2008 Ford Escape Hybrid Acceleration Problems

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  312%
• 25k–50k
  28%
• 50k–75k
  728%
• 75k–100k
  728%
• 100k–150k
  416%
• 150k+
  28%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Ford electronic throttle body (etb) issue my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid has been intermittently experiencing issues related to an ill-designed etb since 2010 (when we purchased the vehicle). In the past 5 years, the frequency of issue occurrence has progressively increased. Current rate of occurrence is 3 - 6 times per week. Randomly the vehicle goes into "limp mode" while driving, where the engine shuts down to nearly zero power. Dashboard displays "pull over safely". If this occurs in heavy traffic (which is many times the case on our los angeles freeways), there is no way to pull over safely with nearly zero engine power. The vehicle is literally stranded in freeway traffic until the etb is reset. The vehicle's ignition must be turned off and back on to reset the etb. This faulty etb part across many Ford models for 10+ years is putting vehicle owners' safety at high risk. …

I was stopped at a signal. When the light turned, I pressed down on the accelerator and the car started to move as normal. Just past the intersection, the gas engine shut down, a red light came on and the car lost all power. The car behind me struck us. Upon going to the dealership, they knew that the electronic cooling pump had failed. There was not many questions, as they described what the symptoms were. Upon looking at the internet, it would seem that this is a known issue with Ford, and that the new ecp was redesigned to prevent the issue. There are literally hundreds of complaints about vehicles losing power to this same problem. In some cases, as was mine, electrical power is lost as well, causing loss of power steering and brakes.

I was on a road trip with a passenger in my vehicle. We stopped in barstow, ca for lunch. While pulling into a parking space, my vehicle suddenly accelerated jumping the parking block and the curb. I was able to stop the vehicle from going into the building but not before hitting some newspaper vending machines. The front bumper sustained minor damage. I have been driving for many years and have never experienced anything like this. Both my passenger and myself were pretty shook up afterwards. The person sitting in the car next to us who witnessed this event said that there was an older man standing right where we jumped the curb a few moments earlier. Fortunately, he had left or this incident would have been much worse.

This has happened multiple times randomly without warning. I have been on a freeway, bridge, regular street, traffic. A red warning light will come on with "stop safely now" and the car will quickly slow down. It will go really slow regardless of stepping on the gas. Once I pull over I have t stop the car and put it in park then turn it back on. This is extremely dangerous especially when I am on the freeway or on the bridge (I work in san francisco).

The triangle/! Symbol comes up and engine loses all power on the freeway. My car has been into the dealership twice for this dangerous issue. The 2008 Escape hybrids are supposedly not covered for throttle body issues and my coolant fan for the battery is supposedly "updated" and doesnt need to be replaced. . Over 700 dollar fix for safety and flaw in quality of pats?

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. While driving various speeds, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and continued to accelerate although the accelerator pedal was not depressed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 100,000.

Recently while driving, my dashboard suddenly displays a red triangle with an exclamation point in it and advises me to "stop safely now." regardless of whether I can stop safely or not, I lose power suddenly. This has happened many times, and I have been informed that this is a generic warning that covers numerous car problems. Unfortunately, I do many miles on the highway at higher speeds. Ignoring the past couple of years when this has happened, and I made complaints to this site then, the most current bouts have occurred when I was in very heavy commuter volume on the same highway that is currently under construction with no shoulders. I lose power, without even the opportunity to at least get out of the middle lane. This severely disrupts traffic, and I have almost been rear-ended numerous times. …

I was driving my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid at about 65mph in the leftmost lane shortly after merging from i83 south onto i395 (baltimore beltway) when, with no advance warning whatsoever, the gas pedal stopped responding at the same time as the triangle with an exclamation point and the "stop safely now" (as if I had any choice) message appeared. By the grace of god I was able to coast across 5 lanes of traffic to the breakdown lane. I was anxious to get home to feed the dogs, and my husband was out of town, so rather than call a tow truck I restarted the car and kept going in the right-hand lane for another 3 or 4 miles until the same thing happened again. It took another 2 hours (with an 15-20 additional stalling episodes) until before I was able to make it home to annapolis. …

Starting in May of 2014, my car's performance has been untrustworthiness. Some days there's no problem-- I push on the gas pedal and the car moves accordingly. At a stop sign, I can go. While moving at 50 MPH on the freeway, I can easily accelerate and move around a monster size 18 wheeler. But on the days when I press the gas pedal and the car doesn't respond, I sweat. Here's a description: foot on the gas pedal, no response... So I press down further, without any acceleration of the car. Finally, now freaked out that the car is not moving (and that another car is right on my tail) I press the pedal to the floor-- with no immediate reaction. Then-- bam-- surprise! It works and the sudden surge sends me flying beyond intention and I must press on the brakes to slow. At stop signs this happens and people behind me get frustrated, probably thinking I'm on drugs or something. …

While traveling at highway speed, the car suddenly loses all power and the stop safely now light comes on in the dash. I had to pull over quickly while avoiding being killed by highway traffic. No warning at all. During my road trip, this happened 3 times on the highway. During my return trip, it happened 3 more times. Problem will only occur at highway speeds and during long road trips. My 20-min drive to work has no issues. This is a serious safety problem and a flawed design on Ford's part. My family and I could have been seriously injured or killed during any one of the six times the car mysteriously died on the highway. From my research, this problem can be caused by several components and is difficult to diagnose in the shop. For older models, there has been TSB's issued, but not for 2008 and later models. …

Acceleration complaints in other Escape Hybrid years