2016 Ford Escape
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Power train is the leading concern among 1,124 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 11th highest complaint count among 26 Escape model years with reports.
Of the 2016 reports, 36 involved a crash and 10 involved a fire. 19 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Equipment, electrical, engine block heaterJan 15, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Focus, 2013-2019 Escape, and 2015-2016 MKC vehicles equipped with a 2.0L engine. The engine block heater may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short circuit when the block heater is plugged in.
An electrical short circuit can increase the risk of a fire.
Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded plug, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed March 6, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S01. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on January 16, 2026.
Campaign 26V011000 on NHTSA.gov
Back over prevention, sensing system, cameraOct 13, 2025
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Flex, 2015 Explorer, Lincoln MKT, Lincoln MKZ, 2015-2016 C-Max, Escape, Taurus, 2016 Fusion, 2018-2019 Taurus, 2019 Lincoln MKT, Fiesta, and 2020 Mustang vehicles. The rearview camera may display a distorted, intermittent, or blank image when the vehicle is in reverse.
A rearview camera that fails to properly display an image can reduce the driver’s view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera as necessary, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model and model years. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on October 25, 2025. Additional letters will be mailed once the final remedy is available on each phase. Mustang owner notification letters were mailed January 2, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA9. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 14, 2025.
Campaign 25V695000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, automatic transmission, gear position indication (prndl)Jun 10, 2022
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2019 Escape, 2013-2018 C-Max, 2013-2016 Fusion, 2013-2021 Transit Connect, and 2015-2018 Edge vehicles. The bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach.
A damaged or missing bushing may prevent the vehicle from shifting into the intended gear, and cause the vehicle to move in an unexpected direction. Additionally, the vehicle may roll after the driver selects the 'Park' position. Either scenario increases the risk of a crash or injury.
Dealers will replace the under hood shift bushing and add a protective cap over the shift cable bushing, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters, informing owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 1, 2022. Remedy parts are expected to be available in 4th Quarter 2022. Owner notification letters were mailed October 27, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 22S43.
Campaign 22V413000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, knee bolsterJun 26, 2017
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016 Ford Escape vehicles. The driver's knee airbag modules installed in these vehicles were produced without the inflator gas generant material, and, as a result, the air bags may not inflate properly in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
In the event of a crash, if the driver's knee air bag does not inflate as intended, the driver has an increased risk of injury.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace driver's knee air bag, free of charge. The recall began on August 8, 2017. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 17C11.
Campaign 17V398000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: power train
320 reports, newest first. Show all
Power train, Apr 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000.
Power train, Apr 4, 2024
The transmission suddenly failed with no warning. 2016 under $90k miles. Mechanic saying very abnormal and was because a small piece inside broke that is manufacturer error.
Power train, Apr 4, 2024
While Driving the vehicle Car came out of gear and the tachometer revved. I had to pull the car off the side of the road shut the car down and then restart it and it then was able to go into gear but for only a short time maybe a minute or two. No lights appeared on the dash. Luckily I was on a residential street and not a highway where my life definitely could've been put at risk. Car was towed to a Ford dealer and they stated complete transmission failure. Car has 85,xxx miles on it.
Power train, Apr 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the son was driving approximately 55 MPH the vehicle suddenly began to lose motive power and stalled. The "Transmission" warning message was displayed after the failure had occurred. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 72,000.
Power train, Mar 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while revering in a parking area at low speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost all motive power, and the contact was unable to shift the gear selector. As a result, the vehicle rolled into a busy intersection. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission shifter cable. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train), and the VIN was included but had already been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 184,000.
Power train, Mar 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and stalled. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to move upon depressing the accelerator pedal. The message "Insufficient Transmission Fluid. Service Now" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the torque converter had failed, and the transmission fluid was leaking. The dealer determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 159,834.
Power train, Mar 12, 2024
Out of the blue on highway. Tachometer reved up to 6 without using throttle. No power, then it jumped out of gear to neutral down a hill. I almost got hit by a truck , no dash lights came on till I called fot help and my husband drove to a safe area and ford escape reared up in air . Then transmission default light came on . A guy put transmission module in to it and it didn't work. So this is not right if it was recalled and now it is doing the issue later
Power train, Feb 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in for routine maintenance, the mechanic discovered fluid leaking from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was examined, and the contact was informed that the rear differential unit was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 34,573.
Power train, Jan 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond as designed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to pull over when the vehicle stalled. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and had the vehicle towed to a dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 101,224.
Power train, Jan 9, 2024
Driving the car with no signs at all, car instantly drops rpm’s and won’t accelerate at a busy intersection. Warning for transmission faulty or engine issues did not come on at all. Car was driving normal and then stopped as clutch started slipping. Confirmed with dealership that transmission is out. The car stopped in traffic.
Power train, Jan 6, 2024
This wasn’t an accident. Over Christmas weekend, my vehicle’s transmission would no longer shift gears correctly. After being told I was looking at thousands of dollars to repair, I decided to sell it. When I listed it on AutoTrader, I discovered a recall from 2022 FOR EXACTLY THE PART OF MY TRANSMISSION THAT MIGHT BE BROKEN. If Ford was supposed to notify me of this in 2022, they certainly did not. So now here I am with a vehicle that doesn’t move.
Power train, Dec 28, 2023
I am the original owner of this vehicle. I bought it brand new in 2016 and had all service done by Ford Dealership. I was told to have transmission flushed and serviced at 80,000 miles which I did. I was never advised to have anything done to the transmission before 80,000 miles. On 12/06/2023 with absolutely zero lights on the dash I went to put the car in reverse and it didn’t move. I had the car towed with 121,000 miles to a transmission shop where it cost $5,121.79 to have the transmission REBUILT! Again never had a check engine, service transmission not a single light or anything on the dash. I know nothing will get done but I have driven cars reach 200,000 miles with zero transmission problems. I see this is clearly a common problem with Fords across the board but it would have been nice to have been told by Ford to service the transmission every 30,000 miles as I have now been advised by the mechanic who rebuilt my transmission. Just disappointing this is my first Ford and I love this car it’s just really disappointing to have no indication that the transmission needed service BEFORE it shit the bed!
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Fuel/propulsion system, Dec 24, 2023
When driving the car at interstate speeds the transmission overheats after just a few minutes. When this happens it triggers the car’s information system to send a message stating “Transmission Fault Service Engine Now.” Just a moment or two later it sends another message stating “Speeds Reduced To Lower Engine Temperature.” Once that message is received you no longer have any throttle control and speed will continue to decline, speed dropped from 70 mph to 30 is maybe an minute, until you pull over and let the transmission cool down. This is especially hazardous on the interstate if your in faster moving traffic with cars behind you and you can no longer accelerate with no way to signal this to the traffic behind you except the four ways. The problem seems to be the fan to cool the transmission never gets the signal to turn on and cool down the transmission. This is an ongoing issue with this vehicle and has been since I got it, there are also multiple site and forums full of this same year make and model having the same issue.
Power train, Dec 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the rear wheels failed to roll and were dragging. Additionally, there was an abnormal popping sound heard. The contact pulled over to the side of the road after each failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was towed several times. The contact stated that the front and rear axles had been replaced by an independent mechanic; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the rear differential had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
Power train, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Nov 27, 2023
On November 14th, 2023, a red alert appeared on the dash that indicated an engine temperature warning indicating that there was a high temperature warning and that I should find a safe place to pull over and immediately stop the vehicle. The temperature indicator on the dash showed the needle move instantly into the red/high area and then drop down. This happened twice, back-to-back. I checked the coolant and it was below the minimum level indicator as shown on the reservoir. A day later, the service engine light illuminated. I took the vehicle to Advanced Auto and asked to pull the service code and was told there were two, P0303 and P0304 which indicated a cylinder three misfire and cylinder four misfire. I noted that the coolant was also low once again despite seeing no fluid on the ground after allowing the vehicle to run. Bill Collins Ford inspected the misfires and coolant and found the issue to be related to a flaw in the engine design which allows coolant to leak into the cylinders. I was told this could have allowed the vehicle to overheat and catch on fire as well as causing the engine to lock up while in operation. Bill Collins Ford provided an estimate of $13,000 to repair the vehicle stating it required a new engine. I purchased this vehicle used from CarMax on August 2, 2023 and have put less than 3,000 miles on it before experiencing this issue.
Power train, Engine, Nov 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the transmission inadvertently downshifted to a lower gear. The contact stated that the gear shifter became inoperable. The check engine and electronic throttle control system warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the motor mounts and transmission bushing cable needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000.
Power train, Nov 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his daughter was at a stop light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to move forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but the vehicle was not repaired. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact called three transmission specialists and was made aware of other vehicles with the same failure. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
Power train, Nov 6, 2023
The transmission went out suddenly while driving. My safety was at risk since it suddenly went out while the vehicle was in motion on a typically busy road. I had to pull over with my hazards on hoping no one would hit me.The car was taken to a local dealer where they determined there were metal shavings in the transmission and it needed to be replaced. A warning came up on the screen but when it came up it was determined that the cause was not need to fix immediately and did not relate to the transmission.
Power train, Nov 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 87,277.
Power train, Oct 27, 2023
Randomly on10/26/23 my car started shaking while in the drive mode at a stop light. When I took off from the light the car stalled. This continued to happen all the way to my job. When I realized it would not shake when it was in neutral at a stop I would just do that. The stalls would continue. Next after one of the shake a wrench light came on saying "Engine Fault service now" I got to my destination. At lunch I went to take my car to Bobby and Erick at W.B Motors in Fairfax VA for a diagnostic thinking maybe a coil issue. I also noticed the wrench light was gone. No further lights ever came on. The evaluation from the shop was: "No codes or pending codes stored in the engine or transmission. The misfire counter shows zero misfires. Found engine idles very rough in gear. The actual slip RPMS under transmission data is less than 500 while desired is around 1000rpms. We believe the torque converter clutch may be sticking" They referred me to High Tech Transmissions. I called and spoke to a Gary before driving there. They could not get me in. Gary spoke to Bobby about the issue. I got back on the phone with Gary. He explained that I would have to leave the car. My only car had to get home. Here is where my complaint is. Gary said that he had 4 other ESCAPES IN his SHOP with the SAME issue. Being a female I didn't get into did he figure those out. I was so upset about mine. BUT 4 others. So I dropped it off at a ford dealer near my home for further diagnostic. That manager told me he has an ESCAPE with the same issue. I am guessing this isn't just an isolated problem. I will know more today on the exact issue. I feel this should be looked into. Was just confirmed I need a torque converter , valve body and solenoid.
Power train, Oct 16, 2023
When travelling on a surface roadway, we received a transmission failure warning. We were able to get to a safe area at reduced speed. I feel that if this had happened while on a freeway, our lives could have been jeopardized. The Ford tech said that the transmission needed to be replaced. The torque converter failed. The transmission has been replaced. I don't know where the failed component is now
Power train, Oct 15, 2023
My vehicle has 57 thousand miles bought it at Ford Dealership with 48k miles and already having transmission issues. Tow truck driver who picked my vehicle up claimed “Every Ford escape i pick up for a tow is always a transmission issue” Horrible car, Waste of money.
Power train, Other or unspecified, Oct 10, 2023
I was driving home in 2016 Ford Escape and I noticed the RPM's getting higher and higher, but car's speed was actually declining. All maintenance work has been done at Maxwell d in Austin TX. Never had any problems with the transmission and no warning lights, nothing. Until this day....Transmission fault, Service Soon. I was close to being home, so somehow I made it. Be then, everybody wanted know what was going on so did i. I called the dealership, talked to Andrew and made arrangements for car to be towed to Ford on Tuesday, October 3rd. They finally looked at it the car on Monday the 9th....new transmission and labor, almost $8,000. I can not afford that. Having it towed to another repair shop. Getting an estimate from second shop. Why is this not a recall. It should be. Call me [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Power train, Oct 9, 2023
Transition suddenly failed when under normal driving. No symptoms were present when driving. Failed out of nowhere.
Power train, Oct 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the vehicle would jerk, lose power, and would not properly accelerate while pressing the accelerator pedal. Also, a warning message to "Turn the Vehicle Off" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was later taken to an independent service center that replaced the transmission but the failures continued to occur. The manufacturer was notified of the failures but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 100.