Ford Escape Mazda Tribute Maintenance and Repair

p0926

newdriver2 and many others have stated that they've owned a Ford for years and never had a problem. I'm happy for them but their anecdotal evidence doesn't prove that as a brand, Ford is reliable.

I owned a Jeep for 7 years/115K and it performed flawlessly. That doesn't mean that I don't recognize that I was fortunate and despite my personal experiences, I certainly wouldn't recommend a Jeep to someone looking for reliable transportation.

While it's certainly true that not every Ford is a POS, and your odds of getting a lemon in reality aren't that great, Fix Or Repair Daily still means that you have a higher probability of breaking down compared to many other brands.

What prospective buyers have to decide is if they want to take their chances with a vehicle that has a 20% predicted failure rate or a competing brand that has a 5% failure rate (percentages are purely hypothetical for the sake of argument).

-Frank P.

1jimv1

Your point is well accepted that high failure rate is bad. But we have to look at the wider picture when we actually buy. We love Mazda's design because it works so well in so many extra ways. We appreciate Ford's decades old policy of providing value at a price-point the ordinary buyer can afford. We are glad to find so many independent Ford dealers everywhere that they must compete against each other for our business instead of ganging together as a monopoly against us. Sure, hasty production still leaves various small problems to be corrected later. Sure, there is generally some residual design deficiency to complain about, but overall Ford gives us good value on what we want to buy and if you don't think so get real and do some comparison shopping with our values in mind. Then buy and pay for what you decide is best for yourself.

esunetdude

I placed an order on September 30th for a loaded Escape XLT. I checked late October / early November and was given a ship date of November 20th. Then came the wiper recall and I knew my SUV would be late. I just checked with dealer today to request the VIN so I could track the SUV and found out why there has been such a delay. According to the dealer, the Escape has stop sale / hold on account of the ABS, nothing to do with the wiper issue. Worse, now there is only a partial VIN and no expected delivery date. We estimate that if this doesn't change within two weeks then I almost surely will not receive the vehicle until 2001.

So just a heads up, accoridng to my dealer, the ABS is now an issue. Anyone else got more info? I'd like to hear at dgontz@po-box.esu.edu.

tincup47

All the info on these sites is anecdotal, none is based on anything but personal observations. What is not anecdotal is that year after year Ford's Explorer has been the #1 selling SUV and the Escape is already up to # 10 after only a couple of months. Obviously most people have good experiences with their Fords or they would not continue to buy them. I had a 85 Olds that was problematic and my wife still refuses to consider buying another. I would think most rational people react similarly.

dniehus

Many of us are pondering various car-based SUVs. Yes, Ford/Mazda have had "some issues" with rollout of the Escape/Tribute. I'm frankly more concerned about the production/delivery delays rather than the mostly minor recalls. But, I'm still comfortable that the price/value/features of these vehicles far exceed the current competition.

However, if you are skittish, you probably should check out other competitors (in addition to the vehicles you mentioned which aren't necessarily small car-based SUVs). For example, my second choice would be the Subaru Forester (whose price varies widely depending upon trim line and options). In addition, consider the Honda CRV, newly redesigned Toyota RAV-4, and the Hyundai Santa Fe. All of the latter have aspects which I personally don't care for, but they may meet your needs and budget.

Good luck!

p0926

Tincup47- I've absolutely no doubt that the Escape will shortly assume the mantle of the #1 selling small SUV in America. ljimv1 articulated the reasons for this quite well. While I personally don't believe that the price difference is sufficient enough to compensate for the QC issues, I'll acquiesce on that point.

I just wish that Ford owners weren’t so accepting of Ford’s short-comings and were a little more vocal in demanding that Ford adhere to its assembly plant motto “Quality is Job One”.

-Frank P.

tincup47

I also believe that Ford has some issues they need to address as far as QC goes, but I take exceptions to the rants that I read that any automaker is building junk these days. Most vehicle's today run better and last longer than ever before. This in the face of an ever increasing number of Govt. regulations (alot good, some asinine) along with hysterical media hype over any supposed flaw. Mass producing an Automobile today is an extremely complex undertaking requiring the design and testing of thousands of individual components, planning and excecuting manufacturing to return a good profit share to the stockholders, and still meeting all the changing want's and needs of the consumer.
I am involved in the industry myself and see how hard people work every day to turn out a good product. I am not directly related to Ford branded vehicles, but I do think that there will be improvements in the future.

psouthard

Our Tribute is my first purchase of a non-Japanese built Mazda, I previously owned a 1990 Protege and 1992 MX-3. The engine finally let go at 340,000 km in the MX-3 forcing us to make a buying decision. The Tribute won based on the supposedly strong Mazda content - I guess even a knowledgeable consumer can be partially blinded by marketing and that new car smell.

Don't get me wrong, my wife and I enjoyed our new vehicle for the first 2 months. No real issues or problems. In fact, we both agree that with the exception of a few minor details, it is the perfect vehicle for us. Big problem though, as I have posted earlier; on Nov. 10 our wipers stopped working and it has been at the dealer ever since. As of today, it has been almost one month and Mazda Canada says the parts should arrive at dealers any day now. O.K.

The bottom line to this story is that: 1) A Ford built Mazda like the Tribute is a Mazda design with Ford parts that are more likely to break or malfuncion than a real Mazda with non-Ford parts and 2) I should have purchased a Toyota or Nissan so as to avoid having my NEW dependable, reliable Ford/Mazda Tribute in the shop for a month at a time.

There are people out there who might consider purchasing another poor quality Mazda/Ford product after this experience, we however, will not. When our vehicle is finally fixed, we will be waiting for the next thing to go wrong or wonder if that trip out-of-town will include a breakdown. It really is quite sad that our vehicle is so new and already less reliable/dependable that my two previous Mazdas. Even sadder, that 340,000 km MX-3 had its engine repaired and is still on the road everyday.

Yes, all vehicles can experience problems, but, I know that the less expensive Toyota Corolla driven by our friends and relatives will NEVER end up in the shop for one month plus with defective wipers. If it did for some strange reason, I am also quite sure that they could figure out how to fix it! Enough said.

devers

I put a deposit down for a Tribute LX w/ the abs package on 11/22. The dealer indicated that they had some on order and they expected my model to be in "very soon". At the beginning of our negotiations, they said one was in, but then at the end they said they had made a mistake, but since another purchaser had belatedly changed their mind, the order was about to be filled. Anyway, I put a clause in my contract that the deal was off if the vehicle was not delivered by 12/29 .

I have stopped by the dealership twice to check on a delivery date and indicated that I did not want to held up to 12/29 if they knew the car would not be delivered by then. I would rather move on and purchase a different vehicle. I was not aware of the recalls at the time of my purchase and given the most recent one and the fuel pump discussions, I would not feel bad at all if the deal falls through. At the first visit they gave me a VIN, but how do I know if that is good? How do you track your Vin on the internet?

I checked last Monday (12/4) and they showed me an invoice with a ship date of 11/28 from the plant, but said they could not provide a delivery date to the dealership since it first travels by rail and then by truck. Should the dealership be able to know the delivery date at this point?

The salesperson also said mine was likely one of the last to be shipped and that I was fortunate because Ford was taking all of the ABS production and Mazda could not accept new orders for packages w/ABS. She indicated that the Ford/Mazda agreement was that Mazda would receive the bulk of the initial production, but that the output would be shifted pro rata to reflect the relative ownership percentages, which is mostly Ford and that is now underway.

Is there really a generic ABS stop production order, or is the output re-allocation causing some of the problems?

terrya

Our second Escape (first one was returned to the dealer and replaced due to the gas fume problem) is now back at the dealer. This one too has gas fumes in the cab via air vents after warm starts. The dealer has been extremely cooperative in trying to troubleshoot this and I believe they want to get it corrected. However, they do not seem to be aware of ANY TSB's on this issue, and they've repeatedly been in touch with Ford engineers.

A couple of people have posted that they were aware of a TSB that was coming about this problem. I would really like to know more about this. Why doesn't our dealer know about it? Where did the writers get their information?

Thanks.

steve234

The idea that the japanese built cars and parts are superior is just plain bull. The problem with the escape/tribute is that it is a new car, introduced in the midst of a media nightmare caused by Firestone. It is ridiculous to expect perfection out of any fresh design. There are problems, but most of them are minor and irratating because they require replacement parts which everyone wants. So everyone is mad because they were not THE one to get his immediately.
As far as dealers goes, they cannot get news faster than the internet puts it out. When I bought my truck, I knew about some of the model changes before my dealer. I also posted information when my dealer had a sneak preview and told me, thus beating many dealers to the knowledge. Add the fact that they have dozens of models to track, not to mention that they are usually idiots about cars, they only know selling.

y2kgtstang

terrya-

I was the one who posted the info about the TSB. I waited at the dealer for 3 hours while they went over my vehicle. The service advisor told me about a fuel pump pressure problem leading to fumes building up and leaking from a fuel vapor canister. He said Ford had issued a TSB on this and that I would need to come back again once the wiper parts were in and by then they would have more info on how they were going to fix the fuel smell problem.... However, I wasnt standing there when he called Tech Support on this and am only taking him for his word. Once I go back for the wiper fix, hopefully they will have an answer.

yaj

I own an ES Tribute. I was wondering if anyone has noticed the loud engine noise when traveling from a stop position to about 30 miles per hour? I used to own a CRV and have never noticed a loud engine noise like that before. Are all Duratec engines that noisy when accelerating? I also noticed that my vehicle doesn't seem to accelerate as quickly as I had thought it would for being a V6. Has anyone noticed the same? Please respond, thank you in advance.

big_guy

How quickly are you accelerating? Do you mash down the accelerator and try to get up to speed as quickly as possible? Most engines will growl and grunt when pressed hard to accelerate quickly. I do not own a Tribute but have test driven one 3 times. I found it difficult not to accelerate quickly because the engine response is nice and it does accelerate pretty well. I did notice that there was quite a bit of engine growl when pressed hard but under normal acceleration it did not sound unusually noisy. Just my $.02

terrya

y2kgtstan,

Thanks for the clarification. It was appreciated. When/if my dealer gets some solid info about a TSB for the fuel smell repair, I'll post what we are told. Would appreciate it if you would do the same when/if you get info. (Our Escape is also awaiting the wiper replacement parts.)

terrya

hobbs05

I appreciate your loyalty to American built products. I would certainly love to agree with you that American automobiles are on the same playing field, quality wise, with the Japanese. But dont let your loyalty blind you.

It has been proven time after time, year after year, automotive magazine after magazine that American vehicles continue to lag behind their import counterparts. It's FACT.

You also mention that it's ridiculous to think that any new production car can come off the assembly line without fault, and I totally agree. But in the wake of the Firestone debacle, you would think that Ford would go to even greater lengths to test for quality before releasing the product.

Lastly, if I paid a premium price for an Escape or Tribute and it was constantly being recalled for parts, you're darn right I'm going to complain. I believe that $30,000 gives me the right to voice my displeasure over Ford's lack of attention.

bonitatl

you should buy a sports car. Remember, you're asking about 200 foot pounds of torque to accelerate a 3500 pound vehicle! The Escape/Tribute will do zero to 60 in about 9 seconds. That's alot better than many cars, let alone SUV's. If acceleration is a primary concern, buy a Mustang that has a V8. It's a whole lot faster (like maybe 0-60 in 6 seconds) but you won't fit 5 in it, or drive is snow/ice with it or carry a sheet of plywood in it. If these are important, the Escape/Tribute wins out every time.

Dave

k9cop1

I,m looking to buy an XLT (no leather & sidebars). I've read about "recalls" on this vehicle. Can anybody tell me what the 5 recalls were? Are there any other issues?
I want to order one (how long?) as opposed to taking one off the lot. My logic is that they'll send me one with all the problems corrected.
Thanks,
Dave

bluesoval

What do you all say: Would I be crazy to buy an Escape this year? I feel like I'm Adam, Ford is Eve, and the Escape is the apple. It is so, so tempting, but one bite and I'll regret it forever. And, man, I hope some of you don't work for NASA or defense weapons procurement!

tincup47

go to www.nhtsa.org

tz98

My Escape, received 11/9 with 750 miles on it went to the dealer Wednesday for the wiper repair/recall and investigation of the fuel smell. My main concern was the fuel smell. After checking it out for two days, they were never able to "duplicate" the smell. It's frustrating because every time you park and start up after several minutes, the smell comes straight at your face. Don't know how they can't smell it. Anyway, they had the field technicians and all working on it. The final resolution was that Ford knows there is a problem. The mechanic told me something about an O-ring that gets saturated causing the smell. The problem is they don't have the resolution finalized yet. The only good news is that they said to stay tuned during the next few weeks and in January there should be a TSB out to fix it.

terrya

I went out to the nhtsa site as you suggested, in order to find out what was there related to the Escape Gas Fume issue and any TSB's that might have been issued about that and other Escape problems. Continually it came up that there were no available complaints or TSB's.

I know this isn't factual as I filed a complaint myself. What gives with this?

k9cop1

Go to the site. Click recalls.Use the field to the "left" instead of typing in the vehicle make, model & year. For some reason this works.(5 recalls)!

anonymous

Also, make sure you click on "FORD TRUCKS" & NOT Ford
Dave

cwbarrett

I agree that on the surface it appears that the Ford line offers you more for the money. If you get out the car/truck before the third year you're right. If you plan on keeping the vehicle add in all the expected repair costs. If I added my repair costs to the Explorer I bought, I could have bought a Lexus!

terrya

Thank you k9copl and anonymous for your help in finding the recall info on the NHTSA site. It worked and I have it now.

For everyone else experiencing the fuel smell problem, I want to make sure you all know that there were some big problems with fuel smells connected to the O-ring defect, which is recognized for Ford and repairable. Check with your dealer to see if your vehicle's VIN puts you in that category.

The OTHER problem is that there are many of us whose VIN's aren't on the list for the Escapes affected by the O-ring problem. We are a NEW problem, which as of this posting is not yet identified (at least publicly) by Ford, and for which we are told (by our dealer who calls Ford daily) there is currently no fix. That is why our Escape is sitting at the dealer's and I am driving a rental car. Ford says they are "working on it".

If anyone hears something from their dealer about a fix for fuel smell NOT RELATED to the original O-ring recall, please post that info.

Thanks very much.

1jimv1

The Mazda design team reported that only one third of the typical crossection of people actually used the stock step bar to enter or exit. Many of us other two thirds have reported that stepping around this bar is awkward and found we are likely to soil our clothing against the bar since it is usually dirty. One possible solution to this problem would be to install shorter bars that only serve the rear doors. That way the kids and grandmother can easily climb in back and we still have something to step up on when we attach the skis on top. An attractive aftermarket short bar with a well rounded front might work better for many of us! I haven't seen such a thing yet but who knows what will appear for less than $248?

ii31

Hi Yag,

I've an ES as well. I've also noticed that
the engine has become noisier and acceleration
is not as it used to be (around 1000-1500 miles).
I mentioned it to my mazda service guy. He
said it may be related to the type/quality of
fuel. BS! I use either chevron or 76.

I plan to take it back. With 89 Octane rated fuel,
acceleration is a bit better. But still it is not
satisfactory.

I.I.

terrya

Those of you who are experiencing the fuel smell after warm starts might be interested in the experience we are now having with our dealer.

Escape #1 was taken back by our dealer in November because they could not find a reason for the fuel smell. It was replaced by Escape #2. #2 also has the fuel smell - not just after running the A/C as some of you have reported, but it occurs after any warm start via the air vents whether on A/C, heat or air.

Car #2 has now been at the dealer's for a week and Ford has given us a rental car. Today we were informed by a Regional Ford Manager that while Ford is aware of the fuel smell problem, there is no fix, nor any date in sight for the fix, and we must return our rental car. They will no longer pay for the rental and want us to either take back the fumey car and drive it until a fix comes around, or return it for our money back.

The Regional Manager says that her head engineer thinks it is OK to drive while breathing gas fumes until there is a fix. (I wonder if they would do that?) It's not OK for me or for my family. Ford will also not put that in writing for us.

We were told that it would take until sometime in January at the earliest to process our return check. So here's the scenario: I have no car to drive while we wait for the reimbursement unless we pay for a rental out of our own pocket. We need the reimbursement (we paid cash) to buy another car. We are being told we must pay for the rental for another potentially 6 weeks and all because Ford has sold us a car that has a serious problem - for which there is no fix.

When we complained back to our dealership, the manager said he would "try to work something out" with Ford about the rental car situation, but we have no firm commitments from him.

The Regional Manager is extremely rude and even went so far as to say that this dilemma "really isn't her problem." Ford is acting like we are a big inconvenience. Hows that for customer service? How's that for "Quality is Job One" at Ford?

We're done with Ford for life. This is the most amazing consumer situation we've ever experienced.
The Consumer Advocate we contacted talked to us at length. They've been getting a lot of complaints about unresolved Escape problems and are compiling information for future action. They advised us to get out from under this car.
It's bad news.

drexeljeff

Just picked-up my Escape V6 from a three day stay at the dealer to replace the transmission shift selinoid body assembly.' This should not happen at 1800 miles. At least they gave me a loner (a Wind star, what a dog). I'm beginning to think I may have made a mistake with this car. I also have a Taurus with the same engine and it is great. Any body else with transmission problems?
Happy Holidays to all!!!

ffriend125

Hi,

Just got my Tribute for two weeks, love everything.
One concern, does any body know about the catalic converter on the
Tribute or Escape. I notice there is a drain whole on the bottom of the catalic converter box (located underneath the passenger side). In the morning when worm up the car, I can see exhaust coming out from there. Is this normal?
Can anyone help?

Thanks

ljbrenes

I have a question for the Tribute owners: If I try to slam the doors in the front they will close without problems, but if I do the same with the back passanger doors they won't shut!?!? I am not sure if all tributes are like that or if is a problem in mine? do you have the same situation?

urden

i've been browsing thru the posted messages last week and i was sort of glad that i don't have the fuel fumes & wiper problem. then just yesterday as i was about to wipe the dirt from my windshield, the wiper suddenly stopped! i'm planning to take my escape for service tomorrow. i was just wondering how long it would take for them to fix this problem?

although i don't experience the fuel fume problem, i get very low mileage for my XLT V6. it should be around 18 for city and 22 for highway. i normally drive on the city during weekdays and highways (out of town) on weekends. the most that i got for my mileage was 15mpg.

i love my escape. the ride and handling is great. it looks good inside and out. but my only complaint is the quality of work done. when i got my car, one of the speakers in the front right side window is missing. the salesman insists that it's the way it is. i had to argue with him to get the missing speaker. also, i've taken my car for service twice already for several minor cosmetic repairs. but i had to have them repair the tailgate ceiling lining on both occassions. and when i bring the car back again for the windshield & low mileage problem, i'll have the lining repaired again. they can't seem to get the job done right!

it's kinda frustrating at times that you spent your hard earned money for this car but you're not completely satisfied with what you get. i just hope that they'd finally fix all the problems with the escapes as soon as possible.

and back to my question: how long will it take for them to fix the wiper problem?

willilen

Who makes this audio system for FORD? I know that Visteon makes the MACH 6 CD player, but I can not find the MACH CD\Cassette player anywhere on their WEB site.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I would like to know if this unit has any undocumented features like the Speed Sensitive Volume Control on the MACH 6 CD player!

edster1

I bought an ES Tribute (with everything) last week. So far, so good (other than a scratch on the hood during transport). It rides great, handles better than any other SUV I test drove (except the Lexus), and has pretty good acceleration. It stickered at $25,659...I got it out the door for $24,800. The only complaint I have to this point is the gear shift. It should be on the floor and not the column.

cjwestport

I bought an Escape about a month ago, and it has been in the shop longer than I've owned it. No problems with the fuels smell yet, though now I'm expecting I will have to deal with that too.

I've got two very annoying noises - 1) From the rear lift gate - it sounds like glass rubbing against plastic. I can see where the closed glass hatch is pinching the plastic molding and causing a whitish "fatigue" spot. The dealership has ordered a new part after spending a week trying to figure it out. 2) In the drivers side -Pillar, there is a sort of click or grunt upon acceleration. The last I've been told is that it was being sent to the body shop to try to figure out what the problem is.

Also, I was wondering if anybody noticed if their electric window buttons don't light up (all of them anyway). I only get one button to light up for each door. Is this Ford just being cheap, or are all the Escapes made this way?

I had such high hopes for this SUB, and I've been so disappointed. If they gave me the option to get my money back I'd do it in a heartbeat and go get a boring yet well made nexus.

fredoii

We are enjoying our EX so far but have noticed a couple of things. First the drivers seat seems to be turned inward ever so slightly. I notice this when I am sitting in it and when I visually look at it. Has any one else noticed this? Second, the window lock switch when locked will not even let me operate the other windows. Every car I have ever seen with this feature will let the driver control the other windows with the switch in the lock position. Lastly, they should have installed a lock/unlock button on the front passenger door. This is such an inconvienence.

hdzc

There's a recall on the fuel line for the Tribute. I've had it done on my vehicle and the problem with the smell is much better. Has anyone else had this done and noticed an improvement?

mbrewer4

The Tribute and Escape are *Great* SUV's! They handle like a car, fit all the people/stuff I need, and 200 Hp blows away little CRV's and Rav4's. (Gott go for the V6.) I've driven a bunch, and can't wait to get one of my own!

There have been some problems (5 recalls as everyone knows), but I can understand, considering that this is the first time that these vehicles have *Ever* been built. Thousands of parts coming together for the first time, assembled by workers that have never seen these things before. I'm sure Mazda and Ford will resolve the few issues that have arisen after a little time.

My take on this is to be careful about buying a new model vehicle. I bought my '99 Grand Am the first month of production, and ended up with a couple inches of water inside after the first rain storm - and that was just a modified version of the previous Grand Am model. As much as I'd like to be the first guy on the block to have one, I'm going to give them until about August to work out the bugs, and then get my Escape...just in time for tailgating!

hobbs05

Hey Mark,

You bring up a really good point. Both the Escape and the Tribute are great looking cars and Ford/Mazda know this! People are not patient enough to take a "wait and see" approach. They have to be the first ones on the block with the new Trib/Escape.

My only issue is that now that Ford is purposely holding back delivery on the 02 Explorer in order to work out all the "kinks", why couldn't they have done that with these new SUV's? Well, I believe that Ford just wanted to put some type of icing on their rotting cake after the Firestone disaster. And I also believe that Ford followed the lead of P.T. Barnum and said, "There's a sucker born every minute" and put out these new cars full well knowing that these problems existed. They felt they would be too cute to resist. And so far they're right.

Too bad Mazda has to be linked with Ford now.

ptmccain

Hobbs, old boy, you are foolish.

Come over to the Yahoo Esape Club and try posting crap like this about the Escape.

The majority of Esape owners are very pleased with their vehicles.

davidolson1

I have had my Escape for almost three months now and other than a few minor glitches it seems to be a good truck. One of the problems I have encountered is that feul smell like everyone else. Get this though I was coming home one night on the interstate and the truck just shut off, and everything went dead. I started to pull off the the shoulder of the Highway when I noticed a liquid pouring our from my engine compartment, sure enough it was gasoline. Apparently the coupling that holds the fuel line to the Injector rail rattled loose and then finally came off. Worst of all was Ford's so called customer service, they would not send out a tow truck unless they were assured the truck was safe to be towed. So I had to call the Fire department and have them look it over and give Ford a call and verify it was safe for towing. I wasted a good 3 hours outside freezing my [non-permissible content removed] off waiting for a tow. One other thing the other day I went to shut the rear window hatch and the wiper fell right off. My opinion is to go out and buy a nice and reliable Japanese Nissan, Toyota, or Honda. As soon as I get some free time this truck is gone. I didn't spend 20k to be driveing a fire bomb.

later David

scape2

I just read some news on the new 2.3 4cyl that will be available for the Escape/Tribute somtime in the Feb/Mar time frame. The new 4cyl is going to have 140HP and about 160ft/lbs of torque. It will be available in 5spd or automatic. This engine is supposed to be stronger and more durable than the present 2.0 Zetec. It sounded as if the 2.0 Zetec is not really designed to be a mini-suv engine, more of a car engine. I am sitting patiently waiting for all the bugs to be worked out along with the new 4cyl engine debut. I will probably purchase sometime in summer of 2001.
Ford bashers are all over the net and here at Edmunds. What I am reading on other chat rooms is the majority of Escape/Tribute owners are enjoying their vehicles. One owner has almost 10K on his!! (he claims anyway) and has had no problems..

edster1

The back door of my tribute also takes a little extra to close completely...but it's not too bad. Also, while I only have 450 miles on the car, I am getting lousy gas mileage. The manual says not to measure it until 2,000 miles or so are on the car. Anyone else have the same problem? AnyTribute owner's out there with higher mileage that experienced the same thing? Other than that, the car is a blast!

hobbs05

Looks like somebody's feeling got hurt. In case you forgot what forum you entered, this one is called "Escape/Tribute Problems". If I wanted you read about owners gushing over their Escapes then I would go to your propogandized yahoo Escape club. And I'm sure I can also find a yahoo site extolling the joys of root canals, but it doesn't mean I'm going to go there. Stick with the topic ptmccain.

Often times when somebody responds with such emotion it's usually because a post was true. Don't go through life with blinders on. Ford quality is not "job 1". It's their profit.

rsharp83

ptmccain has been flaming me in another forum anytime I raise any issue with the Escape/Tribute and the obvious quality concerns. No negative comment will go unpunished! And he refers to those who question the quality of the Escape as morons. I had considered buying an Escape but after the horror stories in this forum, research and comments made by a dealer there is no way I will get an Escape. ptmccain has told me that all of this information is wrong an escapes are great and I am a moron for thinking otherwise. He keeps saying he is going to the yahoo Escape Club yet he keeps posting on Edmunds anytime a negative comment surfaces.

ptmccain has also accused me of being a Ford basher. Well, I drive a 87 BMW but my wife has a Merc. Villiager which has been a great car and my family has driven Fords forever. So I have driven many many ford products, but I won't be driving an Escape.

So, hobbs05 I didn't want you to feel like you were all alone. There is apparently enough of ptmccain's wrath to go around!

jahoffmeyer

As of 3:00pm Central Time, we are the proud owners of a white, Ford Escape XLT 4x4 with every option besides the side impact air bag and the 6 disc changer. The best part of our deal was the price. We bought the Escape for $22,655.40. That's $392.60 under invoice price on the vehicle. I am so happy with the dealership and the salesman, that I had to hop on here and post who we dealt with to get this sweet deal, and the resources we used to come up with our offer.

Dealer: Adamson Ford in Birmingham, AL
Salesman: Bob H, the internet guy, they'll know who you're
talking about.

How we got this sweet deal. Well, we did our homework at www.carbuyingtips.com and got our invoice numbers from Edmunds. Bob, our salesman, was so cool that he called us back this morning after we blindly faxed his dealership the offer. He said he didn't have exactly what we wanted on the lot, but he told me what they did have and I entered the new figures on the offer.xls spreadsheet from carbuyingtips.com. We drove to the dealership, handed him our very minimal offer of nearly $400.00 below invoice, and without any hangling he said, "DONE!" The Escape now sits in my driveway and my wife and I couldn't be happier.

Don't think this was a simple task. We've been car shopping for over 6 months, but today's deal was as easy as pie. Last night we went to close on another Escape at a different dealer, and they had finagled the numbers to make us think we were getting a deal, but they were actually having us pay MSRP. There is only one name for a car buyer who pays MSRP, "SUCKER!" We came home and fired off 10 offer faxes to Ford and Mazda dealers in the area, Bob called this morning at 8am, and the rest is history.

Moral of the story: If you live in Birmingham, AL, and want an Escape, call Adamson Ford and ask for Bob H., the internet salesman. But, only do this after you've done your homework on the car and know exactly what you're paying and why. He'll cut you a sweet deal.

Now I just have to call the other Ford dealer and rub their noses in it. Actually, I guess I need to thank them for forcing me to take my business elsewhere.

Merry Christmas,
JC.

townie1411

I've been reading a lot of these posts and some of them sound like BS!! Maybe an attempt to make themselves feel better about a wrong purchase. Too bad they couldn't get an Tribute/Escape. Probably got a Rav or Santa fe or worse...an Azetec

edavidson

Well, the dealer called last week to let us know that our Trib was ready and the fuel odor fixed. It had been in the shop since November 13. We have owned the vehicle for about 90 days, of which 30 it has been at dealer. We cranked it up and were greeted with a blast of fuel odor that now is present all of the time and not intermittant as it was earlier. The dealer says there is nothing else they can do and refuse to provide a rental any longer or do any further work. Factory tech reps had been sent from Jacksonville FL to Montgomery, AL to look at the truck and had recommended a fix that involved shaving part of the manifold down and installing a new gasket. Did not work. Has anyone been able to get a successful fix on this problem? We are considering exercising our rights under state lemon law.

dlk3

Hi,

Just to let all know. The fuel smell coming in from the vent on the new escape is a known issue at ford. There is no fix at this time. It could be 90-120 days or greater (per ford) before a recall is issued. They need to determine how many cars are effected, the root cause, design a fix, stock the replacement parts & then issue the recall.

I owned an Escape & repeatedly complained of the smell. Ford bought back the car under the NC lemon law (with 3,000 miles on it). I decided to take a chance because I like the car & test another escape over the weekend. It too had the fuel smell with only 200 miles on the car. To reproduce the problem, let the car get warm, leave the vent "on" and the fan on position 2. Shut the car off for maybe 10 minutes & then re start it. You should immediately notice the fuel odor from the vents and under the hood (on LFS when facing the car). If it goes away while your driving, just wait, the intake manifold gaskets will eventually become so soaked with fuel the odor will enter the car with the vent "off". This took 3,000 miles on mine. I had to drive with the windows down !!

Anyway, if enough of us yell at ford for the problem, maybe they can get a "fix" out sooner. They are saying VERY VERY few cars have the problem. So we all should notify their customer care center if you have the problem and is wasn't fixed by the dealership!!