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.
We live on a fixed income and saved a long time for a down payment for this car. 8 months after purchase the transmission went out. This cost me $5,000.00 that we do not have so we went into debit right at Christmas time.
The valve body went out and fired the transmission.
I have almost always bought Ford cars but they are becoming just like the other manufactures building them to brake down.
Do not purchase the Escape from Ford.
They should be a recall on the automatic transmission of these cars.
Transmission failed while traveling on the Skyline Drive. I had to rev the motor and shift into Sport mode in order to go from a stop into "first" gear. Once the transmission caught, movement wasn't an issue and I would shift into D. I was 3.5 hours from home so needless to say, not a pleasant trip.
First the dealership said it was a solenoid and ready in 2 days then it became a 2nd issue so ready early the next week. Today I get a call saying there is still a problem so it would be another week in order to get authorization of who was paying what as well as a cap.
I understand there are multiple complaints regarding the transmission so this should be a recall item. Thank goodness I have a 2nd vehicle since it will be nearly 2.5 weeks without the Escape.
I am quite hardheaded so nothing less than a complete transmission replacement with extended warranty is acceptable!
The transmission died at 62,000 miles and of course the warranty only covered 60,000 miles. I had to have the transmission rebuilt for $3500 out of my own pocket. When I contacted Ford regarding this issue, I was given a very generic response of "we're sorry this happened but usually our products are higher quality."
I had had little trouble with my 2013 Ford Escape. We were very careful about maintenance since I have a long, daily commute. Recently, I was driving down the Merritt parkway when the car completely lost power. I suspected transmission because the engine began to race. I barely made it off the road without striking another car.
If you know the Merritt parkway in Connecticut, there are abrupt on ramps and limited shoulder space. I managed to get off the road onto the side, but was in a precarious situation. It cost $140 with Triple AAA to get it towed back to a mechanic. $4600 later I had a completely rebuilt transmission. We continue to operate a 2003 Ford Expedition.
We have always bought Ford automobiles; it's part of supporting American made products. Ford needs to do right by it's customers and recall these transmissions and reimburse customers like me who unfortunately, bought these defective transmissions. We have stood by Ford for our entire adult lives. Ford now needs to stand by its name and stand by us.
TRANSMISSION FAILED 9000 MILES AFTER THE WARRANTY RAN OUT. CALLED FORD CUSTOMER CARE AND FOUND NO HELP AT ALL. SERVICE MGR AT LOCAL DEALERSHIP REDUCED THE COST BY A COUPLE THOUSAND DOLLARS BUT THE PROBLEM IS STILL NOT RESOLVED. THE CAR IS A LEMON AND FORD NEEDS TO BUY IT BACK.
- Larry G.,
Spring, TX, US
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My 2013 Ford Escape SEL suffered a complete transmission failure with only 60,000 Kms of light duty service. I do not tow anything with the vehicle or drive with heavy loads. I live in Canada and the Ford Dealer has to bring a new transmission from California, so not only do they inconvenience you with a major failure but a lengthy downtime of my vehicle. So far I am renting a vehicle at my own cost with no end in sight. 😡
Update from Feb 1, 2017: A drive axle also failed on the 2013 Ford Escape and the Dealer in Winnipeg (River City Ford) just dioes not seem to be able to get this vehicle repaired. It has been two weeks now without my vehicle and no firm date when the work will be completed.
I purchased a used car from Old Saybrook Kia and was given a 2 month warranty. I did not purchase the extended warranty because it would have increased the loan by over $9,000. I went back to the dealership service department two times because the car felt funny. It shook and ran rough. Both times, they took the car for a test drive and did nothing. They never did a diagnostic. And I was told that because I had come in saying there were issues if something happened they would take care of it. Needless to say the transmission developed a leak and all of the fluid leaked out. They did not keep their word and did nothing to help me. All of the fluid had leaked out of my 3 year old car with only 70,000 miles on it. I will get the transmission replaced but it will cost me almost $2,000 to do so. I will not go back to the dealer to do it. I keep dumping fluid in it until I get the money together to fix it. After this all happened I find out that there were major issues with the transmission in the Ford Escapes.
Transmission was replaced in Dec.2013. Same problem happened in Dec. 2015, mileage 59000. Dealer diagnosed the problem as bad lower control arm ball joint, cost around 400.00. Had car towed to dealer in March 2016 because of transmission problems, 62000 miles. Dealer diagnose was a bad coil, another 550.00. Returned car two weeks later, when dealer realized it was a transmission problem. Dealer replaced the transmission at a cost of 5500.00, 62000 miles on car. Ford says too bad car is out of warranty at 60000 miles. Is it my fault that the dealer could not diagnose the problem right in the first place. Thats what they tell me. By the way this was my first time that I bought a Ford. Apparently Ford can't wait for the warranty to end to resolve them of any defective parts that they use.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
We live on a fixed income and saved a long time for a down payment for this car. 8 months after purchase the transmission went out. This cost me $5,000.00 that we do not have so we went into debit right at Christmas time.
The valve body went out and fired the transmission.
I have almost always bought Ford cars but they are becoming just like the other manufactures building them to brake down.
Do not purchase the Escape from Ford.
They should be a recall on the automatic transmission of these cars.
- Jeremiah R., Everett, US