FORD · vehicle model
FORD ESCAPE
34,642 NHTSA complaints and 97 safety recalls across model years 2000–2025.
- Complaints
- 34,642
- Recalls
- 97
- Model years
- 26
The FORDESCAPE appears in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database with 34,642 consumer safety complaints and 97 recall campaigns across 26 model years (2000–2025). That averages roughly 1,332 complaints per model year. Report counts can differ between model years for many reasons; this dataset does not establish the cause of a difference.
Complaint volume on a nameplate alone is not a reliability verdict: a long-running bestseller can accumulate more filings than a low-volume niche model because more vehicles are on the road. The table below shows report counts and published NHTSA crash-test ratings side by side for each model year. The filing-year histogram shows the timing of submitted reports, not a causal trend.
NHTSA has 8 investigation files tied to this model. Investigation records, complaint reports, and recall campaigns each provide different context. Use the official NHTSA VIN lookup and the underlying notices to research a specific vehicle; PlainCars does not infer a vehicle-risk or pricing conclusion from these records.
Complaints by Year
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 16 |
| 2024 | 125 |
| 2023 | 114 |
| 2022 | 239 |
| 2021 | 330 |
| 2020 | 1869 |
| 2019 | 624 |
| 2018 | 1909 |
| 2017 | 3050 |
| 2016 | 1145 |
| 2015 | 1196 |
| 2014 | 2590 |
| 2013 | 3648 |
| 2012 | 788 |
| 2011 | 1863 |
| 2010 | 3166 |
| 2009 | 2333 |
| 2008 | 2395 |
| 2007 | 350 |
| 2006 | 626 |
| 2005 | 2030 |
| 2004 | 714 |
| 2003 | 736 |
| 2002 | 1394 |
| 2001 | 1387 |
| 2000 | 5 |
Complaint Filing Trend
NHTSA complaint volume by year filed (not model year).
Filings moved from 8,865 in 2017-2021 to 11,556 in 2022-2026, a rise of 30.4%. That is the 71th percentile of change across the 772 nameplates with enough filings in both windows to compare, where 0 is the steepest fall and 100 the steepest rise.
Filing volume, not a reliability verdict: counts also move with how many vehicles are on the road, how old they are, and whether a recall drew attention. Computed from this portal's NHTSA filing-year records over the same two windows the trend rankings use.
Year filed (bar labels show the complaint count).
Compare FORDESCAPE to Similar Vehicles
NHTSA Investigations
Failed Door Check Arm Attachment Point
Loss of Motive Power
Loss of power steering while driving
Electronic Throttle Body Malfunction
Electronic Throttle Body Malfunction
Stuck Throttle
ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE
ENGINE STALLING
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is the FORD ESCAPE?▼
What years of FORD ESCAPE are available?▼
Does the FORD ESCAPE have safety ratings?▼
What are the most common FORD ESCAPE complaints?▼
How do I check if my FORD ESCAPE has been recalled?▼
Data sources
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. FORD ESCAPE totals are aggregated from the linked NHTSA model-year rows; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.