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.
Automatic foot gate sensor stopped working about 1 month into owning the car - took the car in for inspection and other issues. Dealer called me and actually told me I didn't have this feature - lol. Told them, funny, I had it for a month!! Then they called back and apologized and said its working - Only worked for a week and stopped again - need to take back asap for service.
When you close the back power lift-gate, whether you use your foot, press the button, or the key...it appears to shut, but when you get in the car...the light comes on REAR DOOR AJAR...try this on a busy day...picking kids up from school, groceries, shopping, loading, unloading. I have gotten to the point I have had to stop using the back hatch and throw things over the seats!!!! You have to repeat shutting it up to three times. I have even tried this out with NOTHING in the rear hatch....still does it! I went to Ford today and it appears there is another customer complaining of the same thing. Unfortunately its not consistent... it picks and chooses when it wants to do it... so good luck trying to show someone what its doing.
The Auto Liftgate does not open/close 90% of the times we try it. The car has been to the Dealer 3 times now with no 100% fix in sight. I have keep a log for a one week period and EMAIL'ed it to the Dealer with the results. Still waiting for an answer. My wife and I laugh every time we see the ad on TV showing the feature. IT DOES NOT WORK!
Go out with my hands full of bags from shopping and slide my foot under the tailgate back and forth, side to side..Had to put down heavy bags and use my key pad and it didn't work either. finally had to put the groceries in the side door..
This was the most recent occurrence, but it happens nearly every time we try to open the rear lift gate. It's like it is getting caught on itself so instead of opening, it starts, seemingly catches, then closes. We continually need to pull the lift gate to give it the extra nudge to continue opening. At this point, we wish the power lift gate just wasn't there because it'd be easier to open manually all the time! Taking it into the dealer this week to have it looked at, though, as well as some other issues.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Automatic foot gate sensor stopped working about 1 month into owning the car - took the car in for inspection and other issues. Dealer called me and actually told me I didn't have this feature - lol. Told them, funny, I had it for a month!! Then they called back and apologized and said its working - Only worked for a week and stopped again - need to take back asap for service.
- Theresa D., Warminster, PA, US