Ford Escape — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 72,808 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Engine18,664 (25.6%)Official recall records for this system: 40, covering model years 2001–2025.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)9,352 (12.8%)Official recall records for this system: 25, covering model years 2001–2026.
• Steering7,916 (10.9%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 2001–2011.
• Fuel system5,114 (7.0%)Official recall records for this system: 23, covering model years 2001–2024.
• Electrical system5,062 (7.0%)Official recall records for this system: 21, covering model years 2013–2025.
• Body & structure4,646 (6.4%)Official recall records for this system: 15, covering model years 2001–2025.

Other / uncategorized: 4,178 classifications (5.7%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (54,594 records, model years 2001–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and steering.
• Safety recalls (323 records, model years 2001–2026) are most frequently classified under: powertrain (transmission & drivetrain), fuel system and engine.
• Transport Canada recalls (280 records, model years 2001–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors) and powertrain (transmission & drivetrain).
• Manufacturer communications (4,077 records, model years 2001–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, equipment & accessories and engine.
• Investigations (97 records, model years 2001–2022) are most frequently classified under: engine, brakes and speed control & accelerator.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

• 35,126reports included a mileage
• 82,733average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 2001 1,192 records for 2001 1,192
2. 2002 1,163 records for 2002 1,163
3. 2003 653 records for 2003 653
4. 2004 566 records for 2004 566
5. 2005 1,476 records for 2005 1,476
6. 2006 546 records for 2006 546
7. 2007 299 records for 2007 299
8. 2008 2,026 records for 2008 2,026
9. 2009 1,744 records for 2009 1,744
10. 2010 2,129 records for 2010 2,129
11. 2011 1,374 records for 2011 1,374
12. 2012 646 records for 2012 646
13. 2013 2,937 records for 2013 2,937
14. 2014 2,256 records for 2014 2,256
15. 2015 1,229 records for 2015 1,229
16. 2016 1,287 records for 2016 1,287
17. 2017 2,927 records for 2017 2,927
18. 2018 1,963 records for 2018 1,963
19. 2019 714 records for 2019 714
20. 2020 1,909 records for 2020 1,909
21. 2021 583 records for 2021 583
22. 2022 421 records for 2022 421
23. 2023 297 records for 2023 297
24. 2024 237 records for 2024 237
25. 2025 113 records for 2025 113
26. 2026 31 records for 2026 31

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 1,550mention a crash
• 1,038mention a fire
• 1,368mention an injury
• 34mention a fatality

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 323
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 4,077
• Investigations NHTSA 97
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 280
• Owner complaints NHTSA 54,594

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

• U0198 in 15 records · 2017–2019
• C0051 in 11 records · 2020–2022
• P0300 in 10 records · 2001–2025
• U0418 in 9 records · 2020–2022
• U3000 in 9 records · 2016–2022
• P0301 in 8 records · 2001–2018
• P1285 in 8 records · 2019–2025
• P0455 in 7 records · 2001–2003
• P0457 in 7 records · 2001–2003
• B1342 in 6 records · 2001–2011
• P0302 in 6 records · 2005–2018
• P0303 in 6 records · 2005–2018

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.