Headlights problems of the 2014 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 70 mph at night, the center information console failed to display an image as well as pertinent vehicle safety information. The contact then became aware that the headlights were not functioning. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 48,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. While driving 5 mph, the headlights became dim and the vehicle crashed into a large landscaping stone. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 8,000.

After 3 visits to the dealership beginning in October 2015 complaining that the dashboard lights including radio will brighten and dim on an erratic basis. The Ford dealership identified the problem as a defective sun load sensor cv6z19e663a and ordered the part under warranty on 1/18/16 at the time I was told that the part would be available in a couple of days. 4 weeks passed no part filed complaint with Ford case # cas-8813513 now it is 6+ weeks still no part. I consider the erratic dimming and brightening of the dashboard lights when the headlights are on as a safety issue as the erratic behavior causes a distraction. The inability of Ford to provide a replacement part on a prompt basis under warranty when the part in question continues to be used in current production vehicles does not make sense to me.

The dash lights will not dim automatically as described in the manual as well as from Ford technicians. They are on full bright all the time. An analogy would be like having an oncoming car having its headlights on high beam at night and therefore be blinding. There is a manual override to adjust but this must be done every time the car is started. I talked to a Ford rep and was told, "nothing is perfect, deal with it". The local service department has no knowledge on how to repair it as Ford has yet to issue an advisory. I would think Ford would want its sophisticated cars to work correctly. We will see.