10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 5 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 52,107 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the steering wheel became stiff and lost power steering functionality. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the power steering system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the VIN was not under recall for the failure. There was no further assistance provided. The failure mileage was 147,000.
- Affton, MO, USA
Power steering loss on start up. When starting the power steering is absent for the first 2 min. then it operates fine with one instance of brief stiffness. taking to independent mechanic and will consult with loacl dealer.
- Orange, VA, USA
Turned vehicle on and steering wheel would turn with clicking but front tires would not move. Problem was fixed by turning vehicle on and off. No warnings from display. If problem occurs while driving I would have no steering which is clearly unsafe.
- San Carlos, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the power steering failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic and remained with the independent mechanic. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed her that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 139,500.
- Milford, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH and making a right turn, the vehicle lost power steering functionality and the steering wheel became difficult to turn in either direction, almost causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and drive into a ditch. During the failure, the message "Power Steering Fault" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the rack and pinion system was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 93,000.
- Clermont, FL, USA
Loss of power steering. Happened while returning from a short (3 block) trip to store. Was able to return to home by driving slowly and wrestling the steering carefully. Waiting to hear back from dealership. Did not observe warning lamps or messages.
- Johnson City, TN, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The power steering assist fault warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was placed on a diagnostic machine and produced an unknown code indicating that the power assist was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
- Wylie, TX, USA
The electric power assist stopped working and almost caused my wife to hit another car. You cannot steer this car if the power assist isn't working, lots of complaints about this issue but nobody is checking into it, if this isn't a safety problem than there isn't any reason for you to be in business for you are not recognizing a serious problem, I know a little door latch is important but no where close to this problem. can you imagine going down the road at 60 miles per hour and your steering goes out. also the cross over on the rear suspension must be made of low grade tin for it has completely rotted away, this crossover holds the rear suspension. I know nothing will happen with this but at least I got to vent, Thanks
- Chillicothe, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while in the parking lot, the power steering became inoperable. The steering wheel was difficult to turn. The steering fault must be serviced message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed them the module needed to be programmed and replaced and referred the contact to the dealer. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinon and module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.
- West Alexnadria, OH, USA
Steering Column needs to be replaced per dealership service center. The steering became jerky and loose. Also when turning, steering continued to turn and had to be forcibly returned to straight. Very scary.
- Rocky Mount, NC, USA
Puting car into reverse on 2way road to turn around car wouldn't go in reverse or forwards car shut off. Had to keep brake on kept shifting back and forth till car turned on had traffic stopped both ways. Seatbelt released not working at all. If car would of gone forwards upon started would of gone over cliff. This happened about 2nd week in July. Currently car has trouble upon driving shifting into gear. Please advise. Dangerous
- Glastonbury, CT, USA
I was driving when I got a warning for steering assist fault. The car is incredibly difficult to turn now, making driving it incredibly dangerous. There were no warnings; it had been driving fine on the way to work, but no longer was when I started it to come home. I saw a mechanic who said it was a steering rack default, and he had been seeing a lot of similar defects in Ford Escapes and Ford trucks. He left after diagnosing as there was nothing he could do to fix it. We called an official Ford dealership afterwards to get a quote, when we were told even if we brought the car in, there was no guarantee they could fix the car because the parts they need are backordered across the country. He also confirmed this is a prevalent issue in Escapes.
- Azle, TX, USA
The day before the steering was just fine and had taken a long drive on the interstate. Could not control steering when car was driven out of the garage the next morning. Car was towed to a car dealership due to very stiff steering since it would have been dangerous to try to drive. Asked tech at dealership to check and advise. A steering fault message was on the dash. Tech wrote, "pulled codes for the rack and pinion. Per pinpoint test the rack has an internal failure. Replaced the rack, programmed the system and performed an alignment. Steering operated normal now." There were no symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
- Palmer Lake, CO, USA
I purchased this 2013 Escape new. It has been driven only 35, 438 miles. On July 4, 2022, started the car in my garage, got a message "steering assist failure", could not move steering wheel. On restarting car, it had reset. Called dealer, got appointment for July 7. They checked for dtcs-u3000-49-08, was told "Ford pinpoint testing leads to failed power steering gear, estimate $2300". At 35 thousand miles? I am paying and getting it repaired, of course - I could not trust this car otherwise. if you lose your steering on the highway, it could cause a major accident.
- Moundsville, WV, USA
My power control steering module is failing. A ford dealership told me the part in my car was defective and they have updated the part years ago. I was told the part alone will cost me around $1,000+ and that I have to pay out of pocket. Ford dealership said the part is on backorder until December 2022 and that I can only get the part through their manufacture. This is extremely dangerous and my steering could go at anytime!
- Erie, PA, USA
Power steering loss power and transmission failed
- Apple Valley, CA, USA
power steering suddenly stopped working while driving, I was barely able to get the vehicle to the side of the road. I am disabled and had to have my husband meet me and fight the car to get it home.
- Mesa, AZ, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist after the ABS warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with ABS failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
- Nottingham, MD, USA
Date of incident, May 19th 2022. While driving home from work on highway 270, as it was raining, my power steering suddenly and without any warning stopped working & has not worked since. I called the Ford manufacturer directly and I have a case number from them on the issue. Ford is well aware of the manufacturer defect in their ford escape steering computer chips and they do not want to address the issue because it would be bad for them financially as well as hurt their publicity. The repair would cost as quoted by the dealership $2400. This is a huge safety issues for the public on any roadways. If this situation happened to a young inexperienced driver or an elderly driver there would be a high potential for a crash on highways and other roadways. Luckily I was able to control the situation and was able to avoid a terrible outcome. Furthermore, it takes physical strength to operate the car which again young and elderly drivers would not be able to drive or have extreme difficulty driving. This is a potentially deadly issue and Ford does not want the general public to know. I hope for the safety of the public Ford is made to recall the vehicle for this specific issue that they are blatantly aware of and want to ignore. Ford has forever lost my family along with myself as a longtime customer.
- Affton, MO, USA
- Oregon, OH, USA