2018 FORD ESCAPE — Complaint #2177157
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE filed February 16, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2177157 (ODI reference 11718205) concerns a 2018 FORD ESCAPE and was filed on February 16, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 12, 2026. The report was geocoded to Ohio based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine, 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 engine 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 2018 FORD ESCAPE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
Took car into local repair shop (HARLAN AUTO 650 W Main Street, Canfield, Ohio 44406. phone 330-506-1737.) for normal maintenance. 02/12/26 Odometer 65033. Previous maintenance 10/28/25 odometer 61335. Performed vehicle inspection, oil change and tire rotation. Harlan discovered no antifreeze, coolant in reservoir. I authorized them to perform a pressure test lasting several hours. Test revealed evidence of damage to spark plugs, cylinder walls and cracks in cylinder walls. Revealing major damage to ngine resulting in imminent failure. Harlan says short block replacement is necessary for repair. i authorized them to repair car based on value of the rest of the vehicle which they claimed it to be in very good condition. Totals for repair are as follows: labor $4790.07, parts $2501.78, tax $546.89, non-taxable nonjob supplies $29.49. GRAND TOTAL $ 7868.23. Engine failure could result in fire or being stranded on the road. There were no vehicle warning signs. i wou
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2177157 |
| ODI Number | 11718205 |
| Date Filed | February 16, 2026 |
| Failure Date | February 12, 2026 |
| VIN | 1FMCU9HD2JU |
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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.