CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013 Ford Escape has been in the news quite a bit and for all the wrong reasons. Within a few months of its release the SUV was recalled three times, twice because of engine fires.
In July 2012, due to a fuel line that could split and leak, Ford told owners to park their cars because even driving to the dealership for repairs was deemed too dangerous. Instead, in a somewhat unprecedented move, Ford sent tow trucks to pick up the affected vehicles and handed out rental cars while the owners waited for repairs.
A few months later the Escape was recalled again because antifreeze could leak out onto the engine due to a freeze plug becoming dislodged. As the coolant hit the hot engine there was, once again, a threat for fire.
The 2013 is the first model year of the Escape's 3rd generation and proves once again that you want to avoid the first model year when at all possible.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
9 / 61
Injuries / Deaths:
14 / 0
Average Mileage:
55,975 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the engine started driving roughly. In addition, the contact stated that she continuously had to keep refilling the coolant reservoir because the vehicle was consuming excessive amounts of coolant. The vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with internal coolant leak. The contact was informed that in order to provide a full failure diagnosis, the engine would need to be taken a part. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 144,000.
The transmission will sometimes fail to engage immediately after putting the vehicle in drive or reverse. If the driver steps on the gas pedal, the transmission jerks violently to engage. Also while driving, the transmission will have a slight slipping before allowing acceleration. No OBD codes appear and no dashboard warning messages appear. In addition to the transmission problem, I obtained a P0234 and P0299 OBD code. This code is for the turbocharger overboost solenoid, which I had replaced, but the code has returned.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH. The engine overheated message was displayed, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the water pump. After the repair was performed, the contact and his passengers detected an abnormally strong oil odor while driving. The contact and his passengers suffered from headaches; however, medical attention was not received. Additionally, while driving, there was smoke coming from underneath the hood. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic, who determined there was an oil leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V583000 (Engine); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 133,000.
The Turbocharger Wastegate Regulating Valve Solenoid has been intermittently forcing a OBD2 code P0234. The solenoid location has not been determined and why the code goes away and then comes back later after driving the vehicle after clearing the code is not determined either. Ford charges more for this part than any other parts houses. The dealer labor is also costing just as much as the part ($200). This is a problem that is currently happening to quite a few Escape owners.
- Valve cover needs to be replaced - Spark plugs needs to be replaced - Power reduced message pops up probably from spark plugs - Says transmission fault probably from valve cover leaking transmission fluid - Left rear speed sensor - Turbo charger/super charger underboost - invalid data received from steering angle sensor module message popped
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after driving the vehicle for an extended period, the vehicle would hesitate without warning upon depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact initially took the vehicle to a dealer where they informed the contact that the turbo booster needed to be replaced. Despite the turbo booster replacement, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer for a second time; however, the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
I had issues with my turbo in July. It needed to be fully replaced. One week ago, is started leaking coolant. White smoke was coming from the exhaust. Last night while driving on the highway, it would not accelerate and threw an error code saying cylinder three misfire detected. I had to stop on the side of the highway in the middle of the night in pitch black with no streetlights due to no fault of my own. Car is no longer drivable until fixed.
2013 Ford Escape SE, So according to my local Ford dealership, which is where this vehicle was purchased, this particular year/model has an issue with the engine where coolant will leak into the head and warp the head seizing a spark plug(s), which customers will not find out about until it comes time to actually replace the spark plugs. Our vehicle has less than 100,000 miles on it, and was purchased in full (no loan/lease). This is a pretty BIG manufacturer's defect. It is also (according to my local Ford dealership), a common problem, but not common enough for ford to do anything about it. Someone buys a product and it has a manufacturer's defect, but won't do anything to correct it that's pretty crappy, leaving people like me that is laid off to try to foot a bill of several thousand dollars for something that again, should be fixed by ford. Again according to my local Ford dealership, Ford changed some things in manufacturing after learning about this. After calling my local Ford dealership and then Ford corporate, all they told me is A. there's no extended service program on my vehicle and that it was only offered on select VINs, and B. Call NHTSA. (So basically pushing this off on other's/another agency.). Also note, my local Ford dealership, NOR Ford corporate are willing to give me anything in writing. (I wonder why). (Note to NHTSA, I am Joe, filling this out for my father, the vehicle owner.)
Fire started in engine from oil leak in cylinder head on Saturday, 9/9/23 at approximately 1:15 pm. Car had been running for around 2 hours with no signs or indication of malfunction. Driver pulled car over after entering Mt. Rainier National Forest at a viewpoint. At this point driver noticed engine was smoking. NO lights or indicators on dashboard lit up notifying of overheating or malfunction. The temperature gauge did not indicate the engine was over heating. The safety of 4 passengers was at risk. Fire started with four passengers including the driver in the car. Vehicle was located in Mt. Rainier National Forest where passengers and driver had no cellphone service. This also occurred in a National Forest during the high risk season for forest fires/wildfires. Fire could have put lives of passengers at risk as well as those in nearby area, if car went ablaze in the forest. With no service, preventing the car fire from turning into a forest fire would be very difficult. This problem occurred AFTER TSB on this vehicle was completed for safety recall 17S09-S1 in April 2014 at Bellingham Ford. The crack in the cylinder caused by the recall was patched by Bellingham Ford by filling it with Copper silicone rather than removing the cylinder and replacing it. Repair shop (Mike's Shop - Buckley Washington) that inspected vehicle after incident on Sept. 9th 2023, found that copper silicone patch had split causing oil to leak into engine and catch fire. This inspection indicates that the initial repair done by Ford Manufacturer did not prevent leak from occurring and causing a fire to start in engine.
The contact's wife owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, there was significant amounts of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure mainly recurred after the vehicle had been sitting overnight. The dealer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact related the failure to TSB Number: SSM-49210. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking engine oil. The contact stated that after leaving the vehicle running for an extended period, there was smoke coming from the vehicle. The check engine warning light and engine overheating message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where they diagnosed that the failure was with the cylinder block. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer and the contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 86,136.
I purchased my vehicle may 6,2020 Accident accord in Winnie, Tx June 22,2020 on the highway me and my kids father were on the highway at the time the highway was getting construction work done as we were driving down the highway street someone hit us broke one of my ribs and my left elbow as well I didn-??t have any knowledge of knowing my vehicle had a recall until I just realize searching on my vehicle I purchased and the reason why it wasn-??t taken cared before I had family matters sorry so late Briana Roy
My coolant is disappearing daily. I-??m putting at least three containers a week in the engine is overheating. I took my vehicle in for service. They had it for five weeks and told me nothing was wrong with it and did all kinds of diagnostic testing. I found a recall 13S12 which pertains to the exact situation. However, when I put in my Vin number, this recall is not coming up I don-??t know if my vehicle was serviced for this. It states that the eighth digit of the Vin number will be a letter X, mine is a letter X potential outcome can be my engine, catching on fire and nobody will listen to me.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment, and the vehicle lost motive power. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle seemed to return to normal functionality. The contact stated that the failure had become more frequent over the past two years. The contact stated that during the failure the check engine and low coolant warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined there was a crack in the engine block. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 97,612.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Portland, OR, USA