Owners filed 1,850 complaints about the 2015–2025 Ford Ecosport with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 55th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2018 model year drew the most (726), and the single most-reported problem area is engine and cooling, named in 45% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2018, with 726 complaints, led by engine (355).
- Spike years: 2018 (1.8× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: brakes complaints came at a median of 9k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 13 complaints mention a fire and 38 mention a crash; owners reported 24 injuries and 3 deaths.
Ford Ecosport complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 726 | Engine (355), Engine and cooling (311), Transmission / powertrain (67) | 65k mi | 18 | 2 |
| 2019 | 460 | Engine and cooling (215), Engine (193), Transmission / powertrain (50) | 67k mi | 7 | 2 |
| 2020 | 396 | Engine and cooling (179), Engine (168), Transmission / powertrain (53) | 70k mi | 5 | 8 |
| 2021 | 258 | Engine and cooling (134), Engine (85), Transmission / powertrain (50) | 55k mi | 6 | 1 |
| 2022 | 10 | Air bags (2), Body structure (2), Engine (2) | 35k mi | 2 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Ford Ecosport problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine and cooling | 839 | 45% | 67k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Engine | 803 | 43% | 65k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 221 | 12% | 61k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Fuel system | 112 | 6% | 124k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Electrical system | 89 | 5% | 42k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Brakes | 63 | 3% | 9k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Speed control / acceleration | 50 | 3% | 74k mi | — |
| Air bags | 28 | 2% | 30k mi | — |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other Ford models in the index
- Ford F-150 (11,842)
- Ford Escape (9,632)
- Ford Explorer (9,079)
- Ford Edge (5,190)
- Ford Fusion (4,656)
- Ford F-250 Sd (3,942)
- Ford Focus (3,929)
- Ford Expedition (2,537)
- Ford F-350 Sd (2,147)
- Ford Mustang (1,750)
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.