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:
8 / 61
Injuries / Deaths:
14 / 0
Average Mileage:
55,047 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.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled at a stop light. The contact stated that the RPM revved up however, the vehicle hesitated to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to fowler Ford located at 3400 S. sheridan rd, tulsa, ok 74145, where it was stated that since there was no anti-lock braking system, no help would be provided. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 13V583000 (engine) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 58,000.
I will be driving down the road and all of a sudden the car goes into limp mode. The rpms go way down and no matter how much I press the gas, I can not get car to go. I've had it to the garage several times. They have replaced air coolant parts, air filter, and several other things. Car continues to go into limp mode. No warning lights come on. Ford dealership I talked with says there are no recalls on such a thing. They did offer to do a diagnostic test, but why" nothing came up on diagnostics test with other garage. Ford company- this is extremely dangerous!! I almost got rear ended by a semi as the car did this while I was driving down the highway. Maybe the antifreeze leaking, this limp mode, and others having their cars stall completely is all one problem?" I'm hoping you can help with this problem! at least tell us how to fix it before we need a new engine, which it sound like that is what others have had to do.
Vehicle leaks coolant. There is a recall on the same year, make and models but mine is not included and it should be. This can be a fire hazard. I fill with fluid everyday I drive it.
My 2013 Ford Escape occasionally goes into "limp mode" aka "fail-safe mode" when I am driving. This is very dangerous as the first time this happened we were on the highway and my car wouldn't accelerate- we nearly crashed as we tried to get over to the shoulder. This has happened a number of times since then and we are fearful of driving on the highway. To be more specific, when I try to push on the gas pedal my car doesn't respond and it will only accelerate up to 10-15mph.
I've been dealing with a coolant leak and all of the mechanics I've taken the car to can not find the leak. I've had hoses replaced and wasted so much money just to keep having the same promise.
- Rossville, GA, USA
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In May 2020, engine began overheating when any power was applied and issue would resolve when stopped. Overheating would cause engine protection system to shutdown engine preventing any sort of driving. Coolant low level alarm would actuate despite coolant reservoir being in normal range and coolant pressure showing normal on gauge. After investigation, issue was found to be a leak in the water pump.
Vehicle check engine light came on while driving in town with no other issues or noticeable change in vehicle performance/operation. Had code read at auto parts store and discovered that it was P0303; cylinder #3 misfire detected. Had dealership diagnose, and discovered a crack in the engine block allowing coolant to leak in to #3 cylinder. This was 3 months after dealership troubleshot a coolant issue and charged to replace the coolant pump due to it leaking.
The vehicle turns off with no warning while I am driving. I will be doing 45 miles per hour and the car will turn off. Turning into traffic it will stall too.
My 2013 Ford Escape has an antifreeze leak somewhere. The mechanic at independence Ford cannot find the leak. The antifreeze warning light comes on. We have been replacing coils randomly 1 through 4. now the check engine light is on again. The only code that comes up are the codes for the coils. How can they coils be bad when we just replaced them again.
Vehicle will stall while driving, bucks, jerks and shakes while accelerating. Rpms randomly accelerating, not producing enough power to allow vehicle to get up hill. Engine overheating, engine service soon light frequently coming on, especially after sitting out in hot/cold weather for a while. My radio has completely just stopped working, no sound whatsoever. I had hit a deer back in March of 2020, took it to my dealer for repair. When I picked up my vehicle I asked if it was still 'shifting hard.' I assumed since my computer to my car was just dangling after the accident I thought there was something wrong there. But apparently there has been other complaints as far back as 2018. Now, here I am months later and am terrified to drive my car. Will not have my daughter in it, which makes it hard being a single mom. Took it to multiple dealers explaining the situation. Everyone made me seem crazy, it magically didn't do it for them. Now I see I am not the only one!
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at low speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. Upon opening the hood, the contact noticed that the coolant reservoir was empty. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the coolant level was low and was topped off. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where he was informed there was no indication of a leak. The contact called koons falls church Ford (1051 E broad St, falls church, va 22044 however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.
Ford Escape 2013 was idoling at bank drive threw was in park put in drive roughly less then 10mins idoling push the gas and Ford Escape gallop 3-4 times dies put in park turn key start up throw in drive push gas car feels sluggish still in bank parking lot heading to main busy heavy flow of cars Ford Escape again gallop dies do the same restart back up not an issue car has no momentum trouble shifting gears got to a near by family house to let the car rest since it gave me no indication prior to the malfunctioning 3nd time Ford Escape was idoling at a fast food drive threw there was more then 6 cars ahead of me hot summer afternoon lunch time idoling radio off no A/C running in line longer then. A typical food line wait period the symptoms happened when I reached the order microphone dies then I restarted get to window dies 2 times before I can safely pull away
It will chug then stall when stopped. I have to start it, rev the engine drop it into neutral, rev it again and drop into drive to get moving again. Sometimes it stalls numerous times before being able to move.
Car has been losing coolant(no visible leaks), smells of gas, has a hard start and poor idle/shakes. Error code P0304 showing 4th cylinder misfire. Had ignition coils and spark plugs replaced. Still throwing code, still losing coolant. Kept having to top off coolant. No low coolant indicator light. Brought to Ford, coolant leaking into cylinder and now needs new engine. Ford will not cover, dealer will not cover even though the problem matches to the letter of a recall for the freeze plug. 'your VIN isn't getting flagged' but the problem is exactly matching the hundreds of thousand of vehicles from 2013 with 1.6L engines. Car has difficulty shifting sometimes but is still drivable and must be as no help from Ford or the dealer I bought the vehicle from is in sight. Trying to get this fixed for a month.
Without warning, my vehicle has stalled while driving. Error message comes up saying engine fault service now. I've taken it in multiple times and they have a throttle stuck open code that shows and they clear it each time. Not 3 min after leaving the shop, it dies again. Very dangerous as I have been on major roads when this has happened. Everything stays running but I have zero gas pedal power. I coast into a safe place and turn it off and start it backup for it to happen all over again. Shop has run diagnostics on it several times with the same code coming up. If I'm crossing an intersection and another car is coming at me, I'd be hit without a doubt. It's instantaneous, no warning and very random. There is nothing in particular happening that I can attribute it to.
Vehicle drove about 8 hours straight, then showed a message stating 'engine fault: Service now' without any codes or other lights such as the check engine light. The vehicle has not shown any other issue, and the message will disappear and reappear every time you turn off/start the vehicle. Also, vehicle leaks coolant horribly. I've had this fixed twice and the plug will dislodge itself and leak more coolant. I've probably put over 30 gallons of coolant in total in the past 3 years.
The coolant is leaking. It requires me to fill it up multiple times weekly. I have already been to an automotive shop to get this 'fixed' and it has continued to persist. I can't see where it is leaking. It does not end up on the ground where I park it. My coolant level low alert pops up when I am both actively driving and when I turn the car on at times. The majority of the time it happens while actively driving on the highway or in the city. The accelerator seems off. It hesitates when trying to accelerate. I have also brought this in to an automotive shop and they thought it was the battery. They replaced my less than 1 year old battery with a brand new one. The problem has persisted even after battery replacement. This happens when the vehicle is accelerating and can happen on any road type.
Coolant leaking internally, blown head gasket, overheating and hesitation, smell of gas. It appears that this car already had recalls for all these similar issues but not sure if it was fixed or done correctly because here I'm with a car that I have owned 2 months and has all these problems, probably already prior to the purchase. Cylinder 3 misfire code, cylinder head overheating code etc.
Our vehicle often experiences a rough idle or shudder at low speeds, sometimes resulting in a complete stall while in traffic. The cause can be traced via an obd code reader to the map sensor - which has been cleaned and replaced multiple times. This is evidence that the recall issued by Ford (14S17-S1) for faulty map/engine harness wiring and subsequent repair (not performed by an authorized Ford dealer - prior to our ownership) were not performed successfully and should be completed again by an authorized repair facility (a Ford dealer). This issue causes many safety concerns, as the vehicle can shut off while in gear and moving. Ford refuses to accept responsibility due to the fact that the recall has "already been performed" and was a one-time only solution. This is completely unacceptable and has resulted in a fear of driving the vehicle in certain situations, due to the proposed dangers.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Catoosa, OK, USA