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.
Mileage above is from incident in 2/15, occurred first time at or about 9/14, and occurred again 3/15. On each occasion the car stopped accelerating. On the 3/15 occasion I was traveling about 45 mph on a 4 lane road....when this occurs I am on the gas pedal....not the brake pedal as I am trying to move the vehicle forward. I was terrified to be struck from behind and watched as traffic was coming towards me. Each occurrence had a different repair because diagnostic code was different. I do not feel safe in this vehicle. I have contacted Ford Motor Company.....for this issue as well as numerous other issues. I want to feel safe and not fear future problems. I can provide more information/and or complaints but as I am not that knowledgeable about cars, I trust that you will see all issues through my VIN number provided. One question I have is about the diagnostic codes and their accuracy?
Vehicle loses power and stalls either idling after start or within a tenth of a mile. This occurs even if the vehicle has been driven extensively then parked and restarted or from a cold start. This condition is hazardous as power has been lost entering traffic. The car must be stopped and placed in park and restarted. This occurs about every other day. Ford dealership replaced splices in wiring harness per Ford tsb15-0005. Problem recurred. Returned to Ford. Throttle body replaced. Problem recurred; returning to Ford again.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving various speeds, the engine stalled without warning. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle restarted after numerous attempts. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V495000 (electrical system). The approximate failure mileage was 54,000.
TL- the contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the cruise control failed to engage and disengage intermittently. The contact experienced an electrical short with the radio shorting out as well. The vehicle stalled multiple times and the contact had to make several attempts to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who replaced the wiring harness and the failure recurred. The contact noticed that the vehicle was idling rough, the cruise control was engaged and was stuck multiple times causing the vehicle to accelerate while attempting to disengage the cruise control feature. The vehicle also stalled more than five times and the contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was not safe to drive and was parked at the contacts residence. The vehicle was towed by the dealer to the authorized dealer for further inspection, diagnosis and repair. The contact was waiting for a response from the authorized dealer who was checking for approval from the manufacturer to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure several times. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000. Dyd
Foot slips off brake pedal..accelerator pedal and brake pedal are to close together.brake pedal needs to be wider to accommodate larger shoe sizes, mine are size 13.. in rainy conditions foot slides off brake pedal frequently. Bad design from Ford...hope I don`T have an accident before this condition is corrected.
- Saint Louis, MO, USA
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2013 Ford Escape. Consumer writes in regards to "engine fault- service now" warning appeared on the dash when starting vehicle. Consumer states vehicle stalled and lost all power. The consumer stated the first engine fault light happened in October 2013. He turned the engine off and re-started it again, and the light didn't come back on. The second fault occurrence as he was leaving the house in mid-February. The vehicle moved very sluggishly and didn't appear to be getting any power. On March 15, 2014, the vehicle stalled and lost all power. The only message that displayed said to put the vehicle in park. Fortunately, the vehicle started again. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but a diagnostic test didn't reveal any problems. The dealer kept the vehicle for 2 weeks, with no success in finding a problem. The next morning, the engine fault service no error message appeared on the dash. When his wife attempted to drive away, the vehicle accelerated sharply and took off down the road at a high rate of speed, leaving her with no control of the acceleration or speed of the vehicle. She applied the brakes, and the vehicle stopped. The consumer drove the vehicle to the dealer, and on the way there, it repeatedly sputtered and then it suddenly accelerated and lunged forward all the way to dealer. Even the engine fault code displayed on the dash, the mechanic was unable to get an error code on the computer. The mechanic test drove the vehicle with the consumer, and it was then the vehicle exhibited everything the consumer was referring to. When they returned, the mechanic, hooked the computer back to the vehicle, and an error showed a harness issue, which was related to a wire splicing into two wires, which somehow became tangled during assembly.
I was ~350 miles from home in N. Minnesota on 2/7/2013 and was accelerating from ~30 mph to 55 mph when the vehicle started to shake violently and loose power. A default message appeared on driver's information display followed by an ok message. The vehicle continued to shake and would not accelerate past ~5mph. I pulled into a local business parking lot and turned off the engine. I then added a bottle of gas line antifreeze believing there was a fuel problem since the outdoor temperature was extremely cold (-20 F to ?? 30F) and I had refuel ~75 miles before. After the addition of a bottle of fuel line antifreeze I immediately started the engine. I proceeded to the local Ford dealer to have the vehicle checked out. The technician could not find an error code. The vehicle performed normally until the problem reappeared March 30th at ~ 19,500 miles (again in N. mn). A default message re-appeared on driver's information display followed by an ok message. After pulling over on the shoulder of the road, I shut off the engine and immediately restarted it. The engine has performed as normal since the second incident. After return to my home I reported the problem to the local Ford dealership. The dealer maintenance department consulted with Ford Motor Company for a service recommendation. The vehicle was serviced on 3/9/2014 per Ford's recommendation at ~ 20,000. Again there was no error message stored on the vehicles computer.
Driving in parking lot fan speed accelerated and then engine shut off. I tried starting again 3 times and the same thing happened. I called aaa and had the car towed to Hyundai dealership in reno where we purchased the car. There was a smell of burning in the engine. The dealer reported the smoke was coming from under the hood of the air compressor clutch coil is internal short cause burning smoke. They recommended replacing the air compressor. Ford said my car is not included in their recall list.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while slowly moving forward, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning as the brake pedal was being depressed. The contact crashed into a house. The front and knee air bags deployed. The contact suffered injuries to the left leg, knee and chest. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not inspected to determine the cause of the failure, nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 7,092.
The auto stalls randomly on occasion. I feel this is a dangerous situation, however, the dealer can't get a code so Ford will not fix. Ford clearly knows this is a throttle problem with many of their vehicles, and as I understand, it has been investigated for a recall several times. How can I get them to fix it?
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 69 mph with the cruise control activated, the gears would not engage, causing the vehicle to lunge forward. The contact mentioned that once the gears had engaged, the vehicle would jerk in reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 15,000 and the current mileage was 15,700. Updated 12/04/13 updated 12/9/2013
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle accelerated without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact crashed into a building. The contact was not injured. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where unknown repairs were performed. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 4,440.
The gas and brake pedal are so close together that when you push on the brake, you could also be pushing on the gas pedal if you have normal sized feet. This causes the engine to race and you step on the brake harder which pushes down the gas pedal more and causes the engine to race more. This has happened to me twice in the last month.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated without the pedal being depressed. The vehicle was taken for repair but was not yet diagnosed.the manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 6,800. The VIN was unavailable.
Started ignition and automatically displayed message - engine fault service engine now. Pulled out of home driveway and when accelerated on the gas, vehicle jerked severely. Pulled over and turned off the vehicle and restarted, the same message and jerking occurs. Later that day I started the vehicle, the message went away and had no jerking upon accelerating. This "engine at fault" is a serious concern if this occurs while driving. Took the vehicle a couple weeks ago about the same issue to a dealership and told them the situation, however the message did not appear on display. Their conclusion was if the engine fault message was not on display, then the vehicle should be fine.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph, there was a sudden loss of power as the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was unable to be replicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 150 and the current mileage was 700.
While stopped at a stoplight, with the car in drive and my foot on the brake the engine revs up and the car lurches forward and crashes into the car in front of me. This happened last week at a drive thru and I was fortunate that no one was in front of me.
I purchased a 2013 Ford Escape in Oct 2012. It has been in service three times for the same issue. Faulty engine light "service now" but computer didn't capture any issues with vehicle. First time dealer changed the mass pressure air sensor. The second time they contact Ford which told them to upgrade the computer software, this time I called to have the manufacturer send the Ford engineer which states it is the onboard computer. He emailed Ford for the diagrams since vehicle is new and not available to the dealer (so that is what I am being told). The dealer has no idea of what the problem truly is. Finally contact manufacturing who states it is a computer component. Vehicle still at dealership for repair. It is a safety hazard due to the lunging and hesitation of the vehicle when you depress the accelerator. It doesn't have enough power to get you out of an intersection if needed. It lunges forward as if the transmission is defective or the fuel injectors.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Dearborn, MI, USA