2013 Ford Escape
The Verdict
The 2013 Ford Escape has 2,737 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are engine (1,560 complaints) and body (667 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 5/100, it earns a "Total Klunk" rating. If you're shopping for a Ford Escape, consider the 2024 model year which has 97% fewer complaints.
Safe Bet
The 2024 has 97% fewer complaints
View the 2024 Ford Escape dashboard →
Klunk Score: Total Klunk
Among the most complained-about vehicle years on record. Strongly consider alternatives.
How is this calculated?
The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.
Recalls 7
Active safety recalls from NHTSA for this vehicle year.
Ford is recalling certain model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured from October 5, 2011, through July 11, 2012, and equipped with a 1.6L engine. These vehicles have an engine compartment fuel ...
Risk
If this leak occurs in the presence of an ignition source, there is an increased risk of a fire and/or personal injury.
Remedy
Ford will notify and instruct owners to stop driving their vehicles and contact a Ford or Lincoln dealer to arrange pick-up of their vehicle. Customers will be provided with a rental vehicle if ne...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured October 5, 2011, through June 2, 2013 and equipped with 1.6L engines. The affected vehicles may experien...
Risk
Leaking engine oil may come into contact with a hot engine surface potentially resulting in an engine compartment fire.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will modify the engine shielding, cooling and control systems, free of charge. An interim notice will be mailed to owners during January 2014. The recall bega...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured from October 5, 2011, through July 11, 2012, and equipped with a 1.6L engine subject to prior safety reca...
Risk
A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners and dealers will inspect the engine compartment fuel line, and if necessary, replace it, free of charge. An interim notice will be mailed to owners during January 2014. The...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Escape vehicles manufactured October 5, 2011, through April 10, 2014. Due to an assembly misalignment between the exterior door ...
Risk
A door that opens unexpectedly may result in an unrestrained occupant falling from the vehicle, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and correct the mounting of the door handles, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 30, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer se...
Reported Jul 5, 2014
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 C-MAX, and Escape vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the restraint control module (RCM) may have errors in the programming soft...
Risk
If the side-curtain rollover air bag is delayed in deploying in certain rollover circumstances, the risk of injury to the passengers is increased.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the RCM, free of charge. The recall began on May 30, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this ...
Reported Jul 5, 2014
FORD IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2013 ESCAPE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM MARCH 8, 2012 THROUGH JUNE 7, 2012. DUE TO MIS-POSITIONED CARPET PADDING THE CENTER CONSOLE TRIM PANEL MAY BE PUSHED OUT...
Risk
THE REDUCED CLEARANCE MAY RESULT IN THE DRIVER?S FOOT CONTACTING THE SIDE OF THE BRAKE PEDAL WHILE TRANSFERRING THE FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO THE BRAKE PEDAL, INCREASING STOPPING DISTANCES...
Remedy
FORD WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REMOVE THE CARPET PADDING AND LEFT-SIDE CONSOLE TRIM PANEL REPLACED WITH A NEW PANEL, FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 20, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTAC...
Reported Jun 7, 2012
Ford is recalling certain model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured from October 5, 2011, through August 31, 2012, equipped with 1.6L engines. The cylinder head cup plug (freeze plug) may becom...
Risk
As leaking engine coolant evaporates on the hot engine, the glycol may ignite causing an engine compartment fire.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will seal the existing plug and add a secondary plug cover, free of charge. The safety recall began on September 11, 2012. Owners may contact Ford at 1-866-43...
Reported Apr 9, 2012
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Under the Hood
Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.
| Year | Body | Brakes | Electrical | Engine | Transmission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 286 | 132 | 147 | 358 | 115 |
| 2002 | 293 | 169 | 151 | 364 | 97 |
| 2003 | 302 | 57 | 91 | 89 | 59 |
| 2004 | 327 | 27 | 63 | 61 | 20 |
| 2005 | 938 | 132 | 113 | 306 | 95 |
| 2006 | 251 | 162 | 61 | 164 | 81 |
| 2007 | 119 | 96 | 40 | 94 | 44 |
| 2008 | 1372 | 283 | 153 | 293 | 313 |
| 2009 | 900 | 99 | 94 | 426 | 171 |
| 2010 | 776 | 48 | 111 | 899 | 292 |
| 2011 | 559 | 21 | 77 | 489 | 166 |
| 2012 | 263 | 20 | 47 | 220 | 47 |
| 2013 | 667 | 47 | 194 | 1560 | 269 |
| 2014 | 526 | 27 | 152 | 956 | 396 |
| 2015 | 357 | 19 | 115 | 300 | 235 |
| 2016 | 355 | 16 | 86 | 273 | 283 |
| 2017 | 288 | 32 | 113 | 1949 | 232 |
| 2018 | 136 | 16 | 48 | 1372 | 143 |
| 2019 | 62 | 8 | 33 | 370 | 83 |
| 2020 | 895 | 31 | 105 | 243 | 186 |
| 2021 | 138 | 43 | 20 | 91 | 29 |
| 2022 | 56 | 31 | 18 | 94 | 16 |
| 2023 | 17 | 3 | 27 | 33 | 14 |
| 2024 | 24 | 2 | 29 | 17 | 2 |
By Category
By Severity
Worst Problems
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See how the 2013 Ford Escape stacks up against rivals.
Complaints
Car has been having problems immediately with the turbocharger which then seemed fine once taken in. Only to turn around and have the transmission go out. Once again, it was taken in and was reported that there is no transmission dipstick. It is going into limp mode due to slippage detected from the B clutch pack. There is a low chance that flushing out the fluid could buy the transmission some more time, but a large amount of clutch material has been worn off the internal transmission clutch packs and is saturating the fluid. Therefore needing an entire replacement of the transmission.
Engine coolant intrusion into engine resulting in excessive visible smoke/steam on startup and coolant consumption. This issue has been inspected by a Ford dealer and private party mechanics, however could not be accurately diagnosed without engine disassembly. No evidence of external coolant leaks were present. The current consumption rate for coolant is approximately 2 qts per month. Vehicle currently has ~95k miles. The vehicle indicates random misfire codes and low coolant level warnings. Mechanics have advised not to drive as low coolant could lead to overheating and engine failure. Coolant intrusion could result in "hydrolocking" the engine, again resulting in engine failure. Ford Motor Company via dealer has declined to include the vehicle in similar recall or correction efforts.
The shifter wouldn't go into park or start in park had to put in neutral to start it, was at a gas pump and the car started moving on its own had to jump in and pull the emergency brake to stop it and the vehicle was off, also the backup camera is upside down had it fixed but it goes right back upside down.
I was heading west on XXX with my [XXX] granddaughter and about a mile before the XXX exit we heard a loud bang and the car was, like a shot, propelled across the center line into the left lane and heading for the ditch. I immediately hit the brakes and pulled a hard right to keep the car on the highway. After three or four hard rights and lefts I was able to pull the car onto the left shoulder. I thought it was a blown tire but upon inspection they were all ok. The passenger right rear wheel though was on an angle. I called [XXX] and they sent a state police officer to assist. We were very lucky as about 10 seconds earlier I pack of cars passed us and a straggler of the pack passed us about 4 seconds before the incident. It could have been a five or six car pile up. I had it towed and after the mechanics inspection found the broken (as the picture shows) rear upper control arm. The broken parts are available. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The anti-lock brake system is no longer available. When I start the car, a warning comes on that the Uphill assist is unavailable. Other lights come on concerning the brakes. I have contacted my repair shop and they have contacted the FORD dealership and have been told that presently there is no fix available. I understand this failure may be on other Ford Escape 2013 since I was told there are at least 400 vehicles awaiting this replacement part at this time and I would not know how many failures there were in the past.
This Ford Escape has had numerous issues with coolant leaks leading to total engine failure on October 2025. The vehicle is unrepairable with the turbo being damaged and is no longer on the road
Over time the car began to lose coolant. I read codes and troubleshot the systems, replacing a sensor first, no visible leak from collant hoses was discovered. I took the car to bethlehem ford and after a diagnostics process told me there was a crack in the engine on cylinder three that was allowing coolant to leak into the piston and be burnt off during ignition which created misfires and damage over time. I was informed I would need a brand new engine replacement. Which I was quoted 13,788USD for the repair. Not including the $200 I had paid for the diagnostics. The amount for the fix was as much as I had paid for the car to begin with only three years ago at the time of this faulure and had already paid close to $5000 for a turbo replacement as this car in the 2013 Ford Escape SE with the 1.6L ecoboost engine.
car is in park but when I tried to come out of park the arm move but it won't shift out of park.
test
UNKNOWN
VDP TEST
Transmission stopped working. It completely disengaged and i was unable to move the vehicle in the middle of an intersection. This created a potentially fatal breakdown.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that on three separate occasions, the steering wheel became firm while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. Due to the failure, excessive effort was needed to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with a defective power steering rack, and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.
The coolant leaks into the engine. I had the coolant container replaced as well as the coolant bypass valve.Coolant still leaks into the engine and container has to be filled every day. It’s unsafe to drive. It stalls. The mechanic says it’s dangerous and to get another car but I can’t. There is a class action for same issue. Coolant leak has destroyed the engine making it unsafe to drive. I can’t afford another car for my kids and I. Mechanic says his mom had same issue with her ford escape and it’s a fatal engine flaw and u safe to drive. This has been a problem since I purchased the car. I finally could afford to get the new container thinking that was the leak problem but it wasn’t. Then the coolant bypass valve broke too. I’ll put the date the repairs were made but this has been a problem with coolant contaminating the engine forever.
Begin to loose coolant out of resavior. Then began leaking fluid around flange. Had bought extended warranty through A.U.L. Corp. They refused to cover repair. Mechanic at Evetette Ford said it would be right at 400 to replace flange. He said he had been driven hot. Aul Corp said but [XXX] said he was mistaken that the flange was ok just an O ring. It was in shop from Nov. 17, 2025 until Jan 10, 2026. It was never fixed because [XXX] quit working there and new guy said it would be 1,113. 39 with a total bill for over 4,900. So it was towed back to my home where it sits. The latch on.lift gate has never worked so I wasn't able to change brake lights. I purchased the vehicle in February 2025. I've only have about 300 miles on vehicle. I feel like I've been screwed all the way but the used car dealer who should have known by the Ford Dealership, and by the extended warranty company. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Failed part: Electronic Steering Gear Assembly. Starting January 15th 2026 this car began having steering problems, since then it has occurred 2 more times. I immediately determined this car was undrivable because it seemed to be locked but in each situation (1) I was parked along side a curb in (2) a parking lot (3) or in other non-dangerous locations. Had I been driving on a street or highway I am certain I would have crashed. The first time this occurred I stopped turned off the engine, restarted it which unlocked it so I was able to continue safely, in the following 2 incidents this action did not work. On one occasion I stopped at a Ford Dealership & Service Center, described the issue to the agent who stated it sounds like the above assembly. I did not leave it because I was driving my other car. Upon returning home I took it in for service at my local mechanic. He detected code U3000-53 for the Power Steering. I authorized repair. No warning lights appeared on the console displays. Note 2 Invoices attached. My repair invoice is the one totaling $3,471 printed 03/04/2026 but please refer to earlier on printed 02/24/2026 (original quote) because it includes additional details.
Vehicle startered to deccelerate and lose engine functionality while I was going 60mph on the freeway. Had to involuntarily stop in traffic. No system warnings were on or lights. After the incident mechanic saw a head gasket failure just as other models and coolant had leaked into cylinder two. Seems to be a recurring problem with these models .
I am experiencing rearview camera issues - Ford to recall 1.74 million vehicles in US over rearview camera issue, NHTSA but everytime an article or alert is issued I check my vin # & not included in recall; but definitely my rear camera is defective.
Engine Coolant Intrusion. During normal operation coolant leaks into the engine cylinders causing power loss and eventual overheating once the coolant system runs out of coolant. This prompts an emergency shutoff of the vehicle into "limp mode"
I took my car in for a safety recall for the bushing on the transmission. A short time after getting it back my cabin filled with smoke when I used the remote start. I had never had this problem until it came back from the dealer. so I stopped using the remote start! but after that the car's cabin began filling with acrid smoke whenever it idled for more than a minute. It now fills with smoke when sitting at a stop sign or in slow traffic, so i have to open the windows to breathe! On top of that the transmission started slipping in park again! I don't think they actually fixed it. and that they may have caused the smoke problem. there are no warning lights going on. I am [XXX] and on socsec. I need my car to be safe! I have been dealing with this for a while now because I don't trust the dealer now. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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