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:
1 / 12
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
58,753 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 car won't start immediately after fueling. When it does eventually start it idles very rough. The problem also causes the car to periodically stall while driving. This is a common issue with this and other Ford cars. Just search youtube or do an internet search. It is apparently a problem with the evap purge valve.
For the past year my 2013 Ford Escape will lose power while driving and stall. I never know when it will happen. It has done this while driving at 5 mph and 70 mph, driving in all weather conditions, the fuel is full, 3/4, 1/2 or almost empty. My car loses all power to the gas pedal and stalls. Most times it will not start right away and sometimes when I shut the car off and wait 30 seconds it will start. Very scary to drive especially with 2 children in the car. Again I never know when it will happen but it happens at least 2 times a day.
The car does not want to start while stationary after putting gas. It takes a while to get it to start and then I have to push on the gas for a couple of minutes while it sputters until the idle finally settles. It shuts off while stationary and idling in park as well.
Sometimes my 2013 Ford Escape stalls when I'm driving, I let it sit for a while then restart it, it starts but although I'm depressing the accelerator it doesn't respond. At other times when I start it from a stationary position it moves then sputters and shuts off.
- Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
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A smell of gas as driving and parked, turned out to be a fuel leak from a pipe in the engine bay, a steady heavy drip when parked with the engine off, awaiting repair
Car was stalling multiple times had repaired multiple times kept stalling and misfiring the vehicle had 120K miles on it latest test indicated cracked engine block which makes the car useless. Quoted new engine by Ford for 6K to 8K to fix. Car has had issues for the last 3 years and was recalled 15 times. The latest issue occured in Oct 2019 and had fuel sensor replaced two months later stalled on highway and asked dealer to fix that occured on dec20 and the first date to fix was listed as Jan 07 due to the fact that the dealer was fixing so many recalls
Stalls after starting... the car will start just fine but a few seconds or minutes later will stall once I am already on the road. Also if sitting with out running for a while car will stall and turn off. In traffic this is also an issue, freeway closed one time and had to sit in standing traffic in hwy and car just turned off. Several times when pulling out of driveway or the scariest part a shooing strip parking lot onto a busy feeder road the car will stall and turn off.
Car starts fine. After driving slowly a short distance, and applying brakes, when you pull into traffic or start moving forward the car stalls with check your engine/service your engine lights flashing. The car will restart and drive fine. It happens intermittently. It has happened on city streets pulling into traffic and in parking lots. I am concerned it will cause an accident. Base on other complaints, this is a known issue and has not been addressed by Ford. It has happened several times over the last few years but recently more frequently.
While driving the car stalled out or died. The interior lights and radio were not affected. The car was still on but the rpms were at 0 and I could not accelerate properly. I had to shut the car off and restart it.
The car will run for about a minute and then want to stall. Also when you start it it will drive for about 20 yards and then start idling very weird and stall. It doesn't do this all the time. It's dangerous.
The vehicle hesitates then stalls even when in drive. This has happened in the city streets when approaching a stop sign and when pulling forward at a green light at an intersection. Pressing the gas pedal but does not re-engage and stalls. I have replaced all sparks plugs and cleaned the injectors and fuel lines. This is happening more and more - the dealership is at a loss.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the engine coolant low and check engine warning indicators illuminated. The contact stated that there was a possible reservoir leak. The contact smelled a burning oil odor coming from the engine and the vehicle stalled and shut off. The contact took the vehicle to montrose Ford-Lincoln (located at 2480 w state St, alliance, oh 44601, 330-823-1128) where it was determined that the coolant bypass valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealer where the water pump assembly was replaced, but the failure recurred. The contact returned the vehicle to the dealer and they could not determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V431000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer provided case numbers: 17515194 and 25220147. The contact was informed that she would be hearing from someone at Ford; however, she had not received a call back. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
Have had car fixed multiple times including replacing entire turbo system however car continues to stall when driving. The entire car will shut off and will not accelerate.
2013 Ford Escape has been stalling out when at low rpms, for example, pulling out of a parking stall in reverse and then switching to drive, car will stall out. It sputters, then dies out. I switched out the high pressure fuel filter and also the low pressure sensor with oem parts and still happens. It doesn't happen often but I noticed that when I'm doing errands and having to turn on/off the vehicle several times in the day it will eventually start doing this. After switching those parts mentioned above now I have a problem with low mileage. The 'miles to empty' gauge says like 400+ miles when it only actually gave me 190 for the whole tank! that's crazy! I have noticed that fuel gets consumed a lot ! can Ford figure this out? I checked my VIN but my car is not the ones affected but I know it is. Im worried about my safety and the safety of others on the road when driving this vehicle.
The car stalls out from a standing stop randomly and without warning, yet no check engine light ever comes on. It is dangerous because it has stalled just as I'm pulling out into traffic. It has randomly been happening in the past two weeks.
Vehicle repeatedly stalls after starting the vehicle and taking off. The vehicle will start and then I begin driving and it will shutter, lose acceleration ability, and stall out. Then I have to put the vehicle in park in the middle of the road or parking lot and restart. Sometimes it starts after a little delay just fine, and other times I had happened back to back two to three times. No warning lights remain. I also had coolant leak occur. Just got engine hoses, sensors, a new fuel pump in hopes of fixing the coolant leak and the stalling. Too soon to tell if the coolant problem is gone, but stalling is still occurring! feels extremely unsafe in a vehicle that randomly stalls out while driving.
The vehicle randomly stalls, with engine completely shutting off, while the vehicle is moving. The stalling occurs while the vehicle is braking, or slowing down while driving on city streets, and I have to completely stop the vehicle, put it in park, and then restart the vehicle. It has occurred several times with other vehicles behind me, causing them to have to hit their brakes and stop as well. I took the car into the Ford dealership where it took them a day and a half to diagnose that it was an evaporative purge valve that was sticking open. The repair cost came to $629.97, plus $68.86 for a rental car. The vehicle ran for about 1.5 months with no problems, but is now stalling again with the exact same symptoms as before.
While driving down highway 82, a fire started in the engine compartment, there was no notice of a fire within the cab. No smell and no visible smoke. After being flagged down about it, we managed to get out of the car and save just a few things out of the car, before the front half of the vehicle became engulfed in flames.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Marietta, GA, USA