all vehicles · every Escape year · method

Ford Escape 2013

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

1.40 per 1,000

1.9 times this nameplate’s own median · from 389 complaints filed in the first three years, of 2753 ever. 95% lower bound 1.26.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	1.44	226
2009	0.55	90
2010	0.92	167
2011	2.03	451
2012	0.48	123
2013	1.40	389
2014	0.64	192
2015	0.34	104
2016	0.46	141
2017	0.72	221
2018	0.38	110
2019	0.28	71
2020	0.93	196
2021	1.17	189
2022	1.43	202
2023	0.62	86

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Engine 1269 complaints

coolant	520	41%
leak	191	15%
overheating	182	14%
engine coolant	102	8%
coolant leak	94	7%
low coolant	88	7%

Power Train 402 complaints

campaign power	59	15%
coolant	48	12%
cable	33	8%
bushing	31	8%
recall repair	29	7%
gear shifter	27	7%

Electrical System 340 complaints

engine	160	47%
stalled	67	20%
stall	41	12%
coolant	38	11%
stalling	36	11%
recalls	34	10%

When it breaks

17% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 75,000 miles, from 1973 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

4 investigations covering this model year, 3 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 108 complaints about this component over roughly 40 months before an investigation opened.

Door Latch Failure

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10464568 · 10465273 · 10465790 · 10466604 · 10471204 · 10471125

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.