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:
52,107 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.
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.
- Topeka , KS, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
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.
My wife and I own a 2013 Ford Escape SE that developed a "Steering Assist Failure" error message on the dashboard. This failure causes the power steering to drop and the steering wheel has to be manually turned. When she drove it, she didn''t know what to do, so she drove it a few blocks to our house and told me about what happened. When I drove it and that happened to me, I put the vehicle back in park and shut the engine off for about 10 seconds. When I turned it back on, the error message went away and I was able to use the power steering without any problems.
The contact's daughter owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the steering gear box needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.
Steering Assist Fault sensor comes on which creates total loss of control of the wheel when driving placing anyone utilizing the road in danger as steering is not possible. Has occurred over 25 times. This was part of a recall and has been removed from being a recall now. Warning sensors go off randomly in the car all of the time and are inaccurate creating distractive driving for youth and has created dangerous situations. DMV citation during driving test regarding the sensor malfunctions. Back-Up Camara Broken, and Trunk will not open or close in weather below 40 preventing use in late fall winter early spring.
Steering Assist fault warning has been coming on intermittently for the past 6 years. This car is being driven by my daughter while attending college in Virginia. In the past I have taken it to my mechanic in New Jersey but by the time I get it there the warning is off and nothing is detected. It is coming on more frequently. Why is there no recall for this. I will advise her to take it to a Ford dealership in Virginia this week.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the power steering failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle back to the residence. Upon restarting the vehicle, the power steering returned to normal functionality. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.
While driving the following message appeared in my hub "The steering assist fault service required". Immediately I lost steering power and the steering wheel got really heavy. I stopped the vehicle, turned it off, and restarted it, but the problem persist.
While in motion the steering assists suddenly stopped working, A warning also show on dash "Auto steering assist failure" -(or something to that effect. Steering is then very very stiff. Only a very strong person is able to turn the wheel. Restart motor and it works again. Problem is intermittent.
Was driving along and my steering wheel got stiff, couldn-€™t turn it either direction. Almost resulting in a crash into the guard rails. When I pulled harder to avoid going into said rails it literally pulled a 45degree turn into oncoming traffic!!!! I was able to brake in time before fully sending into the ditch narrowly missing traffic! The fact that there isn-€™t a recall on the electric power steering with all of the complaints is atrocious at best!!!!!!!!
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the EPS warning light illuminated, and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed as a steering rack failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000.
The car automatically quits steering, Found out that it has electric steering. already replaced it once and now it needs it again, good thing I wasn't heading toward a person or another car. How can you put a steering system in a vehicle that probably runs off a fuse.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Springville , UT, USA