Ford Motor Company
Complaint 110572 Details

I bought a new 2009 Ford Escape in January of 2009 to tow behind my motor home. 2009 was the first year that the Escape was supposed to be towable with all four wheels down. That was the first year the owner's manual said it could be towed. After towing it approximately 18,000 miles the transmission burnt up on the way home from a trip. Fortunately we were close to home. Ford installed a re-manufactured transmission which failed after another 1,000 miles of being towed. This time we were 1,000 miles from home. By that time I was aware that a lot of RV'ers were having the same problem with the transmission burning up while being towed. Ford made some modifications to the transmissions, the recommended fluid levels were changed, and the prep procedure to get it ready for towing was modified. All of this to no avail. Some people went through four or more transmissions. Some of the vehicles actually caught fire and burned. Ford offered little or no help to any of these customers unless they went through a legal process. Can you imagine that. To qualify for the Lemon Laws in many States you have to experience at least four failures so that is why Ford forced these customers to continue on until they had at least four failures. When mine failed the second time we were at the start of an 8 week trip. So, being aware that the problem was wide spread and the "fixes" weren't working I decided to sell the Escape to the local dealer where I had brought it and I bought a Honda CR-V. It took that dealer two more weeks to get the transmission replaced so had we waited for it to be repaired we would have wasted at least 2-1/2 weeks waiting on it. I felt I didn't have any choice since we only do long distance travel and out of over 700 nights out with our motor home in the past 9 years we have only stayed inside our own State a total of 7 nights. So towing an unreliable car thousands of miles out of state was not an option. Before selling the car I asked Ford to buy it back, at least twice, and they stonewalled me. After selling it I continued to pursue restitution from Ford but again they steadfastly refused. Within the last few weeks I have found out that for the 2013 model Ford has stopped telling customers that they can tow the Escape. So, they have finally admitted that you can't tow the Escape. Now what about those of us who bought new and used Escapes that failed? I guess Ford just figures they can dump us and don't need us as customers anymore. I have told my story to many people and to a man they have vowed not to buy Ford vehicles due to this. If you are interested in this topic Google "Ford Escape Transmission Problems + Towing." You will find numerous horror stories. [Personal Information Removed]