When my car was still under warranty, it was not showing signs of rusting in the wheel wells until exactly after 60,000 miles. Now it looks terrible 1 year later. Ford would have covered the cost of the repair if that happened prior to the warranty expiring. I called the Body Shop at a Ford Dealer in Westlake, OH and they mentioned "it is a common problem with that car". Well if it's a common problem, then Ford should step-up and fix the problem! Overall its been a really good car except for this common problem of severe rusting in the wheel wells (rear mostly). My car looks terrible. It's parked in a garage all day/night, both at home and work and I wash/wax it regularly. I think Ford likes to focus all their attention on their trucks and their Mustang but if you look on the road, you do see a lot of the Escapes and they usually have rust!

Car has rust above rear drivers side tire, rest of car in excellent condition. Contacted Ford, dealer and they are willing to pay $250 towards repair of $2500. In searching history of problem it seems this is a problem on several cars per this website. I have been purchasing cars from this dealer and Ford for over 50 years and just purchased a new 2017 Escape from same dealer Plaza Ford in Maryland. Car is 6 years old and I certainly am not going to invest an additional $2K for a cosmetic issue, even though I will have a rust hole in side of vehicle soon. This does make me believe I should have purchased a Hyundai instead of a Ford in 2017 and in the future.

My car is immaculate. It is always garaged and always washed. I never wanted the red paint to fade. It has approximately 40,000 miles. The other day I noticed the bubbles under the paint above the back driver's side wheel. I know its rust and the rust is going to cause the paint to peel/flake, etc.... This is a ford issue and should be covered by Ford. I purchased this vehicle directly off Tasca Ford's inside showroom.

I have had 2 Ford Escape's in the past and did not have any issues in the past. I purchased my 2005 also brand new and back then where I lived did not have a garage. I did not have this issue at all. This is definitely a defect and Ford should take care of their customers if they want them to return.

First Ford and last Ford, for a vehicle 2012 with less than 55,000 miles that has been maintained, cleaned, in a garage to have this much rust in the rear wheel wells is unacceptable. From what I have been reading, Ford could really care less and is not willing to work with customers on a fix. Well, when sales start to decline and people lose jobs because we are not willing to buy FORDS again, maybe THEN someone with all the big bucks in their pockets at FORD will say, "We should have done something to help our customers with this problem which is clearly a design or product defect" Thanks for nothing FORD. Nothing nice to say. I am old and have had MANY vehicles in my lifetime and not one of them has developed this much rust in the wheel wells. Oh wait, I think the Sante Fe Hyundai was having issues and I believe I have seen a design change on the newer SUV's. Are you hearing what I'm saying Ford? We don't need your defective products. Ok, now i will go take my blood pressure medicine or perhaps call FORD for fun?

This 2012 Ford Escape XLT is otherwise in great shape. But noticed top of rear wheel wells both rusting through. Bad design as it appears there is a 2nd sheet of sheet metal that runs behind the painted fender metal. Salt water can easily get in between and trapped. Unfortunately we also have a 2011 of the same vehicle with the same problem on both wheel wells. Just called Ford and they can replace the quarter panels at $2,500 a side...so $5,000 for both. I definitely won't be spending that kind of money to fix this thing. These issues have finally gotten me to think about moving to another brand of vehicle as we now run all Fords.

Rust bucket Rusted through on tailgate and wheel wells. Took it to body shop 600.00 to fix no guarantees started to rust again in 90 days. Body shop says he has seen this before and Ford probably knows about it Dealer says nothing can be done about it, so does Ford. Guess what, I have been a Ford guy for my last 5 cars. Moving on! My next car will not be Ford. Funny thing dealer owner keeps sending me offers to buy another one, but he will not answer email to his personal email address. So much for their golden service awards. I have talked with a lot of other Ford owners who have the same problem. I hope a class action suite starts. This is outrageous.

Dan P

Usually keep my vehicles for 10-15 years. Diligent about upkeep. Found rust forming on bottom back hatch door, cleaned, problem continued. Finally took to Ford, for $500 it was stripped, repainted, said it would probably come back. It has, now I have bubbling and rust on Left wheel well, another trip to get it repaired. In my years of owning vehicles I have NEVER had rust develop on a relatively NEW VEHICLE, in places that it should not be. It seems to me that the rust proofing robot was on a break when my vehicle came down the line. Ford has said that this Ford Line DOES HAVE A RUST PROBLEM. I cannot believe that a company does not track common complaints indicating a system wide problem with either the design of the vehicle or a problem in the manufacture of this line. Does the Ford company care about the quality of their products?????

I have a 2012 ford escape-I am shocked to see all the complaints about the rusting above both back tires on the body of the vehicle. this started last year and I thought it was "normal" until my friend's husband saw it (he is a mechanic at a ford dealership in IL) he suggested I contact ford and I did. they couldn't care less. but-if everyone on this website calls ford directly-they may issue a recall. I am also going to send a letter along with a picture of this issue and print out all the complaints in this website (if possible) and if this doesn't get fixed by ford I will never buy one again. like most of you.

Update from Jan 3, 2018: is anybody interested in doing a class action lawsuit against ford? I think this is our only hope. I have contacted the ford dealership in madison, Ford directly in MI, better business bureau in WI, WI dept of agriculture,trade and consumer protection, and national HWY traffic/safety admin. nobody cares. I don't need any money-I just want them to fix this defective vehicle at no cost to me. Ford dealership quoted me $3,000 per side. Which ford should be paying for.

So glad I found this website. I have a 2012 Ford Escape and the paint is bubbling and starting to rust on the driver's side rear wheel well. In a year it's going to be rusted through. I've read other's complaints about how Ford will NOT step up to take care of this and I'm just astounded! I didn't buy a brand new car to have it start rusting out in 4 years! I bought it to drive it until it drops and had hoped that would be 12 years from now. It has been well taken care of -- garaged at night and underground parking during the day while I'm at work. Super pissed and will NEVER buy another Ford again! And even more bothersome, if I go to trade it in or sell it outright, they will see the bubbling paint and rust and knock money off of it. JUST RIDICULOUS!

I purchased a 2012 Ford Escape (new) along with a 72 mo/75K mile extended warranty. This car is and always has been meticulously maintained: garage-kept, washed and waxed regularly, dealer-serviced. I have almost 56,000 miles on it and just noticed about 2 weeks ago, that the paint on the driver side rear fender is starting to bubble. I looked in the wheel well and it is completely warped and rusted on the outside edge, right up to the paint. There are 2 pieces of metal come together to form a seam there, and when I put my hand up there, I can feel that the seam is open and the upper layer is torn in multiple places. I looked over at the passenger rear wheel well and it is not as bad, but is starting warp and rust. The front 2 seem fine.

I immediately took it to the dealership the next day, and one of the guys at the desk looked at it and said he has never seen anything like that on a 4.5 year old car. He said my warranty will not cover the cost to fix it and the standard 60 mo/unlimited mile Perforation Warranty will only cover it if there is a hole. He told me to contact Ford Motor Company directly and issue a complaint, which I did, but they told only told me the same thing -- there is nothing they can do -- and closed the case. So basically, if a hole doesn't appear in the next 6 months, I'm on my own.

I took it to my body shop and they said that there is a patch kit made to repair this issue for the driver side, but nothing for the passenger side. For the driver side: remove the rust, install the patch kit, and repaint the entire fender will cost around $750. For the passenger side: since it's only in the beginning stages right now, they can spray some rustproofing protector up inside to try to prevent any further damage at no cost. But, if it doesn't work and the same thing happens on the passenger side, they will have to machine a patch, remove the rust and repaint which would cost upwards of $1000.

I can't say that this car has been great otherwise. I've had multiple things replaced under warranty in the past 2 years. In fact, it's at the dealership right now for another problem that they think will take a few days to figure out and fix.

I wasn't going to give up on this car until now. I am very upset and angry as I had just finished paying it off last week. I am done with Ford and done with dumping money into this car. 4-year old cars shouldn't rust out. I think the only thing I can do is fix the rust and trade it in as soon as possible before something else rusts through or falls apart.

This problem was NOTICED a year ago, but likely started way before that. A 2-3 year old vehicle should not be rusting. I even purchased Rust Protection at the time of purchase. The dealership keeps giving be the run around, and Ford Canada told me to go through my local Ford Service Centre. They have told me not to do anything, including oil it, as when they repair it, that will be done for me. The rust, that shouldn't even be happening on such a new vehicle, is only getting worse.

Never buying a Ford again. So cheap and garbage. They look nice, but that's about it. Quality is just not there. And apparently customer service isn't either.

I noticed bubbly paint and surface rust on the outside of driver's side rear fender a couple of months ago. The vehicle is ONLY 4 years old and currently has just a little over 49K. Ridiculous for a vehicle of this age. Also, around the same time I noticed the hatchback window leaking around the top.

I bought this as a Ford certified vehicle in November 2014 at which time the vehicle only had 30K on it. I had the vehicle appraised by a Ford dealership for trade value and was only HALF of what I owed on the vehicle.I refinanced some negative equity on my trade, so that didn't help, but I am sure that the appraiser saw the rust and as a result it lowered the value of the vehicle. Ford should be ashamed to allow such a shoddy vehicle on the roads!

I have read the accounts on your website of the same problem. Rusting occurs in the wheel wells of the Ford Escape eventually the wheel well will rust out. Further, I did take this problem to the dealer to see if it was covered under warranty. I was told no free fix till it rusts completely through good till 100,000 miles. Further, the person I spoke with at the dealer was oh so familiar with this problem. It seems this occurs almost with every 2012 Escape. Ford should be ashamed of this problem and fire all of their quality control staff because they have their heads up there A*@. Do you see any other cars on the road nowadays(the other manufacturer's) with rust on the cars since the 90's. What the hell kind of steel or treatment is Ford using?

Anyway enough complaining Ford should fix this problem at no charge to the customer because they dropped the ball there is no way a car should rust in today's marketplace. Quality my A*@. Thanks.