kathykim

I was looking to purchase one for towing now that Ford has repurchased our Escape. The RAV4s are not towable unless you get a Remco Lube Pump. The Remco Towing website tells you what you need. I am anxiously awaiting replies from anyone who is already towing with this setup to see how it has worked for them. After our experience with the Escape, we aren't planning to tow anything that hasn't already been tried by someone else! We're making due with a used 2002 Honda CRV for now, but do plan do purchase a new car in the next year or so.

Ours was running when they bought it back, so don't give up hope. I really found the process to be frustrating, but fair once we provided all of the information.

When we called customer service at Ford, we asked that the problem be escalated and that was when we received the info in the mail from the BBB to fill out. The settlement is according to the Lemon Law in your state. The paperwork was somewhat time-consuming, but fairly straight-forward. I will say that we are pleased with the settlement that we ended up with. The most frustrating part to me was that they would not give you a "number" until you agreed to settle. You were told to figure it out yourself based on the formula in the booklet. Our situation was a little different, as we bought a certified pre-owned, so there were already miles on the car and we had a disagreement as to what mileage should be used in computing the buyback. However, since a "certified pre-owned" is still considered a "used" car, we were happy we were able to do anything at all, as the AZ law only gives 15 days on used cars, but they treated ours as if it was new. If it turns out that you don't qualify at this point, keep towing it until you burn up another one. That was our plan. And unfortunately, it WILL happen. Just make sure you have a dealer document the fluid level before you leave, so they cannot blame it on you. Good luck - believe my, I understand your frustration!

I hope it works out for you, but if you actually read through this whole forum, you will see that we burned up our third transmission even with the correct fluid level. . However, they have also made a change to all the transmissions built after February 8, 2010. We never towed with BOTH the lowered level AND the new transmission. We had the dipstick replaced and the fluid lowered. If I were you, I would still initiate the process, as it is very time-consuming. If you tow and don't have a problem, you don't have to complete the process. I'm just thrilled that we were able to get ours bought back and as of yesterday the process is complete!

You have to start by calling customer service. I don't have the number right now, but just call the number in your owner's manual and tell them that you want to escalate the problem and request a buyback.

Start the Ford buyback process right NOW! The sooner the better. Call the Ford customer service line - they will send you paperwork. Even though we haven't had the fourth one go out and were reassured that ours should be fine now, we are going through the process and are supposed to have this completed by Monday or Tuesday. We've agreed on everything and the check was cut today.

Update - they have replaced the transmission for the 3rd time. We have been assured (in writing) that my transmissions with a build date after February 8, 2010 have a modified baffle assemble that should solve the problem. However, we are still required to lower the fluid level and do all the other things (stop every 6 hours or 300 miles - although in our experience, we stop way more frequently than that). Only time will tell. We are still trying to get Ford to buy it back, as we have no confidence in it and are tired of the stress this puts on our trips. If they could really assure us that the problem was fixed, we would be happy, but I can only keep monitoring to see if others are having problems or not.

Update - they have replaced the transmission for the 3rd time. We have been assured (in writing) that my transmissions with a build date after February 8, 2010 have a modified baffle assemble that should solve the problem. However, we are still required to lower the fluid level and do all the other things (stop every 6 hours or 300 miles - although in our experience, we stop way more frequently than that). Only time will tell. We are still trying to get Ford to buy it back, as we have no confidence in it and are tired of the stress this puts on our trips. If they could really assure us that the problem was fixed, we would be happy, but I can only keep monitoring to see if others are having problems or not.

Update - they have replaced the transmission for the 3rd time. We have been assured (in writing) that my transmissions with a build date after February 8, 2010 have a modified baffle assemble that should solve the problem. However, we are still required to lower the fluid level and do all the other things (stop every 6 hours or 300 miles - although in our experience, we stop way more frequently than that). Only time will tell. We are still trying to get Ford to buy it back, as we have no confidence in it and are tired of the stress this puts on our trips. If they could really assure us that the problem was fixed, we would be happy, but I can only keep monitoring to see if others are having problems or not.

The lowered fluid level will not fix the problem. We made it a little further in our 2009 Escape this time, but in the end, the result was the same - transmission number 3 did not make it back from Oregon. It is totally fried and back at the Mesa dealership that we bought it at, waiting for the Ford engineer to come look at it. Which will mean absolutely nothing. At least we had it documented in Oregon that the fluid level was correct for towing prior to starting home. (We did the same thing before we went up to Oregon). The transmission overheated on the way up to Oregon, but did not completely fry the transmission, so the Eugene dealer told us that everything was fine. We had to have some solenoids replaced after the engine light came on, but they insisted that this was unrelated. We are attempting to get Ford to buy back the car, but don't expect much luck, since we bought a certified pre-owned rather than a new car and we have had it for a little over a year now.

The lowered fluid level will not fix the problem. We made it a little further in our 2009 Escape this time, but in the end, the result was the same - transmission number 3 did not make it back from Oregon. It is totally fried and back at the Mesa dealership that we bought it at, waiting for the Ford engineer to come look at it. Which will mean absolutely nothing. At least we had it documented in Oregon that the fluid level was correct for towing prior to starting home. (We did the same thing before we went up to Oregon). The transmission overheated on the way up to Oregon, but did not completely fry the transmission, so the Eugene dealer told us that everything was fine. We had to have some solenoids replaced after the engine light came on, but they insisted that this was unrelated. We are attempting to get Ford to buy back the car, but don't expect much luck, since we bought a certified pre-owned rather than a new car and we have had it for a little over a year now. 2010 and 2011 Escapes still have the same transmissions and same "procedures" to solve the problem.

The lowered fluid level will not fix the problem. We made it a little further in our 2009 Escape this time, but in the end, the result was the same - transmission number 3 did not make it back from Oregon. It is totally fried and back at the Mesa dealership that we bought it at, waiting for the Ford engineer to come look at it. Which will mean absolutely nothing. At least we had it documented in Oregon that the fluid level was correct for towing prior to starting home. (We did the same thing before we went up to Oregon). The transmission overheated on the way up to Oregon, but did not completely fry the transmission, so the Eugene dealer told us that everything was fine. We had to have some solenoids replaced after the engine light came on, but they insisted that this was unrelated. We are attempting to get Ford to buy back the car, but don't expect much luck, since we bought a certified pre-owned rather than a new car and we have had it for a little over a year now.

Eugene dealer originally agreed engine light was related to transmission. Now they have back tracked and said that the solenoids have been a problem and just need to be replaced. Suddenly, the fluid on our back window must have come from the RV, and the transmission fluid always smells like that. Amazingly, it didn't smell like that when we left two days earlier. They say the fluid isn't burnt, but does seem a little dark for the miles - gee, you mean the whole 5,000 miles we've put on the car since the transmission was replaced last year, or the 500 miles since the dealer checked the fluid in Phoenix? They are going to fix the solenoids, but do nothing with the transmission. Since it is running, we are just going to keep going and tow it home and wait for it to burn up the rest of the way again and take it back to our dealer. Tried to go to Ford to buy it back, but were told there were too many miles on it. We bought it last year with 13,000 miles on it as a certified used car and have put only 6,000 miles on it since then. (Who has time to drive it when it is always in the shop?) Will try to get some satisfaction from our dealer, but I think we can all agree that we are just going to lose our butts on this thing. We've decided to give up towing it either way, as two long trips in two years have been destroyed by this car.

I finally have a chance to update more on our issue. We traveled 900 of our 1200 mile trip before having a problem. (This is a record for a transmission that we have owned.) We did not have any problems on day one despite the 115 degree weather. On day 2 we had to travel a long distance in order to make it for a grandson's baseball game. We drove about 550 miles, stopping every 2 hours to start the car and run it thru the gears. We were good until about 350 miles in, then the transmission light came on and we could see the fluid on the back of the car again and smell the burnt transmission fluid. After running for a little while, the light went out. The car has been driving OK, but the transmission fluid is definitely burnt. Now, 5 days later, and engine light came on. No one can get to it in the town we are in, but they did put the computer on it and it came back with some sort of intake manifold cam timing error. We are driving it to Eugene, OR tomorrow to see what can be done and make them check the transmission again as well. I hate this car.....

Well - we didn't make it - transmission number 3 just burned up despite doing everything by the book and then some. We stopped every 200 miles or less, drove 60 or less and had the dealer document the transmission fluid level in writing with my husband present. I hate this car.

We are getting ready to leave tomorrow for a trip from Phoenix to Oregon. I am not confident that we will not have the same problems as last year. I firmly believe that the outside temperature affects this, and it will be 110-115 when we leave. We went to the dealer and had them check and document the fluid level per the supplemental towing guide we received. (The new guide says that you must have a dealer check the fluid level - I'm sure this is the way they will get out of replacing future transmissions.) I had to educate another new service manager regarding the issue. Sigh. He then documented that the transmission fluid was "full". I explained that it had better not be "full" and needed to be at the level for towing. My husband went and observed the tech check the fluid and I made him rewrite the service order to document that the "transmission fluid level was at the proper level for towing behind and RV". I will update regarding any issues (or nonissues, I hope), that we have on this trip. Also - on another issue - while on the fordforumsonline.com website, I found out that there was a TSB regarding seat staining (ours has a white ring, caused by plain water, that would not come out). They are replacing the whole seat. They found an oil leak as well, so with 19,000 miles on this car (6,000 since we purchased it), we've had to replace two transmissions, two O2 sensors, and now an oil pan gasket, in addition to having the transmission reprogram recall fix completed. Wish I had bought something else....

Personally, if I had to do it over again, I would not buy one to tow. Please see the following forum for more info: http://www.fordforumsonline.com/forum/ford...es-2-print.html Just the hassle of having to have the dealer document the transmission fluid level would not be worth it to me if I had not already purchased mine.

IMPORTANT I just received a copy of the "Customer Satisfaction Program" noted above, which we have already have performed. ALSO ENCLOSED was a notice that the towing instructions in the Owner's Guide are incorrect. They included an "Owner Guide Supplement" with the notice. While reading the revised instructions (which all have to do with the reduced fluid level that we have already discussed), I noticed an important instruction. The booklet says that you must have the fluid level verified by an authorized dealer before towing. I feel this is definitely a way for them to start denying paying for a new transmission if there is still a problem and the fluid level hasn't been verified by a dealer. We will be stopping at the dealer for verification before every trip. What a pain! But paying for the transmission if there is a problem and we DON'T have it verified will be a bigger pain. Anyway - I thought this was important info to share.

We have been towing with the correct fluid level with no problem, but have read of at least two people who burned up with the proper fluid level. I'm still hoping this will do the trick, but I won't have confidence in this fix until I tow it this summer on a longer trip. We have our dealer document the fluid level before leaving and also check it ourself to be sure that it is correct. We had two transmissions replaced under warranty before they figured out that the fluid level needed to be lowered (the 2009 does not have it listed in the owner's manual like the 2010 does). There was a very good thread on a Ford Forum regarding these issues until the Ford site was hacked and that forum was deleted.

Thank you - we had not received a copy of the recall, so we just called our dealer and they told us to bring it in. Do you know if the reprogramming was specifically for towing, or was it for all Escapes?

Johnp8n - Were you at the lowered fluid level when your transmission burned out on your Mercury? And if so, did you check it yourself? I'm desperately hoping this will fix the problem, and so far has been OK on our 09 Escape, but I just don't have that much confidence in this fix. But I refuse to quit towing - I will keep having transmissions put in as long as necessary...

I haven't heard much about the 2010. We have taken several more small trips with the 2009 with no problems. I am still convinced that the outside temperature is a factor, but hope I'm wrong. We won't be taking a long trip until July when we will go from Arizona to Oregon. If ours makes that trip, I will be convinced that the problem is solved. An update regarding the Ford Forum - that site was apparently hacked and the thread with the information is gone. I'm disappointed about that, as there was a good deal of useful information on that site. I've continued to monitor the site to see if any new problems get posted. One piece of advice - check the fluid yourself each and every time after you go to the dealer - they tend to top off the fluid when you are there for something unrelated. We also plan to have our dealer document the fluid level in writing before leaving for the Oregon trip. I hope everything works out for both of us! Kathy

This was posted on the Ford Forum - I was incorrect about the cooler - it is something about the reservoir: "We have our '09 Escape back after 15 days at the dealer for transmission failure after flat towing behind motorhome 300 miles. Service manager at my Ford dealer stated Ford has a fix in the works. He didn't have good detail but indicated there was a reservoir to be added or revised on the 6F35. He also stated the fix could not be retrofitted to existing transmissions that it would require transmission replacement. He also indicated Ford would only replace transmission w/ retro trans as they fail and not replace preemptively."

I'm really disappointed that rhino still had the problem after the dipstick adjustment. We did make a second test drive of over 500 miles and did not have a problem. That said, we do think there was a small amount of fluid on the back again, but we hit a little rain and couldn't really be sure. I have a feeling that this is just something to "get by", but will eventually blow up again. Someone on the Ford forum said that they were told Ford is working on a fix, with a different tranny cooler, but that hasn't been confirmed. We can only hope. I've attached a link to the Ford thread for those who are interested. http://www.ford-forums.com/ford-escape/349...on-failure.html

Lilly - we do not use a tow shield. Please check the other thread about this subject. Supposedly the fluid level is the main problem with these transmissions. It needs to be lower to tow than the normal driving level. I think you will find that you will continue to have problems if the fluid level isn't lowered.