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:
5 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
52,958 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.
All of a sudden my power steering failed while backing out of a parking space. I almost hit the car next to me because it was sudden and froze. Thank God I wasn-??t on the road! Would have crashed for sure! My vehicle is only at 111000 miles!!! Insane!!! DANGEROUS
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the steering assist fault warning light illuminated, and the steering wheel became firm. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the contact was informed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 103,000.
I was driving down the road an hour away from home with 3 other passengers, when the power steering stopped working. The car was extremely hard to handle and we almost wrecked 3 Times.
-??Steering Assist Fault - Service Required-?? Two weeks of intermittent loss of power steering, regained by turning the car on and off again, to complete power steering loss. Very difficult to steer and park the vehicle. Many online forum with -??13 Escape owners experiencing similar issue with no resolution.
- Golf Manor, OH, USA
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Steering wheel locks up at highway speeds. Read a lot of complaints on ford escape problem. It is in the millions. Losing steering assistance while driving making the wheel impossible to turn
December of 2022 - Took car to shop due to engine overheat light and oil smell inside vehicle as well as other "codes coming up. Vehicle was repaired. May 2023 had to take car back to shop due to cranking and it immediately saying engine overheating, low coolant, and various other codes as well as brakes not properly functioning. Repair shop said it was low on coolant and added fluid, stated no leaks and returned vehicle. But repair shop shows it pulled 15 codes, including loss of communication with ABS control module A as well as 3 other "lost communication with" codes and the engine overheating. The NEXT day we had the same issues and had to put it back in the shop. They flushed system and replaced motor because a bad head gasket caused oil to mix with the water (again). Got the vehicle back July 10th and the traction control and braking felt off as it had before in Dec 2022 but then was fine. Noticed on 7/11 that there appeared to be something in the fluid tank that shouldn't be there (like black chunks) and called the repair shop to see about scheduling another diagnostic. On 7/13 my son was driving from work and the engine suddenly stalled saying overheating when it wasn't showing overheating. Pulled over, started to crank it back up and it was fine. On 7/14 on his was to work, he pulled to the edge of the roadway to miss multiple deer in the road and was unable to steer the vehicle back onto the roadway. The traction control kicked in and he could not steer the car back onto the road, brakes did not work and ended up causing him to crash. I have driven the car a few times when traction control would kick in when it really shouldn't and it would not allow me to steer, accelerate, or really do anything until it shut back off.
The contact's wife owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was starting the vehicle, the message "Power Steering Assist Fault" was displayed, and the steering wheel was significantly difficult to steer. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was related to an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the power steering assist fault message was displayed, and the steering wheel became firm. The dealer was contacted and confirmed knowledge of the failure but confirmed that the VIN was not under recall for the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not under recall for the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
On 6/15,2023, upon starting my car after being parked, a warning message appeared briefly about a "steering fault." The message quickly disappeared. Upon driving the car, I noticed I had lost power steering. I was forced to drive my car home without power steering. Fortunately, the distance was only a few miles, and with caution I was able to get home safely. This problem has been reported by other 2013 Ford Escape drivers, some of whom have lost power steering while driving, which is a significant safety concern. I will be making a service appointment at my local Ford dealer today. Other 2013 Ford Escape drivers have reported online that this repair may cost $1500-3000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while her daughter was driving 25 MPH and making a right turn into the residence, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact-??s husband took the vehicle to the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.
Yesterday, while driving my Ford Escape, all of a sudden, my steering wheel became near impossible to steer - very difficult to be able to control enough to contain the vehicle and pull to a stop. It was so scary. I was just arriving home, but if this had happened on the Interstate or the State Highway I had just traveled, I am not certain I could have safely gotten my Escape off of the Highway without an accident. * Without prior warning, the steering wheel was so very hard to turn. * Trying to see what was happening, I looked at the Message which had popped up, ( There was not a message noted prior to the near inability to physically force the steering wheel to turn.) * The message said: Steering Assist Fault - Service Required (That is the 1st time that message had been
After making a turn on multiple occasions, an error code appeared that said -??power steering assist-?? had failed, and immediately my steering wheel locked and I was unable to steer to get to the side of the road. It caused danger to myself and other drivers on the road, having many near misses when these incidents occurred.
We had several instances where the Steering Assist Fault Service Required warning message would come on when the vehicle was started, and this resulted in a loss of power steering. When the vehicle was turned off and restarted, the power steering would come back on. We took the car to the Ford dealership and they confirmed that there was a Control Module internal electrical failure (PSCM) and they recommended the power steering system be replaced at our expense. The repair bill was $2550.16. The loss of power steering in a vehicle is a critical safety issue, as it could result in an accident.
When turning right my steering locked up randomly. It felt like resistance when turning but then would suddenly break free and turn. It didn-??t do it again so far. If there was a car there I would have hit them.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Glencoe, AL, USA