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.
My daughter was driving down the road and all of a sudden she heard this weird noise. Then her car began to speed up on it's on and then it reduced its speed again. Then, while she was in the drive thru, her car act like it didn't want to go anymore so she pulled to the side parking lot and turned it off for a while and went back on the road. After that she was heading home and it started to make the noise again and pick up its speed so she pulled over and when she got in the parking lot and tried to back it up but it didn't move. That's when the light came on to initiate that there was a transmission default.
I brought this car for my daughter almost three years ago. This is her last year in high school and now I have to use some of her college money to get it fix. PLEASE, IF ANYONE READS THIS, DON'T BUY THIS CAR. What makes it so bad is that my daughter loved this car. This car only has a little over 77,000 miles and now we probably have to rebuild the transmission. I probably will get rid of this car and get her something dependable and more reliable for college.
Bought this vehicle 2 years ago, no issues. Then Tuesday, I'm driving home and the car loses pressure, it just stops. I barely got it home. Had AAA tow it to dealer and lo and behold, it's the transmission. Yes, my light came on Transmission Fault Service Warning. Ford really needs to recall this, ugh.
Update from Sep 8, 2018: Took my car to Hennessy Ford in Atlanta, they want to charge $6,277.55 to repair. That's outrageous. It's a Ford not a Mercedes, BMW, or Maybach, really Ford. This needs to be recalled!
Vehicle was driving perfectly fine until, 3 miles into my trip. The vehicle lost all acceleration. Shifted into neutral and the engine responded perfectly. Shifted back into drive, and NOTHING. After about 2 minutes, and several loud CLUNKS (Felt like the car being shifted into park while going 1-2mph) the TRANSMISSION FAULT light came on. Very fortunate to still be within power train warranty period (5 year/60,000 miles) (Mileage at time of fault was 59,870) Dealer said it would be 6 days until they could even look at the vehicle because their transmission specialist had 3 other jobs in front of mine. Called 2 other Ford dealers and received similar time estimates to look at the vehicle.
Update from Jul 24, 2018: It's been 2 1/2 weeks since the Ford dealer diagnosed the issue as "half shaft bearing failure", and "metal debris in the transmission pump". They provided me with a rental car, as well as assurance that the problem will be covered under the vehicle's power train warranty, so I'm not complaining too much. Here's hoping that repairs are completed soon, and that everything works fine once the repair is complete. I'm mildly optimistic.
Car was occasionally jerking, making a clunking sound when shifting up/down. Then, the "Transmission Fault." warning came on. Took it to Golden Ford Lincoln in Camden Arkansas. Their diagnostics showed "torque converter input shaft return was restricted and burnt up transmission." Cost us $4962.62 to replace the transmission, ridiculous! I plan to write to write to Ford Corporate about this. Don't know that it will help but, it can't hurt either.
Having a total transmission failure with only 71250 miles on a modern car is terrible. I had a 1948 Chevy with close to 300,000 miles and a 1948 Desoto with 218,000 miles; both of them had the original transmission.
This makes it the 5th time this has happened but now the Transmission when it shifts makes a noise like it went into gear to hard...This really needs a recall. I bought this car Sept 2017 it had 55k Miles on it and this has been happening since Jan 2018. I am not going to pay for a new transmission when there has been many complaints on this transmission. If there can not be a recall soon. I am thinking of seeing a lawyer. I know it will happen again when the transmission heats up which will happen very easy. This Transmission shifting thud is going to kill everything. ..I should not have to pay a few thousand dollars over this!!!!! Maybe all of us that have made complaints should start a class action suit. Now that I have this website. Every time this happens I will report it here to the point it will get sicking.
- Donna L.,
Exeter, NH, United States
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This is the 4th time this has happened when the transmission over heats. I bought this car in Sept 2017 at 55k miles. I travel a lot. It has been happening actually since January 2018. There needs to be a Recall.
There is no reason for a car with less than100K to have a major transmission issue, Ford knows these are faulty and should be doing a recall on them! I've known several people now that have had the same thing happen with theirs too. This is my third and last ford product! My other escape had to be completely rebuilt to the tune of $3,800.00 but it had 260K miles and a 2002 model that was understandable. However, this is a 2014 , very aggravating and inconvenient time right before the holiday.
The vehicle is still under warranty and I have the extended warranty. I have tried all of my dealers within a 30 mile radius and no one will look at the vehicle for at least a month. If it is a transmission problem it will leave me stranded. I need this vehicle to get back and forth to work.Since I am not a mechanic I don't know if it is an electrical problem or if something more serious.I just need someone to look at it and tell me why the light came on to "service transmission now" All of the dealers are telling me it is at least a month to even look at it. Why have the service plan if I cannot use it? Are Ford transmissions that bad that they are so backed up?
The vehicle only has 32,000 miles. It has shown no sign of problems but I am going away soon and was planning on using this vehicle
Have 73,600 miles on my 2014 Escape. While driving the Transmission Fault Service Now warning light came on. Should this be happening with just 73,000 miles on a car? I bought it brand new in 2014, so that I wouldn't have the stress of vehicle maintenance for a while. UGH :-(
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
My daughter was driving down the road and all of a sudden she heard this weird noise. Then her car began to speed up on it's on and then it reduced its speed again. Then, while she was in the drive thru, her car act like it didn't want to go anymore so she pulled to the side parking lot and turned it off for a while and went back on the road. After that she was heading home and it started to make the noise again and pick up its speed so she pulled over and when she got in the parking lot and tried to back it up but it didn't move. That's when the light came on to initiate that there was a transmission default.
I brought this car for my daughter almost three years ago. This is her last year in high school and now I have to use some of her college money to get it fix. PLEASE, IF ANYONE READS THIS, DON'T BUY THIS CAR. What makes it so bad is that my daughter loved this car. This car only has a little over 77,000 miles and now we probably have to rebuild the transmission. I probably will get rid of this car and get her something dependable and more reliable for college.
- Randy B., Orangeburg, US