2001 Ford Escape — reported problems

CarFaultIQ holds 1,192 evidence records for the 2001 Ford Escape, drawn from official sources and owner complaints.

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 1,374 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

  • Engine284 (20.7%)Official recall records for this system: 40, covering model years 2001–2025.
  • Brakes180 (13.1%)Official recall records for this system: 15, covering model years 2001–2025.
  • Electrical system143 (10.4%)Official recall records for this system: 21, covering model years 2013–2025.
  • Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)131 (9.5%)Official recall records for this system: 25, covering model years 2001–2026.
  • Speed control & accelerator108 (7.9%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2001–2004.
  • Air bags (restraint system)66 (4.8%)Official recall records for this system: 10, covering model years 2013–2025.

Other / uncategorized: 31 classifications (2.3%) 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

  • 483reports included a mileage
  • 89,004average 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
  2. 2002 1,163 records for 2002
  3. 2003 653 records for 2003
  4. 2004 566 records for 2004
  5. 2005 1,476 records for 2005
  6. 2006 546 records for 2006
  7. 2007 299 records for 2007
  8. 2008 2,026 records for 2008
  9. 2009 1,744 records for 2009
  10. 2010 2,129 records for 2010
  11. 2011 1,374 records for 2011
  12. 2012 646 records for 2012
  13. 2013 2,937 records for 2013
  14. 2014 2,256 records for 2014
  15. 2015 1,229 records for 2015
  16. 2016 1,287 records for 2016
  17. 2017 2,927 records for 2017
  18. 2018 1,963 records for 2018
  19. 2019 714 records for 2019
  20. 2020 1,909 records for 2020
  21. 2021 583 records for 2021
  22. 2022 421 records for 2022
  23. 2023 297 records for 2023
  24. 2024 237 records for 2024
  25. 2025 113 records for 2025
  26. 2026 31 records for 2026

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

  • 76mention a crash
  • 58mention a fire
  • 75mention an injury
  • 3mention 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 15
  • Manufacturer communications NHTSA 158
  • Investigations NHTSA 11
  • Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 12
  • Owner complaints NHTSA 996

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.

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.

Symptoms and warning lights in these systems

Where to go next