2017 FORD ESCAPE — Complaint #1940649
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BACK UP LIGHTS filed November 3, 2023
NHTSA complaint #1940649 (ODI reference 11553446) concerns a 2017 FORD ESCAPE and was filed on November 3, 2023. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 30, 2023. The vehicle had 72,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to North Carolina based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as exterior lighting:back up lights, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD ESCAPE cohort independently describe similar exterior lighting:back up lights failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2017 FORD ESCAPE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon approaching the vehicle, she became aware that the taillights were retaining water. As a result, the taillight brake lamps failed to function properly. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that water had caused severe damage, preventing the bulb from being replaced, and advised that the vehicle be taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the adhesive allowing the lens to separate from the housing. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 72,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1940649 |
| ODI Number | 11553446 |
| Date Filed | November 3, 2023 |
| Failure Date | October 30, 2023 |
| VIN | 1FMCU0GDXHU |
Similar EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BACK UP LIGHTS Complaints for 2017 FORD ESCAPE
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.