Ford Escape Complaints
758 consumer complaints on file.
- #11453130February 20, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
It was a four month old car. I was driving and the engine coolant light came on. I traveled an additional 1/4 of a mile and another driver pulled up next to me and said that my car was on fire. I pulled off to the side of the road, and within about a minute, the entire car was engulfed in flames. I was fortunate to get out of the vehicle uninjured, and I promptly notified the deal of what had happened.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11452416February 17, 2022SERVICE BRAKES
1) Flapping noise from left front brake. New car with less than 3,300 miles on it. Taken to dealer. Found to have BOTH front brake rotors warped. 2) Dealer STILL has not contacted us about parts availability for recall on brakes (Nov 2021) Please note that this is the 3rd complaint filed on the same vehicle. Other complaint numbers are 11452046 and 11452039.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11452046February 15, 2022SUSPENSION, WHEELS
Felt sudden, hard bang under left foot while driving approx. 40 MPH. Car then lost control. Driver steered to right to get off road, hitting a curb in the process. Found broken left front axle when finally able to stop the car. There were NO obstacles or potholes to cause this accident (photos).
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11452039February 15, 2022VISIBILITY/WIPER
Passenger wiper arm comes loose and does not maintain position, causing wiper to either not work at all or misalign and cross the driver side wiper. Result is impaired visibility. Both episodes occurred in winter weather. Have had two episodes so far (1/12/22, 2/11/22) both requiring dealer service to re-align wipers to factory spec and tighten. On 2/11/22 both wipers became entangled during freeway driving, destroying both wiper blades and causing dangerous driving conditions due to poor visibility in rainy conditions. On 1/12/12 the dealer's service adviser showed owner location of the screw that holds wiper, and advised that when it comes loose, here's how to tighten it then come to dealer for it to be returned to factory spec. On 2/11/22 the dealer's service tech blamed driver for using windshield wipers "with powerful motors" when it is rainy/icy outside.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11449028January 26, 2022SERVICE BRAKES
I was coming to a stop at a red light when my brakes began to get hard to the point to where I couldn’t press them down. I then rear ended another vehicle. It seems to me that the power brakes might have failed. After crashing my brakes seem to go back to normal but still felt abnormally stiff. There was no injuries in the accident. The car is under an open recall stating this exact problem. I contacted our local dealer the day I found out about the recall and they told me that the car was to drive and parts would not be available until the 2nd Quarter of 2022. The recall also states that it only happened under certain circumstances. I will not be driving the vehicle until after recall is fixed because it is an unsafe vehicle to drive due to not knowing when the brakes might fail again.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11448644January 24, 2022SEAT BELTS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I rented this Ford Escape from Avis this month and ran into what could have been an incredibly dangerous safety issue due to a massive oversight in the car's design. I installed a small booster seat in the passenger side back seat for my 10 year-old son. He got in the seat and attached his seat belt, which he has done hundreds of times before in our own car. About 1 hour into a 2-hour freeway trip, a notification went off on the dashboard, telling me that a seat belt in the back had come undone. My son tried frantically to reattach the buckle but was unable. I had to exit the freeway and park on the side of the road. When I tried to reattach the buckle, I saw why there was a problem: He had inserted the buckle into the CENTER receptacle, not the passenger-side one. The receptacle didn't click, as it was probably designed not to do, but because the metal of the buckle has a slight angle to it, there was enough tension for it to temporarily hold. However even a minor accident could have been fatal because my son wasn't property strapped in. There are several issues here. First, the dash indicator should have been designed to tell me that there was weight on the right rear seat but no buckle was attached to that receptacle. Second, the center receptacle did not immediately reject the right-most buckle; instead, the bent angle of the buckle's metal temporarily held it in place and made my 10 year-old believe he was strapped in. Finally, the receptacles themselves have no play from side-to-side. This, plus the angle of the buckle's metal, means that when a booster seat is installed, there is not enough room to fully attach the buckle into the receptacle without exerting a LOT of force to push the receptacle to the left. I can't imagine the buckle can be attached at all with a larger child seat. The image I attached shows why this is; attaching a car seat requires exerting enough force to bend the metal holding the receptacle in order to attach the buckle.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11447853January 18, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V922000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11447432January 13, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
My daughter was coasting and the person in front of her slammed on their brakes causing her to slam on hers. Her collision warning did not go off until after she hit the car in front of her so she had didn't have enough time to stop. We pulled off into a parking lot and called the police to inspect the cars. Two weeks later there was a recall on the back brake pads. She ended up getting a ticket for impeding traffic which ended up costing $150.00 plus $5.50 for fees. I also have damage to the grille and bumper on my car that needs to get fixed.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11447232January 12, 2022ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving on the interstate a fire started under the hood and shortly after smoke entered the driver cabin. Luckily I was able to pull over and get out of the vehicle before the fire reached the driver cabin. It is going to be investigated by a company hired by AAA, the appraiser from the insurance company was not able to find a cause due to the fire damage being too bad. The first warning message was engine coolant overtemperature and a couple of others followed.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11446873January 10, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V922000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11445205December 28, 2021SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving in reverse, a loud grinding sound was present while depressing the brake pedal. The contact indicated that the failure mainly occurred after the vehicle was not used for an overnight period. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the brake rotors, but the sound continued to occur. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11444169December 17, 2021SERVICE BRAKES
Wife was driving vehicle. Came to intersection at end of our street. Applied brakes. Brakes did not work. Went through intersection crashed into tree. Injured, taken to hospital, vehicle towed, police report made. Vehicle is available for inspection. Would like to have vehicle inspected! Not yet inspected by anyone. No warning of problem. Vehicle has about 250 miles on it. Just leased on Dec 2, 2021.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 1
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11442905December 6, 2021SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in reverse, an abnormally loud humming noise would emit from the vehicle upon depression of the brake pedal without warning. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on numerous occasions and on the latest visit, she had the brake pads replaced; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure and a case was filed. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11440888November 18, 2021ENGINE
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle began vibrating and the contact heard an abnormal noise. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to drive to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to local dealer and was informed that there was no remedy for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 700.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11439473November 5, 2021VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, her foot would repeatedly slip off the accelerator pedal and go underneath the brake pedal. The contact stated that this could lead to a potential failure while driving at high speeds. The contact also noted that the accelerator pedal was too small for normal operation. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer where they acknowledged a potential failure with the small accelerator pedal and the contact was referred to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was notified, and the contact was given a claim number. She was then referred to NHTSA for further assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 0.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11426742July 27, 2021FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Vehicle was being driven down the road. Vehicle stalled. Check engine light came on. Attempted to restart vehicle but vehicle stalled again. Smelled fuel. Heard a boom then fire ignited. Fire came from the underside of vehicle and flames were rising on driver side of vehicle with black smoke. Attempted to exit vehicle from driver side door but was unable to do so due to flames. Crawled over to passenger side of vehicle and exited the vehicle. Fire department extinguished the fire with water. Fire reignited and fire department extinguished fire again. Insurance company inspected the vehicle but was unable to determine root cause of fire.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11425732July 20, 2021POWER TRAIN
The transmission automatically went into park in the middle of an intersection and was inoperable from that time and had to be towed from the intersection.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11425426July 19, 2021ENGINE
The contact’s daughter owned a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an unknown speed, the coolant warning light illuminated. As the contact's daughter began to pull over, she began to lose control of the vehicle as a black smoke started coming from the engine. The vehicle caught on fire once the contact's daughter had exited the vehicle. The fire department arrived at the scene and was able to extinguish the fire. A fire report was filed. There was no injury reported. Due to the failure, the vehicle was initially towed to a tow yard however, the current location of the vehicle was unknown. The contact's daughter notified the dealer of the failure and a week later and she was informed that an investigation would be started. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was unknown.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0