10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 10 / 3
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 5 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 65,700 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
With no warning or indication the car would not go into gear. When put in reverse the car went forward. The car then bucked and the wheels kept spinning. I shut the car off and turned it back on. I had my children in the car. I was able to drive up the road and then the car made some crazy noises and would no longer accelerate. The car then indicated it needed to be serviced due to the transmission. No warning. No indication. Just died. I got this car a month ago.
- Clayton, NC, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature indicated that the vehicle was overheating, and the contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the coolant reservoir was abnormally low. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the coolant intrusion had damaged the engine, requiring the long block to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 50,000.
- Woodbridge, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle was shifted from park to reverse but failed to reverse. The vehicle was pushed out of the parking space and the vehicle was able to be driven. No warning lights were illuminated at the time of the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The mechanic stated that the transmission port needed to be repaired; however, the vehicle was not repaired as of yet. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 98,750.
- Seattle, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly jerked. The contact stated that after shifting into drive, the message -??Shift to Park-?? message was displayed. The service transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a general failure with the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 149,000.
- Grand Prairie, TX, USA
My car's coolant is leaking, this may lead to many belts breaking and engine failure. There are many reports online about coolant leaking and totaling the Ford Escapes. This puts me and others at risk because my car could stop working at any time while driving it. My dealership has noted that the coolant was leaking, but did not notify me about it. No warnings or lights came up on my car besides telling me my coolant was low, I refilled it multiple times.
- Denver, CO, USA
My entire automatic transmission system failed at 122,000 miles without warning as I was driving down the highway. I heard a whirring noise and as I accelerated and started jumping and making clunking noises as it shifted gears. Eventually I was unable to move at all and turned and rolled to the side of the road. This could easily cause an accident as there was never any warning signs my transmission would go out. The car never pulled up a code or flashed a warning system before I was left stranded. The car was checked out by a mechanic and the transmission is completely finished. After researching the problem cars of my same make and model have been experiencing this issues around 80,000-120,000 miles for years and ford has made no attempt to rectify the situation or solve the issue.
- Waxhaw, NC, USA
The car takes off late (delayed) after pushing on the gas pedal. The shifting is also not responding, for example, I placed the car in -??REVERSE-?? gear and the car actually went forward like it was in DRIVE.
- Frisco, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while shifting into reverse or drive, there was a loud slamming sound coming from the transmission. Also, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not properly accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who completed NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) repair and informed the contact that the failure had been remedied during the recall repair. The contact stated that the failure continued to occur and later caused the vehicle to stall. The vehicle was examined at the local mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission axle was damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 136,000.
- Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Transmission failure. Not shifting gears
- Belvidere, TN, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon depression of the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated without warning and the vehicle failed to shift out of first gear. The contact also stated that the vehicle failed to move once shifted in reverse(R). The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The contact recently had the vehicle serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) which she linked to the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 121,000.
- Moira, NY, USA
At a traffic light when the car failed to engage. I could accelerate but transmission did not go in gear. After 3 cycles of the traffic light I was able to get it to the side of the road, it was then that a transmission warning light came on, it never had before. After towing to repair shop I was told that the transmission needed replacing, $9000. I then learned of the -??recall-?? by Ford, but my VIN number is not listed. This issue could have bern very dangerous as I was heading to the mountains. I-??ve had my car serviced meticulously and Ford never flushed or serviced the transmission. They should be repairing my car at no cost!!
- Longmont, CO, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to shift gears and suddenly lost motive power, prompting the contact to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. The vehicle was able to restart but briefly failed to shift into drive before returning to normal functionality. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train); the VIN was included, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but advised the contact that recalls were a one-time free repair. The failure mileage was 144,500.
- Garden City, MI, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer was contacted and stated that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there would be no assistance for the dealer assessing a diagnostic fee. The failure mileage was 150,000.
- Franklin, NJ, USA
I got off work and was heading home one of the streets i Devon is uphill. As I-??m driving up the hill the car just started rolling backwards. I hit the breaks and turned car off and back on and even thought it was I. Drive it would only go backwards. No matter what I did it was jerking and acting like it didn-??t have power even though the rpm-??s was up. I mechanic came to check on me and during his inspection we discovered damages to the passenger inner tire end rod and struts so I had that repaired and the the front axle need replacing cause it wasn-??t even turn to move the wheels. so I had to replace that as well. I assumed the axle was the issue but it still was driving like it didn-??t want to go forward. I then say the some transmission stuff on recall so I just parked it until the pets was available. My car stopped in July 2022 and I just got the repairs done august 21,2023. I drove it about 30miles total and now I have a red indicator light that say TRASMISSION FAULT SERVICE NOW!!! This is absolutely unacceptable and ford motor company really need to fix these transmission failure problems. Before all the recalls kills somebody. There are no indicators that tell you something is wrong until it-??s wrong. Peoples lives are in danger more and more everyday the fact the manufacturers only care about the consumers money and not their safety is mind blowing. Selling badly made vehicles and the consumers are the one who suffer the most!!!!I hope y-??all look into this very soon and help the little people that-??s really trying to help ourselves!!!! Had 70,000 miles when I purchased it and now 7 years later it has on 105,200 miles on it-??. Not sure van 40000 miles in 7 years. With other minor breakdowns I didn-??t name.
- Memphis, TN, USA
The transmission torque converter failed on the 2014 Ford Escape. Transmission is causing safety issue by not properly accelerating when gas pedal is pressed. This slowed movement could cause traffic crashes. Engine revs to high RPM but torque converter does not engage properly. The issues was confirmed by local transmission shop. Owner of the shop says he sees a lot of these failures in Ford Escapes. A warning message "Transmission Malfunction Service Now Warning" did appear. Ford is aware of the issue based on the TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN called 1.6L EcoBoost -?" Illuminated MIL And/Or Transmission Malfunction Service Now Warning With Only DTCs P0741 And/Or P1744.
- Belleville, MI, USA
The car began making noise an did not want to shift. After getting the vehicle into drive, the car stopped moving while driving in heavy traffic.
- Mount Pleasant, MI, USA
Backing out of my garage and my car suddenly stopped, I put it in Drive and it went forward, then put it back in Reverse and it seemed ok. Went to 1 store and could not back up the car would not move. Again, put it in Drive then Reverse and it did back up but did not sound good. I slowly drove home, called my mechanic drove it 4 blocks to him and he concluded that it certainly was the the transmission. I had no warning lights or any or any other symptoms prior to this happening. My mechanic called the dealership where I had purchased the car because the mileage was so low, 40, 684, he was hoping that they would cover it, but was told my warranty ran out by 1 year, so I was out of luck. I also called the dealership and was told the same thing and they also said that "how do you know that it was the transmission?" That was really insulting. I also called Ford in Detroit and was told the same thing, not under warranty. I did some research, and have since learned, that Ford has known about the faulty 2014 Escape transmissions and has not not anything about it.
- Milwaukee, WI, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) and the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired. The contact stated while depressing the accelerator pedal to move from a stop, the vehicle started jerking. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that at the next stop sign, the vehicle experienced the same failure. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 118,000.
- Cadillac, MI, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while shifted to drive(D), the vehicle independently shifted into reverse(R). The vehicle failed to shift into the intended gear and the vehicle failed to start. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer and the contact was referred to the manufacturer for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The contact was then referred to the NHTSA Hotline. The contact stated that the failure was like NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train). The failure mileage was approximately 84,500.
- Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Tucson, AZ, USA