Owners filed 9,632 complaints about the 2015–2025 Ford Escape with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 2nd-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2017 model year drew the most (2,679), and the single most-reported problem area is engine, named in 38% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2017, with 2,679 complaints, led by engine (1,565).
- Spike years: 2015 (1.9× the typical year), 2016 (1.9× the typical year), 2017 (4.6× the typical year), 2018 (3.1× the typical year), 2020 (2.7× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: electrical system complaints came at a median of 39k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 72 complaints mention a fire and 196 mention a crash; owners reported 214 injuries and 1 deaths.
Ford Escape complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,092 | Transmission / powertrain (286), Engine (238), Backup camera / rear sensors (142) | 76k mi | 29 | 19 |
| 2016 | 1,118 | Transmission / powertrain (320), Backup camera / rear sensors (209), Engine (199) | 78k mi | 36 | 10 |
| 2017 | 2,679 | Engine (1,565), Engine and cooling (507), Transmission / powertrain (390) | 70k mi | 39 | 15 |
| 2018 | 1,792 | Engine (1,146), Engine and cooling (342), Transmission / powertrain (269) | 81k mi | 25 | 5 |
| 2019 | 586 | Engine (308), Transmission / powertrain (125), Engine and cooling (92) | 65k mi | 24 | 3 |
| 2020 | 1,596 | Body structure (670), Transmission / powertrain (236), Electrical system (157) | 44k mi | 20 | 4 |
| 2021 | 343 | Body structure (92), Fuel System, Gasoline (44), Engine (43) | 39k mi | 9 | 9 |
| 2022 | 231 | Fuel System, Gasoline (61), Brakes (33), Engine (32) | 35k mi | 7 | 4 |
| 2023 | 96 | Electrical system (39), Engine (28), Transmission / powertrain (20) | 19k mi | 2 | 3 |
| 2024 | 76 | Electrical system (27), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (19), Lane departure assist (18) | 14k mi | 5 | 0 |
| 2025 | 23 | Electrical system (6), Engine (5), Engine and cooling (4) | 5k mi | 0 | 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 Escape problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 3,697 | 38% | 70k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 1,725 | 18% | 81k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Engine and cooling | 1,071 | 11% | 86k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Body structure | 940 | 10% | 42k mi | — |
| Electrical system | 755 | 8% | 39k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Backup camera / rear sensors | 426 | 4% | 85k mi | — |
| Fuel system | 379 | 4% | 56k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Steering | 279 | 3% | 41k mi | Power steering repair cost |
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 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 Ecosport (1,850)
- 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.