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.
Car wouldn-??t go into park, very unsafe had to put emergency brake on. Yes I reached out to my ford dealer ship. No there was no warnings. This is a very inconvenience when this is my family car and I can-??t drive it now because I have to wait to get it fixed because nobody has the simple part! This is beyond ridiculous! Thanks!
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P); however, the vehicle rolled forward. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owned a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact had just parked the vehicle, and as she was exiting was backed over by the vehicle. The contact was knocked over by the open driver's side door and pulled under the vehicle by the tires. The contact suffered a "grade 2" concussion, facial lacerations, and multiple abrasions and bruises over her body. The contact had three broken ribs on the right chest area and two ribs on the left side. Additionally, the contact had severe bruises on her right clavicle and right shoulder. The contact was transported by ambulance to a hospital. The vehicle had rolled into a neighbor's yard and crashed into a fence, which resulted in minor scratches to the back bumper. The contact stated that the fence had sustained no damage. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic to have it diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign: 18V471000 (Power Train). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 136,000. The VIN was not available.
- Galena, MO, USA
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Car basically does not want to pick up during acceleration. The accelerator has been replaced and this is still an issue, almost caused an accident. Continuing oil and antifreeze leak always in the shop
The transmission shift linkage bushing broke. See safety recall for Ford Escape 2013-2014 18S20. My care was built at the Louisville manufacturing plant on May 3, 2013, 12 days prior to the safety recall for this exact problem.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate upon depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that the transmission fault warning message would intermittently appear on the instrument panel when the failure occurred. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start and the shifter erroneously indicated that the vehicle was in the park(P) however, the transmission was in neutral. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V471000 (Power Train). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 155,000.
The contact's daughter owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving approximately 20 MPH, the vehicle jerked and stopped abruptly. The transmission warning message was displayed. The vehicle was driven to her parents' residence. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and then towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred her to NHTSA. No additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 101,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after driving the vehicle and coming to a stop, she was unable to shift into Park. The parking brake was activated because the gear shifter would not fully engage in Park. The gear selector indicated that the vehicle was in Neutral. The contact turned off the vehicle in an attempt to correct the failure however, the vehicle would not restart. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V471000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 144,000.
The bushing that attaches the transmission shifter cable to the transmission were degraded o and cause the bushing to detach from the transmission. The condition did not allow me to move the shift lever to Park and remove the ignition key, while the transmission may not be in Park, with no warning message or audible chime.
I recently had a potentially deadly encounter while driving on an interstate. While traveling at 55 mph, my (automatic transmission) vehicle suddenly shifted into first gear on its own. I can-??t begin to explain how much stopping force that created on the vehicle and my body, so much so that it caused the vehicle to momentarily skid. Had it not been for my seat belt and an alert tractor trailer driver, the result could have been deadly. This is the second time this has happed with my vehicle. After the first time that this happened the vehicle went to an ASE Certified mechanic shop for evaluation. After an extended period of time, the mechanic could find nothing wrong with the vehicle. As is common knowledge, if an -??error code-?? isn-??t produced, a mechanic can only hope to replicate the same event to help assist in diagnosing the problem. After this last incident, I noticed a display (not an error code) which read: ENGINE MALFUNCTION SERVICE NOW. Armed with this information the mechanic called Ford for more information. To my dismay, Ford would not elaborate, give insight, share, or even acknowledge such a problem exist with their vehicles. I conducted my own research with this issue, only to find out that Ford are the masters at vehicles randomly shifting to first gear for no apparent reason. All of the recalls for Ford vehicles about this problem and my vehicle is not listed. I find it very difficult to believe that I am the only person to have experienced this same issue in the same vehicle. Peoples lives are at stake.
My 2013 Ford Escape was not included in the safety recall 18S20. I had the exact failure that is described in recall. Shift cable bushing that attaches to shift lever on transmission came off and vehicle was stuck in reverse. The bushing was soft crumbing apart and would not stay on the transmission lever. Vehicle missed recall date by 8 days. This vehicle should of been part of the recall 18S20 and for all safety reasons that it was issued for. Ford refused to repair the part under the recall, so very close to recall start date and a $1.53 part.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while shifting from PARK to REVERSE, there was a delay with the transmission going into gear. The contact shifted back into PARK. The contact called a local independent mechanic and describe the failure. The mechanic informed the contact that the failure could be related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V471000 (Power Train) however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacture was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 177,000.
Shifter bushing is worn out and broken not allowing the vehicle to go into gear and lock to that gear. I was parked during this time but it didn't allow my car to go into park without force so wasn't sure if the car would rollback. I mentioned the open recall on certain models to Ford and was confirmed that the issue is re-occurring in multiple Ford Escape, Focus, and Fusion models to date. The vehicle has been repaired for the same open recall (18S20) but paid for by out-of-pocket expenses. There were no warning or indications that the vehicle had this issue the issue happened once on Saturday, October 30, 2021.
This just so the information is sent in to someone I bought this car used from.day one had problems warranty did not cover anything. First when you would start it it would flash power steering assist fault on the dash you shut car off and restart it goes away. Then the turbo boost sensors keep going I have replaces these three different times find out there is a service bulletin out for it but ford won't fix it for free there is a short in the wire you have to pay out of pocket for. Next was driving down the road and lost all power it went into limp mode while we were driving. The transmission is all messed up in this vehicle it was leaking fluid and took it to a shop to see where and can't find it. There are other electrical issues with the car I have 157k on
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Johnson City , NY, USA