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:
4 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
50,369 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.
After almost being killed when my car just stopped accelerating and check engine light came on it has happened more than once, several times. Does someone have to die before we get this fixed"??? I have seen 855 complaints for same problem with the same vehicle.... I have replaced 2 of the same sensors at metro for schenectady... when is there going to be a recall for my vehicle" there are numorous times this happened
My car will suddenly lose acceleration while driving. The engine does not shut off, simply the gas pedal does not work, even in neutral. I drift to side of road, restart the car and it is ok. Reverse works fine when this happens.
For the last ten months or so, my vehicle has been stalling when pulling out after starting (in both hot and cold engine situations); almost always into traffic. It occurs as series of 3 or 4 consecutive stalls - has always restarted. This random stalling has and continues to take place 3 - 6 times a month. The closest call I experienced was in a large active parking lot. I do believe this has often occurred turning out of driveways and parking lots. I have addressed this with the same Ford service department on at least four occasions, once having it taken over night to investigate. On all occasions, the response has been "failure to reproduce" the problem. The on board diagnostics have been of no use. As I understand, 2013 (among other) Escapes have been recalled for this exact issue but my VIN is not included in the recall. Three different drivers have experienced these stalling events in my vehicle. What do I have to do??
The water heater hose on my 2013 Ford Escape has a leak in it. I cannot drive the car unless I fill up the water constantly which is not possible with how far I drive daily. It is part number cv6Z-18472-S I took my car in on January 29, 2018 and was told there were 162 on back order and I would receive it by January 27, 2018. Today is Feb 1 and I was told the part won't be ready till March 7, 2018 and I have to just wait. Now there are about 3200 of this part back ordered. Why can I not drive my car for a month and a half" if there are over 3K back-ordered why is there not a recall"
Initially I had been having issues with the engine light coming on and off. Initially when I took the vehicle to be looked at, by the hunt Ford in la plata, md. They changed the oxygen sensor. So the light went off. Then a few months later in 2016 the light came back on. Eventually I started driving on route 5 North and heard a 'pop' noise in the engine area. The vehicle started to lose acceleration and would hesitate. Then eventually my check engine light came on and started blinking. Prior to the engine light blinking the car begin to misfire, hesitate when trying to accelerate, and the engine would overheat from time to time prematurely. The car would sometimes stall and misfire when trying to accelerate or when sitting idle. When I looked online it shows a recall for these specific issues for the same make, model & year, but not for my specific engine liter. For example, it shows the engine overheating, misfires and engine wiring splices may cause stall for 2013 Ford Escapes but only for 1.6L. My car is experiencing very similar issues as those listed under the recall, but my engine is a 2.0L. So while on my way home Friday, 10/27/2017, I started to have issues with my vehicle. I was traveling on Pennsylvania ave towards DC, when I reached an intersection (southern ave), and the car started to jerk and then the engine light started blinking. At one point I began to see white smoke once the engine light started to blink, and smelled fumes. Not too long after that began to occur, I make a U-turn at the light and pulled over in front of the funeral home. Before I was pulled over on the side of the road (while making the U-turn) the car started to misfire and stall. So I turned the engine off, and called aaa to have it towed. A few days later I had a mechanic come and run a diagnostic on the vehicle at the home. I have attached a copy of their report.
- Brandywine, MD, USA
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Initially I had been having issues with the engine light coming on and off. Initially when I took the vehicle to be looked at, by the hunt Ford in la plata, md. They changed the oxygen sensor. So the light went off. Then a few months later in 2016 the light came back on. Eventually I started driving and heard a 'pop' noise in the engine area. The vehicle started to lose acceleration and would hesitate. Then eventually my check engine light came on and started blinking. Prior to the engine light blinking the car begin to misfire, hesitate when trying to accelerate, and the engine would overheat from time to time prematurely. The car would sometimes stall and misfire when trying to accelerate or when sitting idle. When I looked online it shows a recall for these specific issues for the same make, model & year, but not for my specific engine liter. For example, it shows the engine overheating and engine wiring splices may cause stall for 2013 Ford Escapes but only for 1.6L. My car is experiencing the same exact issues as those listed under the recall, but my engine is a 2.0L. At one point I began to see white smoke once the engine light started to blink, and smelled fumes. Not too long after that began to occur I pulled over to the side of the road and the car started to misfire and stall.
I was driving on a freeway at 65mph and the engine cuts out to an idle. The check engine light came on. I almost got rear ended getting the car over to the side of the road since it lost all power. After pulling over I was able to start the car as the light went out. This happened 3 more times where the car would cut out to a rough idle, these occurred while I was on city streets but almost caused 1 accident as it cut out. After shutting the car off it would restart with no issue. This last time the car had to be towed to planet Ford to be repaired. They said it was a throttle body issue and it cost me over 700 for the repair even though it is still under the powertrain warranty. I do not see why this has not been recalled due to the car being unsafe to drive and I do not know why the replacement of the part alone will not cause further stalls of this vehicle. I have found other people with the same issue where the car goes into "limp home" mode. I am currently having the car repaired or I would be able to attach the invoice for the throttle body repair.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While at a stop, the vehicle shook violently. When the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle was slow to move. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (parks Ford of wesley chapel, 28739 fl-54, wesley chapel, fl, 813-907-7800) where a diagnostic test was performed. The technician was unable to determine the cause of the failure and concluded that the failure could be caused by wrong fuel. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The VIN was not provided. The failure mileage was 70,000.
First complaint is the internal door panels do not properly fit and come loose becoming caught on the frame of the car not allowing you to open the door to exit the vehicle which is highly dangerous in an emergency. 2) the shift selector switch broke as my spouse was driving the car not allowing him to shift the car into park or shut it off. This is highly dangerous and quite common a mechanics told us.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving 70 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle decelerated to 50 mph. In addition, the engine overheat warning indicator illuminated. The failure recurred several other times. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (ron carter Ford located at 3005 fm 528 rd, alvin, tx 77511; (281) 331-8111), but the cause of the failure could not be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer contacted the Ford hotline. The contact called the manufacturer at 866-436-7332. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at 35 mph, the vehicle independently reduced speed advertently as the engine or transmission warning light illuminated. The contact was unsure of which warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the sensor in the cooling system failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000. The VIN was unavailable.
My car started acting up when the check engine light came on. It has run at lower speeds, sputtering and seems to have loss of power while driving in local conditions no more than 15 miles or so. I called Ford where I purchased the vehicle, and they offered to tow it. At first they made it seem like everything is covered, and now its 2 weeks later after them telling me its some sort of sensor that needs to be replaced and the cost is 1100 dollars, the car is 3 years old with 30000 miles on it, they will not fix the car until payment is made. It seems that its an issue they should have to fix on there dime not mine.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 10 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate. The engine stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.
"engine fault" service now signal came on & car would not accelerate. Car was cutting out & difficult to drive.... manage to make it home slowly while driving w/emergency flashers. Signal went away after car was turned off & was driven just fine after that. 2 weeks later exact same thing happened & fortunately I was close to Ford dealership & was able to drive it there. Electronic throttle body needs replaced & part is back ordered. And car is completely unable to be driven now.
Looses power, unable to accelerate even when gas pedal pushed to floor. It's been to the dealer twice. No problems detected. Unable to duplicate. Seems to occur while driving various speeds 55-45 mph, city driving, stop and go traffic. Usually occurs after a stop/go traffic lights, right hand turns. Occurred after first time between 25K?-30K miles. 2013 Ford Escape 1.6 ecoboost engine.
Was in reverse pulling out of drive way, cross traffic indicator went off and car began to shake, put car in drive and drove after it stopped shaking. When I came to the first light the car would not go even as I had accelerator all the way down, the car revved but did not move until a minute later it slowly began to move with accelerator all the way down. Gradually it picked up speed again but kept on shaking. While at the light the car seemed to be loosing electrical power and felt as though it would shut off as it had lost all power before due to the collision indicators sensing a crash.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at 20 mph, the vehicle failed to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the manifold absolute pressure sensor had failed and needed replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not included in the NHTSA campaign number: 15V813000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 86,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving at 30 mph, the vehicle decelerated, the transmission failed to shift into gear, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The engine was shut off and restarted, and the vehicle resumed normal operation. The failure recurred multiple times intermittently. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 14,200.
At start-up, there was an error message on the instrument panel about an engine fault instructing me to seek service immediately. As it was after 6 pm, and the dealer service shop was closed, I drive home. The engine was "sputtering" as if it was going to stall. The car had minimal power and didn't achieve a speed over about 25 mph. I ran a vehicle health report, which indicated a problem in the engine, transmission, or powertrain; it instructed me to have the car serviced. The next morning, there were no problems. At the dealer the following day, no problem codes came up, and the dealer wouldn't replace the etb since there isn't a recall. I believe, however, that the problem is the etb and that I'm being placed in an unnecessarily dangerous situation when the etb can fail unexpectedly. Please issue a recall!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Stillwater, NY, USA