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:
7 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
47,141 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.
I got in my car to go to work after it had been parked all night. I turned it on and I instantly got the message "steering assist fault service required" I couldn't turn the wheel. I shut it off and turned it back on and the message was gone. I was able to drive to work however I am scared something is going to go out while im driving!
This has been happening for a few years now-normally I can turn vehicle off and then on again and the electric power steering assist fault error will go away. Now this error doesn't go away and there is no power steering. When this first started to happen it was taken to the Ford dealer and they said it was not an issue, if I go online I see numerous people with this same issue with little results from Ford. I am so disappointed in Ford for not taking responsibility. Not sure what I will do the garage is going to try to reset the electrical system, they said 50/50 chance it will work.
My 2014 Ford Escape is only 4 years old and the power steering locked up while it was parked in a parking structure. I could barely turn it to get it out of the structure then I had to have it towed to the dealership who said it would cost $2000 to repair. There are recalls for older models but not 2014. Luckily this happened while parked and not while I was driving on a busy road. Very unsafe. I don't expect such expensive repairs from a car this age.
I was running errands, when I started my car I got a message "steering assist fault service required". I could still drive the car but it took a lot of effort to turn the steering wheel. The message appears when the key is turned on before starting the car, I did drive it home, my wife wouldn't have the strength to drive it. I haven't tried to get it repaired yet, that will have to wait until I get back from a trip.
Driver fault assist error. The power steering stopped working and vehicle had to be towed. Had to have the entire power steering column replaced. This happened when the car was parked after driving on the highway for 3 hours. We stopped for a break at a rest stop and when the car was started to continue the trip it gave the error and the power steering didn't work.
- Broadway, VA, USA
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The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the steering wheel was extremely difficult to turn in either direction and required excessive force. B & B Ford (10476 dunbarton blvd, barnwell, SC 29812, (803) 259-5524) was notified of the failure and diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The dealer had not received authorization to repair the vehicle because there was no electric power steering recall. In addition, the five year warranty statute expired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided a case number. The approximate failure mileage was 60,200.
While driving the Escape through city streets, an error showed up on the dash and said 'steering assist failure. Needs service.' At that point, the powering steering stopped and it became extremely difficult to turn the steering wheel. This has happened twice to the car in the past 24 hours. I have restarted the car with each incident but after already driving, the error came back up. I believe that this can be due to an electrical issue or power steering component failure.
I was leaving home, got into vehicle, started it and noticed alert that said 'steering assist fault, service required'. I had not had any issues when driving the vehicle the day before. Upon attempt to drive vehicle I realized there was no power steering. Drove vehicle to dealership for service. Was told they would have to look at. It. my extended warranty (5 years/60,000 miles) was expired because I had 64000 miles on it. Repair and rental car for three days (happened on a Saturday) were out of pocket. Ended up being the steering gear assembly. Repair was just under $2000. Three day car rental was $100. There was a recall on older vehicles for steering but not for my model year. There was no warning that there was an issue. If I had been driving in the middle of turning it could have been very bad. There are other reports of the same thing happening to others so I do not believe the issue with the steering has been fixed. Steering should not go out with so few miles on the vehicle.
I was driving on a highway with my family and felt a tightness in the steering so pulled over for a rest stop then when I tried to leave by turning back onto the highway the steering wheel locked up and made it difficult to turn so had to leave vehicle behind dealership said it wasn't nothing wrong with vehicle and no recalls but this is a known issue with later years of Escape and other SUV
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. While driving, the steering wheel seized. An independent mechanic assisted the contact with the vehicle for it to be driven. The vehicle was taken to al packer Ford West palm beach (1530 N military trl, West palm beach, fl 33409) where it was diagnosed that an unknown part related to the steering needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not provided. Consumer stated steering was totally locked and the vehicle could not steer.
The 'steering assist fault, service required' popped after turning my car off for gas and then turning it back on when I was ready to go. Without any notice or any previous issues I was unable to steer my car. This car can still be driven but with limited steering capacity, which is very unsafe.
Without notice, it started my vehicle and received a "steering assist fault" message and lost all power steering.one mechanic said that it was a Ford software update that wasn't compatible with my electronic steering.I took it to Ford dealership and they said the rack and pinion gear was the problem. $2,000 repair.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and the electric power steering warning indicator illuminated. Randall Ford (5500 rogers ave, fort smith, ar 72903, (479) 452-1311) was notified and stated that the vehicle was not included in any steering recall campaigns. The contact felt that if the same oem part was replaced without a remedy, the failure may recur. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided no assistance. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.
While driving power steering completely failed. The wheel jerked a bit but I was able to maintain control and pull over. When I attempted to turn the wheel I had no power steering at all. I took to my mechanic and was told the steering rack needed to be replaced at a cost of $2000. Car as 100K miles. My concern is there was no codes or fault displayed on instrument cluster. The next day I drove the car and the power steering was fine. The next day driving it failed again. Still no service needed light or notification on instrument cluster. Car is unsafe to drive for someone not strong enough to turn the wheel without power steering.
2014 Ford Escape 60,000 miles replaced the battery lost control of power steering had to bring to Ford dealer they said it would need to be re-flashed they than called and said it needed new rack and pinion for the steering and new alignment for $2200 not sure if this was the problem if this is typical of the Escape but it should not of happened with a vehicle with this few of miles.
I was driving on the highway and all of a sudden the steering wheel froze up and would not turn unless using tremendous force. I was lucky not to be in an accident. The car only has 56-58K miles and is not that old. I was now charged by Ford almost $2,000 to replace the steering system. I have read abt this from other owners on-line, but there seems not to be a recall for something that can potentially cause an deadly accident.
Power steering went out on me while driving out of nowhere. Was driving fine not even 8 hours beforehand. After turning on the car the steering was hard to keep control of. As I kept driving the power steering was locking up and sounded like it was grinding gears together. After stopping for food, turned the car back on to reverse and the steering wheel had locked and on the dash it stated 'steering loss. Park safely.' After this and everything locked I called a tow truck to tow it home in my driveway.
Son was driving car on local roads when power steering failed. He was eventually able to pull to the side of the road and wait for tow truck. Car was delivered to sheehy Ford dealer in gaithersburg, md. Received call today that the rack and pinion steering on the car, with fewer than 75,000 miles, "burned out" and related repairs run $2,400+. my brief research of the matter suggests that this is a manufacturer issue and should be covered by Ford and the dealership as if it were a recall. It appears that Ford has capitulated in some instances and instructed dealer to repair at no cost. How do I compel the manufacturer to do the same for me?
The fan blower motor works intermittently. That is, it doesn't always work when activated. Moreover, it has now completely stopped working. This causes extreme safety issue when windows are fogged up inside vehicle, preventing driver from seeing. Happens when vehicle is driven and when stationary.
2014 Ford Escape at approximately 51, xxx miles experienced a loss of power steering while driving on the highway. Vehicle was towed to the dealership it was purchased from. Over a week later, they confirmed that the epas had failed. There are recalls on other vehicles from this year, Ford refused to take complete responsibility when we had called in to complain. The dealership acknowledged there were issues, and said they could have it fixed the next day. After awaiting a response from Ford, two days later, the dearler was out of racks to make the repair. We did not have the vehicle back until almost a month later and over $600 (Ford covered the replacement rack but would not pay labor). Upon investigating, we found that there was a class action brought up in California that never gained enogh momentum for Ford to take the responsibility they should have.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Las Vegas, NV, USA