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:
10 / 6
Injuries / Deaths:
12 / 0
Average Mileage:
66,774 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.
Less that 85,000 and transmission is slipping. Mechanic reports that he sees at least 1 Escape or Explorer a month with transmission issues. Slippage happens at low speeds and during highway travel.
At 60,900 miles the transmission went out. No warning signs, no engine lights, just lost power and during driving and pulled over put in park and then engine just revved and wouldn't go. Took to Ford dealer and diagnosed as needing a new transmission just 900 miles over warranty. Contacted many channels within dealer and Ford but know one would help had to pay $4500 out of pocket to get rebuilt at the Ford dealer. Now with 37,000 miles the transmission has failed again and the dealer will do nothing, Ford will do nothing and they say I need another transmission at the amount of $4500 again. Same symptoms this time, no warning just failed. This to me is crazy I have to be on my 3rd transmission with a vehicle that has 99K miles. There is obviously and issue with these transmissions as the internet is full of complaints with this exact issues. Also the many transmission shops I have spoke to have said them same thing, lots if issues and very common to fail early.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. After shifting into the park position, the display indicated that the transmission was in drive. The contact stated that the vehicle would no longer operate in either direction. The vehicle was towed to willis Ford(15 North dupont blvd, smyrna, de) where it was diagnosed that the transmission bushing that connected the shift cable was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 153,000. Consumer states vehicle was turned off and attempted to turn it back on, nonetheless it would not turn over as the vehicle was still registering that it wa "on" and in reverse. Vehicle was repaired but was not included in the recall. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'
- Clayton, DE, USA
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While driving, my can stalled out, then upon exiting onto a highway the car would not accelerate. Took it in to get it looked at and nothing was found to cause my car to not accelerate. I took the vehicle home and within 3 weeks my car, again while driving stalled out and completely shut off while driving. This was scary because I was on a major highway during rush hour traffic. This car has been a complete nightmare and I have only had it for a little over a year. This repair is going to cost me over $1,100 to fix. I would like to know how Ford is going to fix this as it seems to be a issue for many Ford owners and there is an open investigation going on for this exact same problem.
A quick internet search reveals that this is a well documented problem in several different forums, yet Ford has not taken any steps to ensure the safety of its customers. My car, in a fashion identical to the 140,000 Escapes with the 2.0L engines, stalls suddenly while driving. It does this randomly, repeatedly, and without warning. I've been fortunate so far and have had the stalling occur only in low speed situations but I understand that other owners have stalled at high speeds. My car is a 1.6L and was not included in the recall. I've had the power control module replaced but that has not resolved the problem. How many more accidents are required before all vehicles will be fixed? the check engine light does not consistently illuminate preventing dealers from pulling the error codes and safely and efficiently resolving the problem. This is incredibly frustrating given the danger of the situation and the extensive documentation on the internet and the existence and correction of an identical problem in 140,000 other vehicles. It's unclear why the owners of 1.6L engines, which clearly suffer the same flaws and risks, are subject to severe injury, immense frustration, unresolved issues and escalating costs to drive what was supposed to be a reliable, safe family vehicle.
When driving this vehicle, it ser me like it is not running right, and think it is going to die on us in traffic. The front seat belt does not go back in the area where it belongs and sits on the front seat. The passenger driver side door does not close right when you open it. It will stay open until you push the handle down and then it will close and lock. We are afraid to travel long distance with the vehicle because of the way the car acts and run. We just want it fix or replace vehicle.
Starting in May 2018, coolant light came on, I replaced fluid. Since then it has become a constant. I took it to 2 dealers they say nothing is wrong. I out a large cardboard under car & the leakage is very obvious. I put almost a gallon of coolant in vehicle in one month. Got in touch with Ford, they said contact you & go to another Ford dealer for another inspection of leak. Ford also said there is no recall for this model but other models of 2013 & 2014 have this problem & they are the same type of car.
Vehicle would display "high temperature, please stop" and temperature gauge would rise to the top within a couple of hours of driving. After displaying message, engine would lose power and vehicle became hard to control. This issue happened on different driving conditions. Coolant levels are at correct level. After shouting down the engine, within a few seconds the temperature gauge would go back to the middle. This became more frequent, and as of December 6, 2018 the vehicle would not start without this message and the temperature gauge all the way to the top.
Vehicle was attempting to merge onto a freeway, speeding up, and the vehicle stopped accelerating at a normal rate of speed around 30 mph. It took an unacceptable amount of time for it to get up to a safe merging speed, but I could have died trying to merge. There is something wrong with the design of the power train on this car.
I was at a stoplight and my vehicle stalled and suddenly died when trying to accelerate. After turning the vehicle off, it would work normally, and do this sporadically. Very dangerous situation.
My info light came on in car saying my engine coolant was low. I filled it 10 days later the same thing happened again. I took it to the mechanic because there were no leaks under my car so I didn't know where the coolant could be going to. The mechanic printed out a recall sheet for the exact problem and tole me I should call the dealer service center. I called and they said there was no recall on my car for that problem. The recall covers my car model, engine size, and manufactured date. I called Ford customer service and they said the same thing as the service center. The first recall on this problem didn't include my cars manufactured date, but 3 months later the recall was updated to include more cars and my manufactured date was then included.
Driving to work one morning in a 40 mph zone, about 1.5 miles, warning lights appeared and stated that the vehicle was overheating and to pull over safely. The temperature gauge had shot up to H for hot. The vehicle immediately slowed down, regardless of pressing the gas. I was able to pull off of a us highway and find a safe place to park just a short distance. The vehicle needed to be towed to the dealer.
I am contacting you regarding my 2013 Ford Escape, VIN: [xxx]. while I was driving the transmission completely stopped working, almost causing an accident and also causing me to be stranded in another state. I eventually had the car towed back to valvoline in North reading, MA where the transmission had been flushed less than a week beforehand. They had the car taken to aamco who determined the transmission had failed. The car only has 39,200 miles on it and now needs a transmission replacement. I was told my Ford to contact you to report this problem. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
I noticed the low coolant light on I added coolant and it leaked out not a week later I see that this is a common problem with the vehicle but the dealership stated that there is no recall on it! im so confused and annoyed at the same time what can I do!!!!
While in park vehicle move backward while getting out of door. Door hit me jump back in set parking brake.vehicle wont srart had to get tow to nearest Ford dealer..Ford had a recall on 2013 Escape-2016 Escape but my VIN no# wasnt include in the recall.
Car had problems shifting. Transfer case was replaced. After about 3 months, the car had problems shifting again. A transmission failure warning came on the screen and the car wouldn't shift. The shifting problem occurred coming out of park and then between 2 and 3 gear. Then, the transmission would not past 3rd or 4th gear. The transmission failure warning came on while the car was in motion on the highway while going 50mph. I was approximately 20 miles from home and almost didn't make it.
Stalls randomly at low RPM, seemingly it's same exact symptoms as recall 14S17 which was for the larger 2.0 motor. Vehicle hesitates and stalls and wont start easily. This happened on four separate occasions over 6month period. Vehicle only has 50,000 miles
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Redford, MI, USA