Ford EscapeThe Ford Escape has been thoroughly updated, reinforcing the character and appeal that have made it America's perennial best-selling small sport-utility vehicle. The improvements nearly cover the spectrum, and inject a new level of refinement. We'd call the Escape a little truck among small SUVs. Its new styling deliberately invokes Ford's larger, truck-based SUVs.
In early September, I had my dealer duplicate the staining problem with just water on the seats of my '08 Escape. They tried their best to clean them but just made the stains worse, so they filed a material defect claim for me. The good news is Ford agreed to replace my seats. The bad news is Ford has discontinued these seats (for obvious reason!) so they are on special order. My dealer joked that they hoped that they will be delivered before my warranty expires! It seems that we have established a common problem with the '08 Escape seats. Time to file a class action recall. Good luck to everybody!
i traded in my beloved 98 grand cherokee on an 08 XLT escape on saturday. after doing a little research online as to why i couldn't program the satellite radio (ford, WHY would you put a SAT button on a stereo without sat radio?!), the remorse set in. i installed my old external sat radio and ran the TINY antennae wire outside through the top of the driver side door. that night, a huge rainstorm came through my area. i opened the door the next morning to find a nice, lovely water stain on the front seat. i dried the area with a clean towel, then let it air out for a while. i came back a few hours later to find a freaking huge stain. a....water stain.
let me repeat that... A WATER STAIN.
since when does water stain fabric?!?! SERIOUSLY, ford... how long have you been manufacturing car seats?! you would think that after 100ish years, ford would have figured out this whole fabric thing. the stain is awful. how is this vehicle going to look in 10 years?!
Same problem here. Bought our escape a year or so ago, within about 10000 miles the seats look older than my last vehicle. (A 1998 Ranger with 149000 miles on it when I traded it.) Ive still got a bit on my warranty so I'm going to contact my local Ford dealer and see what can be done. Personally I'd be fine if they simply cleaned and Scotchguarded them for me, or gave me whatever upholstery cleaner they use. Condensation from a soda bottle should not be able to wreak this much havoc on a car seat.
I purchased a new 2008 Ford Escape. I also purchased an extended warranty. I have previously owned 2 other Fords. My mom and brother as well. We were all very happy with our vehicles and service. However, I am regretting my purchase with my 2008 Ford Escape. I respect companies that stand behind their products. Ford does not seem to do that anymore. My NEW Escape had water stains on my cloth seats 3 days after purchase. The stains look so bad that Im embarrassed to let anyone inside my vehicle. I went to Ford and the man in the parts dept sold me Motorcraft spot and stain remover, which I paid 10 bucks for. Well, I followed the directions and my seats are WORSE!! The more I attempt to clean the water stains out, the more disgusting it looks!! I refuse to keep scrubbing my seats and wearing out the material! The material is defective and needs to be recalled! I am paying $435. a month for the next 5 years on my car and I expect to have a vehicle of quality. A company that says, hey we appreciate your business and stand behind their product. I called Ford and they tell me to call the dealer. I call the dealer and they say it's not covered. I have decided I am not letting this matter go. I am tired of spending my hard earned money and getting taking advantage of. If anyone would like to join me, I would like to do something about this. Dispute this matter with Ford. There has to be some kind of consumer protection out there. If anyone is aware of this, please contact my email: Walton708@yahoo.com. If anyone wants to sign a petition to have these seats recalled please contact me. Thank you. Michelle
I went to the Ford dealership today to complain about my seat stains. Basically they told me this is a common problem but Ford has yet to recognize it. The guy told me to buy some foam cleaner and scotch guard. I also called Ford's customer service line and made a formal complaint. Everyone who has this problem should do the same thing!
I just bought a 2008 FORD ESCAPE with 21,000 klm on it. i am extremely picky for cleanliness and noted unsightly STAINS on the passenger seat......and stains on the driver seat also. I did NOT SPILL ZIP all, so was kinda ticked off. I just rolled over 33000klm and took vehicle into the FORD DEALERSHIP in the town i live in. The SM took all the details, VIN, etc, kinda knew of the problem from others and said there was a BULLETIN from FORD dated MARCH 2009 stating this problem was found to be common in 2008 FORD ESCAPES. I said, it seemed to me not to be properly PDI before coming to me, like....maybe not SCOTCHGUARDED or something. The Service MGR TOLD me i could clean, but it would re-occur, so a waste of energy. He stated there is a definite problem with the material supplier to FORD but, they have NOT BEEN RECALLED ....yet.
He told me to hang tight, he would get back to me.....but, i was NOT to let go past the 60,ooo klm ODOMETER, to maintain the REPAIR under FORD WARRANTY. I also have a large DIVOT, or CREASE....in the passenger SEAT....unsightly and looks a new vehicle look like JUNK....not happy at all. I just turned in a 2005 FORD ESCAPE with 250,000KLM and none of this problem, in fact.....a beautiful, mtce free, EXCELLENT running car.
WHY is FORD not taking care of this problem.....seems ridiculous for me to have to drive another 30,000Klm waiting for FORD to do something. It is an INTEGRITY thing for me....our company leases over 500 vehicles.....lots and lots of FORDS....but this could change that easily. I love FORD so far, but do not want to go thru hell waiting here.
I have pictures of this STAINING....it is not PRETTY. I have customers in my vehicle all the time and this looks brutal and i might add unacceptable. The question is, does anyone at FORD care?
There's a new TSB 09-23-03 on the seat cover staining problem.
Some 2008-2009 Escape and Escape Hybrid vehicles (excludes Mariner) equipped with Cloth seats (excludes XLS) and built on or before 5/14/2009, may exhibit stains with a white ring outline around them. An updated seat cover is now available to reduce this specific type of staining.
how much are these covers? i can't find the TSB online anywhere..
They are covering them under warranty. I'd post the TSB but it's huge because it's a lot of stock number for colors, etc., too big to post as one link. I don't know how to split the file up!
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2008 ford escape seat stains 
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