There was an on again off again thing with the transmissions for some of those products (Fusion, Escape and their sister brands). The current model manual will be the definitive source.
2008 Itasca Sunova 35J Class A
1997 TJ Sahara, hard and soft tops and AC
Held together via Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and stopped by US Gear Unified Brake system.
No automatic Escape or Fusion. I planned on purchasing a Fusion but it is not towable 4-down any longer. I ended up with the Focus, a little smaller but it still has a lot of room for a small car, picked it up yesterday. Before I purchased it I called Ford, Blue Ox, and Remco and all of them stated that the 2012 Focus with automatic is towable as is 4 wheels down. Hardest part is getting the negative battery cable off, it's a must do part of the towing and it's really buried inside the battery box.
Nick
2011 Winnebago Vista 35F
2012 Ford Focus Toad
Blue Ox Aventa LX
Brake Buddy Classic
Wow. Some folks I met at Myrtle Beach 2 weeks ago are going to get a shock. We were pondering trading our '08 Explorer for the 2013 Escape (when it hits the dealer lots....completely redesigned Escape based on their European Kuga)and wondered if Ford has addressed the tranny issues. I found two folks with new 2012 Escapes towing them 4 down at Ocean Lakes RV park. One had just towed his from Canada and said it did fine. The other said he had been towing his for about a month and seemed unaware of any concerns.
I'd be unhappy if I just bought a new 2012 and would now be finding out that Ford was advising against towing it.
I guess we will either keep the Explorer or look for some other smaller SUV or crossover vehicle to replace it. It seems vehicles with auto trans that can be flat towed are getting fewer in number each year.
2007 Country Coach Allure 470, 2012 Honda CR-V toad. SMI Air Force One braking system. Lucy the rescued lab/springer mix; Dixie rescued beagle mix. Smith Mountain Lake, VA
logman wrote: I am UNHAPPY, I checked with the salesman and the manual b4 I leased mine, all said it was ok,,,,,now what?
I'm no legal expert for sure but if I was in your shoes, I'd be back at the dealer expecting to get out of my lease with no penalties. If the dealer and the manual at the time confirmed it was OK for your intended use, and now that is not so, I would think it reasonable to say you were misled. Not intentionally misled but misled or misadvised at the least.
An update on this, as Wolfe10s info is not correct in some cases. This is only true if your Escape was built after 2/27/12. Previous build dates ARE good for 4 down towing, and those that are not should receive a mailing from Ford to update them. This is from the Ford midwest district office and my dealer in Omaha.
Jeff and Kim
2009 Bounder 35H (Gas Workhorse chassis)
2012 Ford Escape Limited Toad
An update on this, as Wolfe10s info is not correct in some cases. This is only true if your Escape was built after 2/27/12. Previous build dates ARE good for 4 down towing, and those that are not should receive a mailing from Ford to update them. This is from the Ford midwest district office and my dealer in Omaha.
Super. Can you post a link to a Ford Motor Corp statement to clarify this. Seems odd that that information would not have been in the addendum, but that certainly could be the case. The fact that a very knowledgeable shop foreman at a large Ford dealer was not aware of it on Tuesday scares me. It did NOT come through as a service bulletin, but as an addendum to the owners manual.
Keep in mind that the addendum does NOT pertain to all 2012 Ford Escapes. You need to have received a mailing from Ford about this, OR log on to your MyFord account for your Escape and look up the owners manual info. For instance, when I log in with my VIN I DO NOT see the addendum, as it does not pertain to my vehicle.
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