Two problems related to transmission slip out of gear have been reported for the 2008 Ford Escape. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Ford Escape based on all problems reported for the 2008 Escape.
My wife was driving when she went to take off and the car went to around 3500 rpm before shifting out of first gear. We took it that day to the Ford dealer and it was diagnosed with a broken overdrive band and the car is missing 2nd and 4th gear. I have done a google search of this issue and it is a very common one on this car. There are thousands and thousands of complaints out there. It is so common that when I picked it up at the Ford dealer they told me there was no charge for the diagnosis even though I had not had it fixed yet as they knew exactly what the problem was without taking it apart. They said they see it all the time. If my wife had been pulling into traffic when this happened and was expecting it to take off like normal she could have been in a wreck as the car will not take off like normal. She was very lucky. How Ford can get away with not doing a recall when this is such a common issue is beyond belief. I am now looking at a minimum $1300 bill just to fix that part. That is if I don't do a rebuild or new transmission. This is the 6 cylinder version of this vehicle.
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 55 mph, the vehicle decelerated and shifted out of gear. The contact mentioned that the wrench warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the technician diagnosed that the second and fourth gears malfunctioned. As a result, the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 75,000.