Brake Light problems of the 2002 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Escape. The contact's wife was stopped by the police because the brake lights were not illuminated. There was no warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer who was unable to open the rear door in order to repair the brake lights. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.

Had been having a problem with a loud squeaking noise coming from the steering column when turning; checked the NHTSA service bulletins and found a bulletin from June 1, 2003 noting this same problem; check engine light was also on again; I made an appt at dealer to check out these issues (4/7/04). Took vehicle in on 4/9/04. Dealer found the following problems: noise was coming from the upper steering column because the wiring for the horn was pulled out and rubbing on the contact plate; additional noise found at lower end of steering column dealer deactivated the airbag system to remove and replace the steering wheel and contact; also found that they had to replace the steering column boot, which had to be ordered at the same time, a recall was issued for this vehicle regarding the power train control module; dealer performed the recall vehicle was in the shop from 4/9 - 4/14 and dealer had to pay for a rental car steering column boot was ordered and I had to take the vehicle back into the dealer on 4/23/04 to have them install it. After leaving the dealer on the 23rd, I realized that my horn, cruise control and left brake light were all inoperable, so I took the vehicle back into the dealer on 4/26/04. Dealer found that the clock spring was not making contact, so they had to deactivate the airbag again to remove the steering wheel and replace the clock spring; for the rear brake light, the dealer had to replace the bulb element vehicle was in the dealer for two days and they had to pay for a rental car for me again,.