Ford Escape A/C Toxicity Problem

I'm not a mechanic, or even close to being one. I bought a 2009 Ford Escape brand new from my local Ford dealer (Holiday Ford, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), and always had it serviced there. From the end of the second year I started having air conditioning problems (a/c blowing hot). The dealer 'repaired' it and charged me for it, three times over the course of fourteen months. I had to store the vehicle for six months, and then, when it started again, guess what? So back to the dealer we go! (A 40 mile journey...each way!) Now they tell me that there is "a bag of chemicals in the air conditioning system which has degraded...when this happens the chemicals blow throughout the system, damaging everything...the entire a/c system will need to be replaced". Interestingly, Ford put out a service bulletin to the dealers three years ago about this problem. I have a couple of concerns here. The first is that if these chemicals are damaging the air conditioning system to that extent, what have they done to the health of my family and myself? Secondly, I asked the dealer to go back to Ford and get authorization to repair this under the warranty extension...from that point forward, the Service Department got difficult to get through to. I had made the point that they had attempted to repair, and charged me for those 'repairs' on three separate occasions before the vehicle went out of the warranty and the warranty extension, and it wasn't until AFTER that, that they decided that this repair was the "REAL" problem. Several calls were not taken, and messages were not returned over a two week period. There is NO QUESTION that they were avoiding me and hoping that I would go away. Finally, I drove back to the dealership (yeah...ANOTHER 40 miles each way). When I tracked down the service advisor whom I had been dealing with, he said that there was nothing that they could do to help me, because the vehicle was now out of warranty, and that the repair was going to cost $2,100! I called Ford Customer Care, and got the usual scripted runaround, and no help whatsoever! Now I will take the vehicle to a mechanic whom I trust (what choice do I have, really?) and I guess we'll see what he thinks is wrong and what it will cost to fix!!! taIf you have an a/c problem with an Escape (or for that matter ANY Ford)ke it right back to the dealer and DEMAND that they check this chemical pack! At least that way, you'll get their incredibly poor and unsafe design fixed before the car is out of warranty, because they clearly have no intention of issuing a recall or fixing the problem any other way! And if you were considering purchasing a Ford, I would bear my awful lesson here in mind. By the way, I have all of the vehicle's service records and repair documentation to substantiate everything that I've said here, about both the vehicle and my treatment by the Dealer.

I can remember a time when Ford used to publicly that "Quality is Job 1!" These days, I'm pretty convinced that poor design, dealer honesty and incompetence, and utter indifference to the customer are competing for first place, and I'm really not sure which one is winning. ____________________________________________________ A re-read of this just smacks of Ford bashing. Quote "If you have an a/c problem with an Escape (or for that matter ANY Ford)ke it right back to the dealer and DEMAND that they check this chemical pack!" *********************** Oh yes, let's blame all Fords. That desiccant TMK is not some deadly poison it just can like any get spewed thru a system and choke on it, lube could quit for compressor and other parts that can't effectively be flushed of debris from any cause. Also mentioned that this is such a danger to the family? So don't use gas, oil, antifreeze, or any other fluid in any vehicle. OP has never been back and IMO this thread serves no purpose to anyone, T

That, sir, isn't 'Ford Bashing'...it's reporting a serious problem, warning others about it, and trying to find solutions.