Six problems related to rear suspension shock absorber have been reported for the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The rear passenger wheel well has corroded very severely. The shock absorber is pushing into the interior wheel cover, causing it to become dislodged. I was driving on a city street, about 35 mph, when I hear a loud scraping sound coming from the right rear side of my escape. I noticed that the interior wheel cover was dislodged and moving around. I pulled over into a local park to examine what was causing the very loud scraping sound. I could see that the right rear wheel well area was very rusted and flaky. I drove home about 10-15 mph, all the time the vehicle was making a very loud bumping and scraping sound. I consulted a Ford mechanic and was told that the vehicle could not be driven safely. Ford needs to recall the many hundreds of Ford escapes that have rusted out passenger side wheel wells, that can cause sudden loss of steering control when the shock absorber pushes into the car and the vehicle collapses onto the right rear wheel.
My well maintained 2005 Escape Hybrid developed a rattling sound on July 26, 2016. At first the rattle in the right rear happened only on bumps in the road. I thought it was my car jack coming loose in its compartment. I checked that and the jack was all secured, not rattling. I continued driving home and the rattle became a banging sound, and the right rear inside wheel area started to rattle and move towards the interior as I drove. When I got home I looked around the right rear wheel well area and was shocked to see how extremely rusted it is. The other wheel wells show very little rust. I looked up the problem on a Ford owners website and found that many many other people have had this same problem. It is a safety issue because some people report that the rusted out shock absorber mount breaks loose and the vehicle body collapses onto the wheel, sending the car out of control. I can't believe that there isn't a recall on this common problem in the '05 Escape Hybrid vehicles. I cannot drive my well maintained car because of the mechanical banging, the high potential for loss of control, causing an accident and personal injury. I'm attaching photos of the right rear wheel well and the right front wheel well to show that there is a definite defect in the right rear. Please give this complaint your immediate attention, and alert other Ford escape owners of this imminently very dangerous situation.
The right rear wheel well/shock mount became badly corroded, resulting in the rear shock absorber and suspension being connected to a thin piece of metal, and the top of the shock absorber hitting against a plastic interior body panel. Had the thin piece of metal corroded entirely, a severe accident probably would have resulted. Various online sites report this same problem on the same year and model vehicle (2005 Ford escape), but no recalls, as they have been for other Ford vehicles and other years of the escape that have experienced this severe problem.
I was driving my vehicle and the "service soon" light came on then about 10 seconds later the "stop safely" light came on and my vehicle shutdown and would not restart. I had the vehicle towed to the nearest Ford dealership and found out that there was a failure with the electrical system that had to be reset (shutdown was to protect the hybrid battery). Once Ford fixed the electrical system to get car to start again, they informed me that the passenger side rear shock absorber had fully detached from the wheel house and was basically a dangling piece. Ford could offer no help "they didn't have the equipment or capability to fix" and said I had to go to a auto body shop to have the piece welded back to the frame. Turns out there is nothing there to weld, the entire connection has rotted out and needs to be replaced. From what I can find online this is a recurring issue on 2005 Ford escapes and Ford refuses to deal with it. Cars with these issues are extremely unsafe to drive. Luckily I was not involved in an accident when this happened but I was only driving 35mph on a side street, imagine what could've happened if I was traveling at 70mph on the highway and the piece just fell out. This is an extremely difficult fix that Ford owners should not have the burden of dealing with financially on a car that is less that 10 years old. My car is very well maintained and has a lot of life left in it, but now this fix is going to cost close to $2500. This should be further investigated so Ford has to fix this safety issue! has anyone considered filing a class action suit for defective car parts???.
The passenger side rear wheel well body and frame has totally rusted away leaving no anchor for the shock absorber and rendering the car unsafe to drive (see attached pictures). This defect occurred despite the vehicle being garage kept, well maintained and maintained only by a licensed Ford dealership. Highland park Ford and Ford motor company knowingly and/or negligently concealed a known, major defect from the owner of the vehicle while the vehicle was still under warranty so as to avoid having to repair the product per Ford's express warranty.
Right rear shock absorber mount broke away from fender well due to extensive rust in surrounding area.
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| Rear Suspension Shock Absorber problems |