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:
2 / 8
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
56,156 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.
I own a 2013 ford Escape sel. While driving on the road a message appears and states steering assist fault. When this happens the steering becomes very hard to steer. I feel like I can-??t even pull over because it is very hard to steer. I feel is very unsafe. Another msg that appears is hill start assist not available and then with that massage 911 assist fault. All of these messages to me seem very unsafe and need to be looked at. I looked online and there are thousands of people complaining about these problems.
Car shaking when I accelerate. Car jerking at times upon accelerating. Major oil leak to the point that a car place refused to change my oil due to liability.
From the day I bought the vehicle, it had coolant leak issues. I read that Ford knew this so they installed a feature where the vehicle will shut down/not move if there is low coolant, so as to avoid fires. An abrupt stop is very dangerous as well depending on location. $1000s later and years later, the leaks turned into not being able to hold any coolant at all. I took it to FORD they kept for 6 months and when I got the car back, it no longer drove. I took to another shop and they said there is a class action lawsuit for the issue and that the turbo needs to be replaced. That would almost $5k in repairs-?? due to labor costs. I loved this car even thought it-??s been problematic. I would love nothing more than to have it working again, but not for that price.
Water Pump is leaking which could cause a fire in the engine bay. This vehicle has a known history of this and my VIN search shows 0 unrepaired recall issues, but it still exists. Problem was inspected by and verified by my mechanic of 35 years.
- 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
- Midway, FL, USA
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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.)
2013 Ford Escape transmission bushing breakage / separation where the shifter cable attaches to the transmission crank. Our vehicle had this problem and the bushing broke, leaving the vehicle stuck in Reverse. Almost crashed into the car parked behind me while attempting to parallel park. This appears obviously related to the highly published 2013-2016 Ford Escape recall problem, but my VIN has yet to be added to the log for recall and repairs. Please add my VIN so my group / production batch can be serviced. Ford wants to charge us close to $200 because our batch is missing from the recall list. "According to Ford's filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a damaged or missing bushing inside the transmission may prevent the vehicle from shifting into the selected gear. The vehicle therefore could roll away because it's not actually in Park, or it could drive in an unintended direction when the operator selects Drive or Reverse. A vehicle that is shut off when not in Park might not be able to be restarted."
The vehicle has a coolant problem leading to blown head gasket and is believed to be a fire hazord.This has been ongoing since I have purchased the vehicle.
Rear view camera image suddenly turned upside down when backing and image remains upside down. This disables my parking assistance and safely backing up. Ford agency can-??t fix it and new cameras are so backordered they don-??t know when they can get it. Why didn-??t recent camera recall also cover the 2013 Escapes?
Received Ford 2013 Escape recall #22S43. Took my car to Moon township Ford, Moon Twp PA on 6/27/2023 for PA inspection and recall repair. I was informed that the vehicle would not pass inspection unless I paid $612 for the bushing. They deny knowledge of recall even thought I left a copy in the vehicle when it was dropped off. Took car away from them today. In addition, my appt. was made 1 MONTH in advance of 6/27/2023 @ 8:30. I was informed at 4:00 pm it had not been looked at yet and asked for $612 for the bushing part. This is unacceptable and I will now seek legal recourse
The gear shift is locked in the neutral position. I took my baby took the aquarium the car drove fine we live 2 hours away. Upon leaving I was unable to shift the car into the drive position. The gear shift moved from park to neutral and would not move. The car displayed it was in neutral even though the car seemed like it was in the parked position. Applied emergency break but was unable to fix gear shift. Had to Uber with a baby 2 hours home because we were stranded.
I own a 2013 Ford Escape with EcoBoost. I bought it used about 6 years ago and it has been problematic from the start. First the engine coolant and engine light kept coming on with no noticeable leak, had it checked at Auto Zone was told it was the engine coolant bypass valve, had it replaced. The vehicle has run hot twice causing the engine to shut down on me, once on my way to work and once when taking my son to the Doctor. Continued to have the same issue with coolant, had to get the water pump replaced at the dealership last May. The engine coolant warning light started reappearing with leakage issues again and the vehicle began losing power and cutting off about 2 months ago. I took it back to the dealership and all they could find was a valve cover gasket leak. They stated that the oil from the valve cover gasket may be leaking onto other components and causing the car to cut off. They repaired that for a whopping $1150. The car started cutting off on me again about a month after that repair so it is currently at the dealership where they're telling me that the Turbocharger wastegate solenoid valve needs to be replaced for $950 and if that doesn't solve the problem then I will need to replace the engine. Ford should be ashamed! This vehicle should be part of the many recalls regarding these same type issues as I have read. I called Ford customer service, all they did was run the VIN which the dealership and I have done many times, told me that my vehicle did not qualify for any special programs and all warranties had expired, said I could pay for the repairs and hold onto my receipt in case there were recalls later. I am a single parent and I just cannot afford these repairs. Other recalls repaired such as the door latch which is very dangerous as I experienced my left side passenger door opening while driving on the highway with my special needs son in the backseat, before the recall, smh, thought we had done something wrong...this car is a true lemon.
Fords recall 22V413000 was not repaired the shifter thing cause me to send my car into the unknown hands of two different texas dealerships after the 1st dealerships service on that recall ford sent me a letter stating after a quality assessment they were not sure the tech completed the job they were billed for and ask me to take it to a dealer to have it checked for that issue and was told I needed a new alternator less than 30 day later while driving the car quit shifting correctly would not shift into reverse. Transmission fault service soon lite up and the same second dealership told me the transmission clutch had burned up and it would cost me $ $5,700 to replace it with a new transmission. Now I-??m totally without transportation
Steering assist light comes on when I turn vehicle on without warning. It makes it very hard to turn the wheel when it comes on. The light turns off when I restart the vehicle, but comes on again 24-32 hours later. It has not been inspected. There were no warning lamps or messages, or symptoms of the problem appeared 04-17-23
Our 2013 Ford Escape was recently taken in to a Ford Dealership for recall 22s43 transmission shifter cable bushing. The service team performed a replacement of shifter cable bushing, installed a protective cap, and adjusted the shifter as per recall. A few weeks later the transmission fault signal came up on our dashboard and the car would not shift into gear and it had to be towed home. Could the replacement have been faulty or not installed correctly, considering there were no reports of transmission issues when the vehicle was taken in to the dealership.
UNKNOWN, There are not any warning lights on, my cars rpm jumps when I try to accelerate. As I push the gas it acts as if it does not want to drive and won-€™t. I-€™ve had to pull over with hazards and wait for someone to come assist.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Yuba City, CA, USA