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.
7.4
pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,340
Average Mileage:
86,550 miles
Total Complaints:
10 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
not sure (6 reports)
replace rack & pinion (3 reports)
found out that the rear axle trailing arm had broken (1 reports)
Got my oil changed at the Ford dealership like I always do, everything was in good working condition, they just said I needed new brakes, which I decided I'd get done in a few weeks by an outside party (mechanic friend). A few days later, I go to start my car and I get a message reading "Steering Assist Fault Service Required". I was BARELY unable to turn my steering wheel. I know what driving a car without power steering feels like, but this was different, WAY harder to turn. I turned my car off and on a couple times and eventually it was fine, like nothing happened. I decided to drive just around my neighborhood to see how it felt. Everything was fine but I still didn't feel comfortable driving on the main road - what if it happened while I was driving with my daughter in the car?!
A few days later, started it up, it was fine, had my husband follow me just down the road to my dads house to look at it (he used to be a mechanic). He hooked it up to his fancy computer diagnostic thing and it wasn't showing any error codes at the time, we just thought it was a glitch. I replaced my brakes at that time too. Went on about my week, car driving fine, no error messages, steering was fine. About a few later, same thing happened!--I went to start my car and there was no steering and it's been like that for several days now. Turns out I need to have the power steering rack and pinion replaced which will cost me anywhere from $1,200-$2,000!!
I have a failed power steering control module. Apparently this has been happening to a lot of other people and I'm disappointed there has not been a recall. I was VERY lucky that it happened when my car was parked! This could have been deadly if it happened while driving. Looks like I'm just going to trade it in for another vehicle.
My wife and I were out driving our 2013 Ford Escape SE and all of the sudden, it lost all power steering at the wheel. I pulled over to check fluids and any other type of issue that could've caused the power steering to completely go out, but I didn't see or hear anything. So I cut the vehicle off to see if it would reset a problematic sensor or something, but the issue remained. There was no warning or safety information on the cluster about this problem prior to losing all power steering at the wheel. The information light came on less than a mile from our destination.
I struggled to safely drive the vehicle approximately seven miles to our house and I can't imagine how someone that doesn't have the strength to keep control of the vehicle when the power steering suddenly stopped working, as it could've been an extremely tragic event for some such as my wife, my mother, my daughter or others that may have been near this inexcusable defective component of the vehicle. When we arrived home my wife and I went in to do some research and found that there's a recall on the power steering assist motor on a website called "vehiclehistory.com" however, I'm not sure how true that is due to also looking on Ford's website with the VIN and not seeing any type of recalls for the issue there.
I called our local Ford dealership and scheduled a service appointment. After speaking with the service department manager, I went back to the vehicle to get the exact mileage so, I started the vehicle and the power steering was back to normal.
After that scary event on the highway, I'm going to have it serviced and if there's a problem within the power steering, I'll have to have it repaired and that's pretty expensive, between $1,500.00 and $2,200.00. From the complaints I've seen and the number of 2013 Ford Escape SE power steering assist motor issues, I can't believe that Ford hasn't officially reported a huge, key safety recall, as I'm quite sure that there's been numerous tragic accidents caused by this defective power steering assist motor.
There's a total 914,000 Ford Escape SUV's within the years of 2011-2013 that have this issue. I would like to write the corporate office of the Ford Motor Company a complaint in regards to this extremely dangerous issue however, if we could all bring this to light to Ford, then we could prevent numerous tragic events on our roadways. Again, please help me and thousands of other Ford Escape owners from a potential life altering event by contacting the Ford Motor Company in regards to this steering assist motor failure disaster.
THIS COULD HAVE BEEN VERY SERIOUS. LUCKILY WHEN THE STEERING WHEEL FROZE WE WERE JUST GETTING ON THE ROAD. I was unable to steer the car and it became impossible to turn the steering wheel. This problem is very dangerous and can cause death or injury if the car is on the freeway here in Houston or any city with lots of traffic. There should be a recall on whatever is causing this issue in Ford cars. I have read several complaints about this same issue.
I have a 2013 Escape, the Steering Assist Default message came on but went back off when I started my car the other morning. Luckily I can still steer my car but haven't been driving it, scared to. I had appointment at the Ford dealership today, it's still there. They called and didn't find a code. If they don't find anything scared I have to drive it till something happens. Hopefully nothing like an accident, if so, I feel sorry for Ford and local dealer since this is something that has been happening with Escapes since 2008 models but only recalled 2008-2011 and Explorers 2008-2013
Almost crashed my car this morning with a similar problem that many are mentioning here. Hit a very small bump in the road and suddenly had virtually no steering with the car. Super Dangerous!!!! This was a recall item on earlier Fords of this model! Obviously not fixed yet!! Email me and lets get together and file a class action suit!!!
Update from Jul 21, 2020: Initially thought the issue was a steering issue because of the way the vehicle acted, however, once the mechanic got a look they could see that the drivers side rear axle trailing arm was completely broken in two thereby having no support to hold the axle in place when hitting the brake and/or a bump. The car wanted to swerve severely. They have no explanation as to why the trailing arm bracket broke.
- Mark S.,
Cape Canaveral, FL, US
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Steering fault light came as the car was turned on for trip home from doing errands. Power steering did not work. Very difficult to turn wheel while backing out of parking space. Tried to maintain speed through turns as much as possible as the car was easier to handle if it was moving.
Made appointment to bring into dealership that afternoon. The power steering worked okay on the drive over. Dealership did report have power steering cut out on them when testing it. Dealership performed EEC test and retrieved code U3000;49 internal fault. They recommended replacing the steering gear assembly. I approved the job the next day (after reading all the other comments on Ford 2013 Escape steering problems) and car was repaired.
Steering should not really go out on a car with 81,000 miles on it. Seems like a flaw in either the design or construction of the steering assembly
Went to Sames Ford in Kingsville Texas on 4-16-19. had them tow the vehicle from my residence because the steering wheel was frozen and it was considered a crash threat. They ran test and reprogrammed the car. I paid $289.00 and $75.00 for tow.
Today 4-24-19 here we go again! It's at the dealerships waiting for a solution. It only has 66,600 miles and just recently paid it off like a month ago! I am super upset with Ford and I don't think I will be buying this product ever again! This is not fair because reading online it seems to be a re-occurring problem with all their models! They need to make it right with a re-call!
Loved my little escape the first year I had it. To find after a week long camping trip of it being parked and unused that it'd drained the battery and needed a jump. After getting started, I quickly realized it'd developed an issue with the power steering system, citing "Steering Assist Fault - Requires Service'. Prior to parking there had been no issue with the steering system, and not until I had to move it from the driveway to mow the lawn had I even noticed. Prior to the trip, this was my daily driver as a freelance graphic artist for work, errands, and fun. No extraordinary mileage or terrain led up to this, just a dead battery and new problems.
Very disappointed, I have only had the Escape for 2 months now. The Sterring Assist Fault problem is a bad safety issue and Ford should recall these and fix them correctly. I was told it would cost $2,008.00 to fix. Ford needs to do what is right.
Steering Assist fault service required light came on as I turned the engine over this morning. I have 2013 Ford Escape that I purchased from Mike Naughton Ford 2 years ago. The car has has been significantly fair regarding repairs and cost efficiency. I researched that this particular problem can cause the steering wheel to lock up suddenly and loss of power. I also researched that this particular problem has been recalled for 2011-2013 models as well as unidentified models.
I called The Ford Dealership (Mike Naughton Ford, Aurora,CO) to schedule repairs and was told that my 2013 Ford Escape would not qualify for service repairs under the recall based on the vin and that it would cost 1600 to 1800 to repair/replace.I was then told to call Ford Motor Company for assistance and then Ford Motor Company told me to get in contact with NHTSA. This is a serious recall anything that could cause a steering will to lock up and lose power instantly should be no questions ask be recalled and repaired by Ford.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Got my oil changed at the Ford dealership like I always do, everything was in good working condition, they just said I needed new brakes, which I decided I'd get done in a few weeks by an outside party (mechanic friend). A few days later, I go to start my car and I get a message reading "Steering Assist Fault Service Required". I was BARELY unable to turn my steering wheel. I know what driving a car without power steering feels like, but this was different, WAY harder to turn. I turned my car off and on a couple times and eventually it was fine, like nothing happened. I decided to drive just around my neighborhood to see how it felt. Everything was fine but I still didn't feel comfortable driving on the main road - what if it happened while I was driving with my daughter in the car?!
A few days later, started it up, it was fine, had my husband follow me just down the road to my dads house to look at it (he used to be a mechanic). He hooked it up to his fancy computer diagnostic thing and it wasn't showing any error codes at the time, we just thought it was a glitch. I replaced my brakes at that time too. Went on about my week, car driving fine, no error messages, steering was fine. About a few later, same thing happened!--I went to start my car and there was no steering and it's been like that for several days now. Turns out I need to have the power steering rack and pinion replaced which will cost me anywhere from $1,200-$2,000!!
I have a failed power steering control module. Apparently this has been happening to a lot of other people and I'm disappointed there has not been a recall. I was VERY lucky that it happened when my car was parked! This could have been deadly if it happened while driving. Looks like I'm just going to trade it in for another vehicle.
- Janelle H., Puyallup, WA, US