CarComplaints.com Notes: The top problem trend for the 2014 Escape is transmission failure at around 70k miles.
This is relatively low mileage for an expensive transmission failure ($4,500 average to fix), but unless the trend becomes more established, we are only awarding the 2014 Escape our "Beware of the Clunker" badge for now.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 14
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
41,266 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.
Power steering has gone out in this new vehicle 3 separate occasions. When looked at by a technician, they do not know what is wrong. Been in the shop for over 20 days.
While driving my vehicle it's approach sensor went off. I thought it was due to being in traffic but then it went off on a constant high pitch squeal. It lasted for about 3 minutes then shut off. Then when I was on the hands free telephone device through the Ford consal it went off again and I could not stop the very high pitch squeal and I had to pull off the road and put it in park. Then it happened while sitting at a stop sign. The squeal was so loud I wanted to take the vehicle to Ford and ask for a refund. I could not stop the sound and it sounded like my speakers were on high but I couldn't lower the volume. This was a new vehicle and just drove it off the lot about a month or less. It hasn't happened since.
The wipers stopped working correctly. With the headlights not on, the wipers would work erratically and not efficiently, causing an unsafe drive during rain. Additionally, when the headlights were turned on, the wipers stopped working altogether. Trying to ride home in the dark with no lights, nor wipers functioning correctly caused an unsafe situation. Additionally, the signals and parking lights are dimming and not working properly. The car is presently at the dealer for two days- has not been looked at yet.
While driving on highway I accidentally depressed the keyless start-stop button. The engine shut off, power steering and brakes were lost and engine would not restart by pushing start-stop button. I was able to slow car - with other cars close behind- shift gear shift to neutral and apply brake pedal so that start-stop button would restart engine. I have had Ford dealership check keyless start-stop system and they indicate that system works as it should. Start - stop button is located in drivers right knee area and is two inches from similar looking climate control button. Power steering and brakes were lost with engine off and car in motion. I contacted Ford Motor Company and they referred us to the dealership. This is a dangerous design flaw.
The 2014 Ford Escape has a software/hardware bug in which the interior instrument panel dimmer does not retain its manual dimmer settings. After 20-30 minutes with the vehicle powered off, the instrument cluster dimmer setting reverts to maximum brightness automatically. More than an inconvenience, this bug is potentially dangerous. If a driver perceives the instrument cluster to be too bright, the driver must manually dim the instrument panel every time it is dark enough that the exterior lights are required to drive. Ford will not acknowledge the design bug at this time because they do not think it bothers enough customers. I am filing this complaint because if a driver happens to become tired of dimming the instrument panel each night or if they simply forget to dim them one time, they could become unwittingly distracted by the interior brightness and cause a traffic incident. I believe this is a legitimate safety concern and would like to see Ford be encouraged to address it.
- Dallas, TX, USA
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The dash lights will not dim automatically as described in the manual as well as from Ford technicians. They are on full bright all the time. An analogy would be like having an oncoming car having its headlights on high beam at night and therefore be blinding. There is a manual override to adjust but this must be done every time the car is started. I talked to a Ford rep and was told, "nothing is perfect, deal with it". the local service department has no knowledge on how to repair it as Ford has yet to issue an advisory. I would think Ford would want its sophisticated cars to work correctly. We will see.
First time (while driving)instrument cluster needles jumped, display read P transmission not in park. Cycle repeated a couple of times then cluster light turned off and needles went to off position. Display only read prnd and mileage. Car taken to dealer ON11-7-13. Cluster replaced by dealer. Picked car up from dealer 11-15-13. Repair worked about four days and same cluster problems returned and became worse. Multiple times cluster would not come on when starting, multiple times (while driving) car beeps and all warning lights turn on display reads service engine & P transmission not in park, cluster goes out while driving, multiple times. Today, cluster won't turn on, cluster display is completely black, heater does not get hot, cannot change vent from defrost to dash, radio won't turn on automatically, display above radio- time is wrong & no temperature reading, rear view camera not working. Car taken to dealer today.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Omaha, NE, USA