echiappe

I too Purchased a 2010 Escape to flat tow. I was assured by the salesman at the time that it was towable. After about 6K miles the transmission burned up. Ford was very cooperative in replacing it with no restrictions on future towing. The service department manager just said that if it happens again they'll just replace it again. At that point I make the decision that I was not going to take a chance on getting stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere with a bad towed. I now tow a Chevy Spark (standard transmission) and love it. I still have the Escape because I enjoy driving it, and love the utility of it. However, I will be hard pressed to buy another Ford product in the future. While everyone was nice, none was willing to tell you the truth. While they covered the damage, I'm probably several thousand dollars out of pocket in the transition.

Hi Guys, I too have been towing a Ford Escape. I towed it about 5,000 miles before having had a problem. We were very conscientious about the towing limitations, and stopped every two to three hours to run the engine and cycle the transmission. On our last trip, we were 1,300 miles from home when the transmission overheated. We got it home by doing some creative engineering (blown out fluid collection and recycling). The Ford dealer at home replaced the transmission and all is OK now. The problem is that in doing some research (which I should have done before buying the vehicle) it appears that this is a common problem with late model Escapes. In contacting Ford customer service all I got was lip service with no resolution of the problem. All were sorry to hear we were having problems, but no one has the ability to fix it. They reiterated that they will repair any problems (within the warranty period, then you're on your own) that occur. That is all fine and good, but I don't really feel comfortable towing a time bomb that could fail at any moment. Several mentions were made that I could install a circulation pump (Remco). That's the $1,000 for the pump plus installation, and that besides the cost of setting up the vehicle for towing to begin with. I really think that THIS IS NUTS! We really like the vehicle and it's utility. But I think I'm going to swear off Ford and it's new image of "quality".

In looking at the various sites, it appears that Ford has had problems with this transmission being flat towed for some time. Some people complaining of having several transmissions replaced, some within short distances of towing. We have a 2010 Escape with about 6,000 miles on the odometer. I experienced a problem with the transmission overheating on my last trip. This was after having towed it about 5,000 miles within the last year. I was very careful to start the engine and cycle through the gears at the start of the day and at every stop (usually 2 to 2-1/2 hours). Near Raleigh NC it began to smoke, so I had It towed to a local dealer where they refilled the fluid, checked it out and said all was ok. On the first tow of the day we blew out about a pint of fluid. I surmised that the fluid was being blown out of the breather tube along side the filler tube. Making a stop at a hardware store for some hose and a plastic quart bottle, I was able to rig up a fluid catching system. At the beginning of every day it would blow out a copious amount of fluid, The first run would be about 60-100 miles, where I would take the fluid and pour it back into the transmission. We limped it home (1,300 miles) where we took it to our local dealer and they had to replace the transmission. Ford took care of it in a satisfactory and timely manner. Here's the problem. Do all of us that own these vehicles continue to tow them til they break? Ford will stand behind them until the warranty runs out. The level of inconvenience it causes us is undeterminable. Apparently they will break. When? We love the vehicle, but are very uncomfortable towing it knowing that we could have a problem at any time. This takes away form the motorhoming experience and one I can do with out. Ford Customer Relations is ignoring the problem since it is not a safety problem. They don't have a resolution to the problem other than to suggest a lower level of fluid (suggesting the dealer can set it for you). They are happy just to let us flounder out here and replace transmissions when they fail. I believe they expect to resolve the problem by hoping we'll go away.