FYI My drivers seat has developed some issues and is going to replaced. It is the upgraded leather seat (05) and the padding seems to have detached somehow inside leaving and iron bar hitting me in the side. The dealer ordered a seat today (3-6 weeks for a new one).

When I take it in I am also aksing them to test the PATS system and if it is indeed non-functional I plan to file a complaint with the California AG's office (I paid for PATS on the window sticker so I should have a working PATS).

I will keep the list informed

Chris Brown

 

How does your sticker identify the PATS?

I just looked at mine and couldn't find any indications.

david

 

For myself, and other uninitiated, might you please define PATS?

 

Interesting. I assumed that mine was on there, but I think I was wrong. The sticker indicates "rem key ent w/2 keyfobs" and "Perimeter Alarm", niether of which is PATS. The Dealer however said it had it and the keys are the "PATS keys" (dealer again).

In any case I want it in writing that it has no PATS so that I can figure out what to do next.

Chris Brown

 

Yep, that's what mine says also.

Although when I purchased the FEH, the sales manager went to great lengths explaining why I should not loose the keys ... and how expensive it would be to replace them yada yada yada.

I'm very interested in hearing about your adventures.

david

 

What are the Passive Anti-Theft Alarm and the PATS? Are they both standard equipment in the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid?

There are really two systems that you can easily get mixed up using letters. First, every car has the Perimeter anti-theft alarm which is a fairly dumb system that is armed when you lock your car and walk away. You can test the system by pushing the alarm button on you key fob and it will set off the audible alarm. It works by going off if someone breaks in without a key.

The Passive Anti-Theft Alarm is in the 2005 FEH, and does work.

The system we call PATS stands for Passive Anti Theft System but it is actually patented by Ford as SecuriLock (TM), and is an engine immobilizer. SecuriLock(tm) provides a unique electronic signature for each car and truck by matching a specially coded ignition key with a sensor located in the vehicle. A miniature transponder that contains an antenna and an integrated circuit is embedded in the ignition key. It uses wireless radio technology
to transfer a code between the key and the car. It has been used in almost every Ford vehicle since 1998.

When the right code is recognized the vehicle starts and the driver can proceed. If the code is not recognized, the engine will not start. In the case of a hot wire attempt or the removal of the ignition lock, the system recognizes that the correct key has not been used; it shuts the engine down within a second and eliminates the possibility of it being restarted.

In Europe, all 1999 model Ford vehicles are equipped with anti-theft immobilizers. (The SecuriLock(TM) system is known as Safeguard in the United Kingdom and as PATS or Passive Anti-Theft System in continental Europe.)

According to an email I have from Ford, PATS components are onboard the 2005 FEH but do not work. Substantial re-engineering will have to be done to make it work and will include both new software and hardware. There has been no commitment by anyone at Ford that the system will ever work on the 2005. PATS does work on the 2006 FEH.

I went back and checked all my pre-purchase literature and found no reference to PATS. I then reread all Ford Order Guides back to May 2004 and all the ones to date that had to do with the Escape Hybrid. There was never any reference to PATS during that time. But in the Escape (Gas Models) Order Guides PATS is always standard equipment.

I truly believe that Dealers got the two mixed up. The problem I still have is what liability do dealers have for mis-stating the attributes of the product they sell? If I buy a box of Sugar Corn Flakes, even though the box does not say they are sugared but my grocer assures me they are, must the grocer stand behind what he said in order to get me to buy? Does Ford have some responsibility, especially since they have known that some dealers have been mis-selling the car for a year and Ford has apparently chosen to not set the record straight.

These are questions I cannot answer but the longer this goes on without some resolution we all lose just a little more faith in Ford and their Dealer's.

 

I just checked my window sticker, and it made no mention of PATS, however I had the same experience as David with the salesman telling me about the system, how it protects the vehicle from theft, and how key duplication/replacement is very expensive, etc.

My owner's manual does not mention PATS by name, but does explain the functionality, and how a non-programmed key won't start the vehicle.