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CarComplaints.com Notes: The top problem trend for the 2014 Escape is transmission failure at around 70k miles.

This is relatively low mileage for an expensive transmission failure ($4,500 average to fix), but unless the trend becomes more established, we are only awarding the 2014 Escape our "Beware of the Clunker" badge for now.

9.0

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$4,210
Average Mileage:
84,900 miles
Total Complaints:
64 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. replace transmission (32 reports)
  2. not sure (11 reports)
  3. replace with rebuilt trans (10 reports)
  4. rebuild transmission (9 reports)
  5. find an attorney and sue ford (1 reports)
  6. replaced axle shaft bushing and seal (1 reports)
2014 Ford Escape transmission problems

transmission problem

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2014 Ford Escape Owner Comments (Page 1 of 4)

problem #64

May 092023

Escape SE 1.6L V4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 122,200 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

In March 2022, I drove to store and smelled foul/burning. I thought the odor was from another vehicles so I mind my own business. After shopping, I drove back home. My Ford Escape suddenly became hesitant and shamed. I made it home so next day I drove to a restaurant, it just jumped then stopped moving. The light indicated transmission fault, service now. So I had it towed and I sent it to shop and got the estimate. It was almost 6K so I took additional loan to existing loan to cover the transmission replacement plus labor and taxes costs.

On May 9, 2023 I went to a place to pick up things and drove back home. On way back home, the engine just shut off and dashboard red light oil/battery light came on. I had it towed to shop and they inspected thoroughly. They found no code or anything faulty. They are clueless. Today I was told that my Ford Escape’s transmission is making some noise and it would go out soon. I was like oh not again, I won’t spend another 6-7K for the same problem. I had 1 year warranty which is not what I paid for. I paid for 4 year warranty. The original shop I paid last year just sold their business to new owner. What a rip off! Ford should pay back the total I paid for and step it up, own it up and fix the problem.

- Kristie B., Cincinnati, US

problem #63

Nov 172019

Escape Titanium 1.6L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 123,000 miles

Bought the car used with an extended warranty at 110,000 miles. It had one owner and an extensive service record with CarFax. Ford seemed like a smart buy and a well-maintained vehicle.

At about 132,000 miles, as I was driving my child to music lesson, the car started lurching in traffic. We were barely out of traffic to get an authorized extended warranty claim started - contract through Premier.

The service center has determined an internal failure of the chain, lubricated. Their inspector, who is an employee of Premier, said the outer casing failed, causing the internal failure - which is not covered - leaving me and my family with a $6,000 repair.

After much research and many calls to Ford, it is known that transmissions in the Ford Escape are severely prone to internal failures. All major Ford dealers in my area have a 3-5 month wait for transmission issues. It is obvious there needs to be a recall issued, but the fact that it is a $6000 piece of equipment is leaving the Ford Escape driving public at risk of death and catastrophic failure and unable to have repairs done at Authorized Ford dealers and service centers. Ford just told me to save my repair receipts if they decide to take responsibility for this known issue.

- Joshua S., Raleigh, NC, US

problem #62

Jul 142022

Escape Titanium 2.0ltr Ecoboost

  • Automatic transmission
  • 76,058 miles

Well, to my dismay and awful lack of judgement, in 2014 I bought my first Ford being an Escape SUV, even though I heard reviews on Fords having bad transmissions. Went all out and bought the Titanium. Top of the line. All bells and whistles. Had a few minor issues over the years. We have 3 vehicles so the Escape does not get driven often (about 4 times a month). On a Thursday, in July of 2022, running an errand, the Escape stopped accelerating while giving it gas. I pulled over, turned off then on and no acceleration. It clicked into 4th or 5th gear, and also engine lite on and I managed to drive to a Ford dealership.

So heres the kicker, they called me back, with the bad news and to top it off, gave me 3 options to a faulty transmission fix. 1) Rebuild it, but they can't get the parts, so thats out. 2) Fix the broken parts in the transmission, but they can't get the parts. 3) Replace the transmission for $9000 with a new one, however Ford said they can't get a transmission for al least 1 year. SO NO FIX OR REPLACEMENT BY FORD!!!

It is now at a Local Transmission shop in my area, who claims this is a very common issue with these Escapes 6 speed transmission. They said they will be able to fix it but will take approximately 2-3 weeks as they are backed up, and with many Ford Escapes.

So behold, NO MORE FORDS for this guy.

- Mark W., Orillia, ON, Canada

problem #61

Aug 052022

Escape

  • Automatic transmission
  • 88,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have been a Ford Escape owner twice and this is my 2014 which I have serviced as scheduled always. A couple months ago I was having issues with my coolant sensor and brought it in and had some other minor servicing done at the time. Last Friday and without any warning whatsoever, as I was headed home from a doctor appointment the car started to lurch and shudder, the transmission warning light came on and luckily I was able to pull over to a safe spot before the car completely shut down.

I had the car towed to Ford and they came back saying it needs a new transmission, at a cost of about $7K. The car has 88,000 miles on it, that's it! When I asked my dealer how much they would give me on a trade in they said they can't if the car is not running, and I'm thinking here I am crazy enough to want to buy another Ford, but they won't even do that. Unreal.

Please everyone - if you are considering buying a used Escape, don't get the 2014 model and do your research on whatever year you are looking at. I will never buy another Ford going forward.

- David L., Clayton, US

problem #60

Oct 052019

Escape SE 2.0L Ecoboost

  • Automatic transmission
  • 93,078 miles

Well, as I mentioned in my first rant, I've already spent nearly $3,000 on the transmission. Well, the one I purchased which had only 11,000 miles on it went out in less than 15,000 miles. I'm speechless and tired of fighting to try and fix this vehicle. I guess I'll just continue to pay the remaining $8,000 that I owe on something that has worked correctly in nearly 4 months and will not ever work correctly again. Because I can't continue to throw money away on a bad engineering design. This transmission might work okay if you don't drive it more than 10 minutes at a time and no more than 50 miles in a day. But not reliable for a 30 miles one way daily commuter.

- Jay W., Bay Minette, US

problem #59

Jul 102019

Escape SE 2.0L Ecoboost

  • Automatic transmission
  • 78,774 miles

I purchased this car with less than 33,000 miles on it. Paid over $15,000.00 for it. In less than 2 years, I had a car that went from getting me to and from work to having no transportation at all. Tried replacing all the shift solenoids and transmission fluid. Spent nearly $500.00 trying to correct it after running a diagnostic on it and seeing several error codes in relation to the shift solenoids. While changing the transmission fluid we noticed the oil we emptied from the transmission was darkest black I've ever seen. The transmission had evidently gotten too hot. The trans fluid was scorched. That's all I need to see.

So, I found a 6f35 transmission online with only 11,000 miles on it. The company I purchased it from guaranteed it for 2 months or 3,000 miles whichever comes first. So, we replaced a transmission with under 80,000 miles on it. I would call this a crap of a deal. Ford should do something about this transmission. It's absolutely awful. Hope this practically brand new one works. This post should've been created back in August. I'm just now typing it in due to the fact that I'm about to post another incident with the same vehicle in regards to the same thing.

If the second transmission had worked correctly I've would've never posted this one. So, you can probably guess there is about to be another post from me within a few minutes talking about the next transmission problem I had... Got to love it...

Thanks Ford for having your customer care center call me right back... what a joke...

FORD... fix or repair daily... FORD... found on road dead!

- Jay W., Bay Minette, US

problem #58

Nov 162019

Escape Titanium

  • Automatic transmission
  • 68,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

It's got only 68k miles and now the dealer wants to charge $6600 to replace the transmission - and I see that we aren't the only ones to complain. NEED A RECALL!!!

- johncolepaugh, Washington, US

problem #57

Dec 132021

Escape S 2.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 169,000 miles

I know 169,000 miles seems like a lot to some, but we have had most vehicles make it over 200,000 miles before getting rid of them. The transmission just went, absolutely no warning signs, just stopped driving the front wheels. If it would have happened 15 minutes sooner, I would have been on a very busy interstate and probably caused an accident due to not being able to pull off in the construction zone. Was notified buy the garage that the Escapes actually had a recall dealing with the transmissions, extending the warranty. Of course mine would have been past the mileage that it was extended to, but it would have been nice to know so I could have had the opportunity to start looking for another vehicle.

- John C., Prosperity, US

problem #56

Oct 232021

Escape Ecoboost 1.6L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 116,000 miles

Found out the trans is gone, the transfer case has metal shavings, turbo charge is leaking and the original problem with coolant leaking into the engine has begun again as I was given a "low mileage pull out". MaxCare warranty is "maxed" out and I am suppose to fix the vehicle so it can all start again. Would love to join a class action law suit against Ford and or Car Max. What a joke.

- dumaga(, Crestline, US

problem #55

Feb 052020

Escape SE 1.6L V4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 52,332 miles

The situation is that at 52,332 miles, the transmission in the vehicle completely failed. The failure occurred over a period of a few short days and started with the transmission making a whining sound and the very next day, the transmission would not shift into reverse. When placed into drive, the vehicle would not properly shift, and I was barely able to drive it to a transmission repair shop. In addition, a notice on my display screen flashed that the transmission was in a fault mode and service was required.

The vehicle was almost 8,000 miles under the 60,000-mileage, but was past the time for the warranty and Ford would do nothing to assist in the repair of vehicle. The vehicle is well maintained and there is no plausible reason as to why the transmission would completely fail at 52,332 miles other than there being a defect with the transmission. According to the transmission repair shop, this is a common occurrence with Escapes, but they said it usually happens when there is about 100,000 miles and my vehicle is the first one that they have seen to fail at such low mileage.

- Gary J., Pittsburgh, PA, US

problem #54

Apr 212020

Escape SE

  • Automatic transmission
  • 74,739 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I purchased the car brand new in 2014 at my local Koons Sterling Ford Dealership. I even got talked into the $75K limited warranty plan that covered oil changes, car maintenance etc. Long story short my car ONLY was ever maintenanced by FORD and got the regularly scheduled oil changes etc on time. So imagine my shock when right before 75K miles I find out the transmission was on the brink of needing to be overhauled and wanted over $5k to fix it. I never had a car need a transmission replacement this early (or at all), because of this I pressed back on the Ford dealership inquiring why this was not covered under warranty.

Surely this was a mistake. The dealer told me that this can happen and that perhaps I drove hard on the car or didn't regularly get it with oil changes which was a slap in the face considering I went to them (which was documented ) for said oil changes and driving the car hard? I ended up taking the car for a transmission replacement at a local specialist to save 1K and ended up paying around $4k for the replacement transmission. I am never returning to Koons Ford or buying another Ford.

This Escape was my 3rd Ford. The fact that the company tried to tell me it was a driving and oil change causation event. How dumb do they think their customers are? Months later I saw an article about how transmissions in the 2014 Ford Escape series is an ongoing problem and the transmission seems to go around 70K-80K. EXACTLY when my transmission went. It was a fulfilling moment to realize I wasn't alone but I wish Ford would acknowledge there IS a problem with the car.

- Mary L., Herndon, US

problem #53

Oct 022020

Escape Titanium 1.6L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 89,700 miles

click to see larger images

stopped working

My wife purchased a 2014 Escape Titanium new and hasn’t driven the car hard . She is a passive driver to say the least. On a recent trip home from the grocery store the transmission started to slip as I noticed the RPMs rising with the accelerator pedal but the car wasn’t accelerating. When I stopped for a red light the car wouldn’t hardly move again and seemed like I was in neutral. Eventually the car did start to move forward but this happened every time I had to stop. We got the car home and called for a tow truck to the dealership. Troubleshooting found the fluid level was at normal level but transmission fluid was black with lots of metal flakes. The Ford dealership tore the transmission down and notified me that the transmission requires a complete rebuild at a cost of $5,396! The car only has 89,700 miles on it and my 6 year warranty expired 8 months ago. So much for buying in the USA. My old Camry has 177,000 miles with no transmission problems ever. I’m very disappointed with Ford! My next car will be a Toyota!

- vistinet, Azle, US

problem #52

Jun 082021

Escape SE 2.0L V4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 72,000 miles

Wish I would have known sooner! Like everyone else my well maintained 2014 Escape was driving along coming up to a red light when it lurched and all of a sudden wouldn't accelerate faster than if I was pushing it. I pulled off to the median and restarted the car to no effect. Engine will redline and go nowhere. Had it towed to my mechanic and sure enough it needs a new transmission to the tune of $4200. 70,000 miles and it needs more money than its book value. Last Ford for me.

- Jeff H., Somerset, US

problem #51

Oct 182020

Escape SE

  • CVT transmission
  • 99,207 miles

Bought the vehicle used (certified) and drove for 4 years with only minor notices while traveling down a certain local mountain with transmission sticking at 4-5 RPMs. My vehicle stopped working and started whining as I drove down my street. Grateful it didn't happen on a highway. Towed to auto repair for diagnostics. The fluid was inspected and found to be black with a burnt odor. I find this utterly irresponsible on the part of the Ford Motor Company.

Apparently, Ford knows about this situation with the transmissions on these vehicles and continues to produce and sell them. I was brought up on Ford but this is not my Father's Ford any longer. Will be going to Toyota next. Do NOT even want a rebuilt transmission. Do NOT trust it since I've also read that others have replaced the transmission more than once. DISGUSTED to have to deal with this.

- Patty A., Tamaqua, PA, US

problem #50

Mar 122021

Escape S 2

  • Automatic transmission
  • 103,769 miles

The place where they rebuilt the transmission, they have 2-3 transmissions of Ford Escape 2014 to rebuild.

- Sandro C., Quebec, QC, Canada

problem #49

Oct 232020

Escape Titanium 1.5L Ecoboost

  • Automatic transmission
  • 92,456 miles

Was leaving a funeral with my 1 year old daughter in the car and the transmission started slipping out of nowhere. Then I started hearing this whining noise and all of a sudden it stopped pulling. I was able to coast into a gas station and I tried putting it in reverse but it just rolled. I had it towed to Allan Vigil Ford in Morrow, GA for diagnosis. I tried to pull a code but it showed no stored or pending codes. The vehicle would drive normal while cool, but once warmed up, transmission dies. They replaced the transmission within 3 weeks - aftermarket warranty covered some of the cost but now I've got my vehicle back and, less then 50 miles later, it keeps over heating but no coolant leak.

I drove on highway and then boom warning light came on over heating but no leaking coolant and check engine light flashing. I let it sit for 20 minutes and it ran fine for a few miles before the temperature rose again to the hot mark but then went back to normal operating temp. Tried pulling codes but again no codes.

- Sebastian P., Jonesboro, US

problem #48

Jul 302020

Escape S 2.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 62,350 miles

2014 Ford Escape 2.5l with 62350 miles and 2350 miles out of warranty. Transmission totally failed with no warning, no fault codes. Transmission just shut down. Left me stranded from home. No problems until car paid off 2 months after the fact and 2,350 miles out of warranty.

It's a very expensive fix and very hard and tight places if you try it yourself. Have bought 4 Ford autos and have a F150 25 year old this month. WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER FORD MOTOR AUTOMOBILE AGAIN.

3,000.00 plus fix is HORSE SH*T - 2350 miles out of warranty.

- Douglass M., State Line, MS, US

problem #47

Dec 312020

Escape SE 2.0L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 112,000 miles

After just fixing a bad front wheel bearing ($417.00), I drove the car and 10 miles later on the next day the transmission stops working. Trade in value is $3500-$4200 with a working transmission, while dealers are only offering $1000-1500 for trade-in. Quoted cost to replace transmission is $4300.00 including tax for remanufactured (3 year warranty). $3900.00 including tax for rebuilt, (1 year warranty).

LONG STORY SHORT THE CAR WENT TO THE DUMP! Thank you FORD. After owning several FORDs in my 30 years of driving I got burned with this one, never again.

- kcstngy, Hartford, US

problem #46

Jan 252021

Escape ES 1.6L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 116,000 miles

Last April the motor went on our 2014 Ford Escape. It sat for months until we could come up with the $5200.00 to replace the motor. Not to mention the previous month we put $600 in it to fix something with the alignment. We finally got the car back on November 26th. On January 25th, my daughter called and said there was something wrong with the car. It would lurch and make noise and then wouldn't move. Thank god she was close to the house. I ended up getting my husband up so we could go get her and the vehicle. He discovered it was the transmission. We ended up pushing the vehicle home with our Chevy. He changed the transmission fluid in it to see if that was the problem. The fluid was just black and smelled. He figures the transmission is blown. So glad we live in a rural area with this car. Absolutely junk! We still owe $7000.00 on it. I should have read the reviews on this vehicle before we purchased it for my daughter. She's stuck with the car payments and repairs. At the end of this all she may have a $20,000 car. Makes me sick how big companies can put dangerous vehicles out on the road and not have any repercussions.

- Candace Z., Hancock, US

problem #45

May 182020

Escape SE 1.6L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 131,477 miles

Drove to the post office, came out and car would not move at all. Had to have the car towed t the shop. They are rebuilding the transmisson.

we had paid for extra insurance, just happened to be 2000 miles over warranty. From what I have read this is a very common. I guess Ford is standing behind there product. We have always been a Ford family, but this will be our last one.

- Karen W., Whitewater, MO, US

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