Six problems related to side/window air bag have been reported for the 2001 Ford Escape. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Ford Escape based on all problems reported for the 2001 Escape.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Escape. While driving different speeds, the accelerator pedal became stuck. The contact placed the vehicle in neutral and depressed the brake pedal, which caused the vehicle to jerk and continue normal driving. The contact also stated that the passenger side air bag had bubbles and appeared as though it would explode. The failures were not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was 163,000.
On November 11, 2013, while my wife was driving a 2001 Ford Escape at night approximately 65 mph on interstate 5 in northern California, the front side airbag on the drivers side (built into the driver's seat backrest) spontaneously deployed, frightening and nearly causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The car had not hit a pot hole or any other object that might explain the deployment of the airbag. The airbag hit the drivers arm, causing red marks that lasted a day, but fortunately no lasting injury. After pulling the car over and finding no other damage (besides the ripped-out side of the backrest with the deflated airbag) that would affect operation of the vehicle, it was driven home approximately 10 miles. The incident has been reported to Ford customer service and, on 11/14, was driven to jim wilson Ford in yreka, CA to try to determine the cause and cost of repair. The dealer said that two or three malfunctions could have caused the airbag to deploy, but they couldn't pin down the cause. Cost of repair is estimated to be $2,043. As of today (11/21/13), the airbag has not been repaired, thinking that more investigation might be proposed for the potentially serious and even deadly defect.
Drivers side airbag assembly replaced approx. 3 weeks ago. On 9/08/2001, warning light flashed again, leading us to conclude that another system failure occurred.
While driving at 50 mph consumer was involved in a t-bone in which neither driver's side nor passenger's side air bags deployed. Also, there was major front end damage to vehicle.
Safety restraint systems,; passenger's side air bag cover will pop off, and over a period of time, air bag will start seeping out. This has been replaced by dealership three times. Also driver's side seat belt buckle will not remain (female piece) latched. This has been replaced by dealership twice.
Vehicle was traveling at 43 mph, rolled once, hit an embankment, rolled again, was hit head-on, then hit from rear. Vehicle has both front airbags and front side airbags, neither airbag deployed. Consumer worried about safety.