the cruise control went off as it should. I then attempted to adjust it again and again the car accelerated unexpectedly. This time when I hit the brakes the car continued to accelerate. I pumped the brakes but the acceleration continued. The car finally stopped accelerating when I turned the cruise control off. I wondered if I should continue using the cruise control since it had malfunctioned but decided to try it and it seemed to be working so I continued on using the cruise control. In hindsight that was a serious mistake.