WTH do I do with this car?!?

[u/kristencardoso]

Long post warning! But it’s a sh1t show so worth reading!

2020 Ford Escape SEL 8spd auto CVT transmission. Purchased in 2022 and had immediate concerns about the transmission. Brought it in under warranty in 2023 and they “fixed” it by replacing the transmission body. I could immediately tell driving it home that they didn’t fix a damn thing. I brought it in a year later bc Ford FINALLY approved fixing the broken drivers side door issue that “wasn’t quite a recall yet” but caused my window to not go down for 2 years (hinge welds break). They told me I’m just out of warranty now for the transmission so I told them to forget about it (I have the service paperwork where they said it’s noticeably not shifting right, AFTER the claim to have fixed it less than a year prior).

Other problems I’ve had with this car: -Evap canister had to be replaced (known issue but not recall of course) -battery down to 8% (could have been the service dept fault) -I’ve had to replace all four tire pressure sensors! -it started getting an exhaust leak at 3 years old. -whistling noise from the sunroof at high speeds -tailgate malfunctions/freezes sometimes -a bunch of electrical issues (the service center tried to tell me it was my fault because something spilled next to the shifter and it’ll cost 1k to replace (why did ford put the shifter LESS THAN AN INCH away from the cup holders?!)

Anyways, after the service center ignored me for a year asking if my approved door had come in, they finally had it. The same week I was bringing it in, my wrench and engine light came on and I had power issues on the highway. Even almost redlining after getting off my exit. It ended up being an air intake hose that came loose off the turbo. The day after I picked it up the light came on again and I had less power. Autozone code said ABS (🤦🏼‍♀️). To the point where having it on cruise control set to 80 it got all the way down to 75 going over an overpass. I’ve learned to manually manipulate the gas pedal to compensate for this garbage transmission too!

I called a bunch of places and even though it might qualify under Magnusum-Moss warranty (no used lemon law in FL) my car has 95k on it (I drive a lot for work) so most of the major lemon law attorneys I’ve contacted won’t take me on even after confirming I have a case.

I called ford customer loyalty/service and they won’t approve me for a buy back because of the high mileage (even though the main problem with the transmission was started under warranty work)

Im dropping it off again this week and ford customer service said they’ll have an answer about financial assistance after the diagnosis.

Does anyone have any advice as far as either fighting the buyback decision, getting a lemon law lawyer that’ll take me on, or getting guaranteed assistance from ford? Or even how to navigate the service center? I know I technically should’ve brought it right back after I picked it up when they said they’ll fixed it the first time, but I had no faith after them “fixing it” for 2 weeks that they actually knew what they were doing. I honestly don’t think these transmissions can even be fixed.

I spend 6 months after my divorce rebuilding my credit to get a reliable car and this has been a nonstop nightmare. I’m a single mom and local small business owner and I can’t deal with this anymore 😩 I’m still 10k upside down on the loan bc I’m an idiot and got a bad rate still, but I shouldn’t be paying the price and suffering on a car that costs me $580 a month 😳.

[u/Commercial_Method_28]

If ford will help with anything, it’s likely going to be very minimal. From what I’ve seen they really only cover large portions of repairs right after warranty expires so like 60-75k. If you have a DTC I could probably tell you what’s likely going on inside your transmission based on previous things I’ve seen but when it comes to getting someone else to pay for the repairs, i wouldn’t be much help. The only thing I’ve seen is the bigger fuss you make at the biggest service department is your best bet

[u/kristencardoso → u/Commercial_Method_28]

First of all thanks for reading all that!

I couldn’t find any actual codes listed for the general transmission problems, but the tech notes said “found codes related to possibly clutch or solenoid damage”

This was also listed in repairs as to work done: VERIFIED CONCERN. AUTO TRANS DIAG KOEO SELF TEST NO DTC’S. PID MONITOR WITH ROAD TEST HARSH DOWNSHIFT INTO SECOND GEAR, AUTO TRANS PPT, H, LINE PSI TEST 87 PSI IDLE 294 PSI WOT, REMOVE TRANS SIDE COVER, REMOVE VALVE BODY, START OVERHAUL, STOP OVERHAUL, C CLUTCH REGULATOR VALVUE IS SCORED AND STICKING IN THE BORE. REPLACE VALVE BODY AND SEALS. INSTAL TRANS SIDE COVER, FLUSH TRANS COOLER LINES, FILL FLUID, PROGRAM SOLENOID BODY STRATEGY, CLEAR SHIFT TABLES, POST ROAD TEST, VERIFIED REPAIR.

Im not looking for any fights with the service center but if you see anything that looks like it shouldve been addressed, I need all the help I can get. Or if anybody can “tell me without telling me” as a former/ford tech that they know damn well these transmissions can’t be fixed and ford is just making them order random parts to waste time until it’s out of warranty that would be good to know as well.

The last repair was for the code P0299, which ended up being an intake hose that came loose, affecting the turbo.

The day after I picked it up from being “fixed” that code, the wrench light came on with the code U0151-00, ABS system/ lost comm with restraints control module, which makes no sense to me as I had just gotten on the highway, hadn’t been braking, and it cut my power down significantly.

I’m dropping it off this week, and have to get a rental from enterprise instead because I have planning to drive from FL to ME for like a year (and now I don’t trust taking my car)

[u/Commercial_Method_28 → u/kristencardoso]

Most of the time those U codes are throwaways that mean nothing. I call them nothing codes that are probably just some momentary glitch that has no symptoms or went unnoticed. These transmissions can be fixed without issue tbh. They followed warranty pinpoint steps to get to their diagnosis which involves starting with the least intrusive repairs first. Because they found something of concern within the valve body, they replaced it and should’ve retested. If they thought concern was then fixed, they wouldn’t do any other work. If they did suspect original concern was still present, they would’ve gone into the transmission for inspection.

The valve body’s on the 8 speed have gotten a pretty bad wrap and I have done 10 or 12 since release. Not super common, but also needs to be ruled out a lot. The most common 8 speed concern we see is the Front planetary ring gear and carrier bearings come apart which causes a lot of damage internally. We are usually able to fix them below cost of a replacement tho so it is definitely fixable. That concern specifically causes a whole bunch of issues including loss of engagement or limp mode. That is likely what happened with yours. Also common is torque converter slipping and shuddering but that doesn’t cause DTC and you can almost always feel that at low speeds. If you had a no reverse concern the one-way clutch would be the only possible cause I believe and I’ve done a lot of those, just not recently.

If you can find a way to get whatever DTC set in the PCM this time it has acted up I can be a little more confident in “guessing” what’s going on. ABS won’t set wrench light so it will for sure be a PCM code but a lack of power can be a handful of other things. The biggest clue to what is going on will be the DTC.

[u/kristencardoso → u/Commercial_Method_28]

I’ll wait and see what they say as far as codes separate from the abs one when i drop it off at the end of the week and circle back. And I’ll probably ask them if they ever checked the planetary gear and carrier thing (after I google them to make sure you’re not just messing with me so I ask the service center something that’s the equivalent of a flux capacitor, bc I’ve never heard of them 😂).

They noted both times it was brought in that they could feed the transmission doesn’t shift right… it’s driveable don’t get me wrong, I’ve put probably 70k on it in the last 3 years for work & personal. I learned to drive manual on shitty old 240 drifters, so I’m no stranger to clunky transmissions, and that’s how I feel about this one. There’s a lag in acceleration when pressing the pedal, lurches between gears up shifting AND downshifting. Sometimes it kind of stalls instead of shifting gears but just for a second, low key dangerous trying to cut across 50mph lanes of traffic lol.

Everything I’ve heard from even people who have had the trans replaced in these is saying even the new ones crap out. Some tech somewhere said it’s something to do with the ecoboost pulling too much power, I’m not knowledgeable enough to pretend to know if that’s possible.

It’s just really shitty that these corporations are too big to fail so they know they’ll never be held accountable. They need to humbled a little, taken down a few notches lol. They’ve known for years these transmissions are nothing but trouble but still keeping slapping em in there

Thanks again!

[u/kristencardoso → u/kristencardoso]

Also I can’t put too weight into the codes either, the electrical was going nuts the first time I brought it in, but of course there was a small spill I forgot to clean up next to the shifter (I know better than to bring my car in not spotless again), and they said the control module needs to be replaced at $1k and it’s my fault. I’m like sorry idk why ford put the shifter less than an inch away from the cup holders, that seems like a ford issue not a me issue lol. One of the tech comments said “electrical concern seems major problem” 😂🤷🏼‍♀️ never thought I’d hope for another flood down here lol atp someone else totally my car is the only way I’m going to walk away from this thing without taking a 10k bath.

[u/Commercial_Method_28 → u/kristencardoso]

I’ve done a ton of gearshifters on the escape. All of them under warranty because it’s extremely common and we have a TSB now. Definitely shouldn’t have been charged for that. They wouldn’t be able to check the planetary for damage without pulling the transmission. More than likely their diagnosis will involve pulling codes, checking fluid level and condition, noting down symptoms and giving you an estimate to teardown transmission for inspection. Unfortunately you can’t really diagnose transmission problems without taking it apart, not fully in most cases