I have a 2005 Escape Hybrid AWD with 125,000 miles on it. I just had what I thought was a bad wheel bearing diagnosed as a bad transfer case.
If I am reading the tech doc correctly, this is a very simple device. In the conventional Escape, it acts as the differential between front and rear drives, but in the Hybrid, that function is handled electronically in the read differential, and the transfer case might just be a straight power splitter.
The transfer case is on back order. I asked my dealer if I was the first kid on the block with a broken one and they said, no, they had replaced several.
Is this a common problem? If it's such a simple device, it shouldn't fail. If mine is just a bearing, I should be able to get a transmission shop to rebuild it. I wouldn't think there would be any unique bearings used.