Complaint 2218561

Complaint Summary

ENGINE

Owner Narrative

I bought a 2018 Ford Escape SEL 4WD in March of 2019 ( I think ) it already had about 1240 miles on it but was sold to me as new. At the time of purchase I also bought a 7 yr warranty because of my age. Only my wife and I drove the car. In March of 2026 the engine block failed due to a manufacturing error concerning coolant getting into the piston chambers. The SUV only had about 15,800 miles on it. The 1.5 liter eco boost engine block had to be redesigned to allow coolant to flow around the cylinders. All this info is on the internet. I never received a letter from Ford about this potential engine failure. The engine light came on and the book said take it to the dealership which I did. They diagnosed the problem as stated above. If I had not have purchased the xtra warranty I would have been on the hook for 6 or 7 thousand dollar engine replacement as it was out of the 3 yr warranty at the time of purchase. In my opinion only, my guess is that Ford gambled that the engine would last thru the initial warranty period and maybe fail some time after but this is just conjecture on my part. On top of this they lost the first block they ordered by mistake ? and had to order another which took extra weeks of waiting, then it came in and then they found problems with the phasers and camshaft and then there was a dispute I presume between the Dealership, Ford Motor Co. and the warranty people as to who would pay for what. So in the end of my statement we got our car back 12 days before 3 mo's in the shop and many calls to the service dept. and to say that I was upset would be an understatement as I was having to pay insurance for nearly 3 mo's on a car I could not drive.

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.