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
1,124 reports, newest first.
Other or unspecified, Aug 10, 2026
I own a 2016 Ford Escape SE affected by NHTSA recall 25V695 / Ford recall 25SA9 (rearview camera inspection). The recall was reported on October 14, 2025, and the remedy was anticipated to become available in June 2026. I contacted a Ford dealership on August 10, 2026, and was told that the parts are not currently available and that I should wait for a remedy notification in the mail. The recall has now been outstanding for approximately 10 months. I would like NHTSA to review the status of the recall and whether Ford is taking an appropriate amount of time to make the remedy available to affected owners. I would also like to know whether Ford has provided NHTSA with an updated estimated remedy-availability date, since the original recall information indicated that the remedy was anticipated to become available in June 2026, and it is now August 2026. The safety of myself and others is at risk with an incomplete remedy: I live on a busy road, and one morning while backing out of my driveway to go to work, I almost hit a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk at the end of my driveway. He was in my blind spot when I looked both ways, and my rearview camera was not working.
Back over prevention, Aug 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera flashed on and off. The failure was persistent. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the parts were unavailable to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Power train, Engine, Aug 5, 2026
Statement in uploaded files
Back over prevention, Aug 5, 2026, crash
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention). The contact stated that while in reverse(R), the message “Camera not Available” was displayed and the passenger’s side rear of the vehicle side-swiped a fire hydrant. There were no injuries sustained. A Police report was not filed. The vehicle was then driven to the residence. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the camera would be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was 65,000.
Air bags, Aug 5, 2026, crash
Got in a wreck so bad it be t the frame she hit head on a d had seatbelt on and smacked her head on the dash the other cars airbags deployed hers did not
Back over prevention, Aug 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the rear-view camera was inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired because the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.
Back over prevention, Aug 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the rear-view camera displayed a brief and intermittent image while reversing. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Back over prevention, Aug 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the rearview camera displayed a blank image intermittently while reversing. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were unavailable for the recall repair. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
Back over prevention, Aug 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 FORD Escape The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000(BACK OVER PREVENTION) However, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Back over prevention, Aug 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle and shifting into reverse, the rear-view camera displayed a blank image. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the rear-view camera was inoperable. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign number: 25V695000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,000.
Back over prevention, Aug 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the camera was turning on and off independently. The contact stated that it was difficult to reverse without the camera being operational. While reversing, the camera became inoperable. There were no warning lights illuminated. An unknown local dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.
Back over prevention, Aug 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera displayed a distorted image. The dealer was made aware of the failure but confirmed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 128,000.
Back over prevention, Jul 31, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera displayed a distorted screen. The contact stated that the failure was persistent. In addition, the contact stated that the rear-view camera later displayed a blank screen. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.
Back over prevention, Jul 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse the vehicle, he is unable to see the backup camera image; the image is either upside down, distorted, or completely blank. The contact received a notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the local dealer stated that the parts required to complete the recall repair were not yet available. The contact feels that the manufacturer has exceeded a reasonable amount of time to provide a remedy for the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 103,000.
Back over prevention, Jul 29, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while reversing at an undisclosed speed, the rearview camera was inoperative. No warning lights were illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that parts were available for the Mustang vehicles. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.
Other or unspecified, Jul 28, 2026
There’s a safety recall issue on the backup camera it has gone out. It keeps saying backup camera unavailable.
Back over prevention, Jul 28, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while in reverse, the back-over prevention camera displayed a blank screen, with the message that the camera was not available displayed. The dealer was contacted and confirmed the part for the recall repair was not available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown.
Back over prevention, Jul 28, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while in reverse, the back over prevention camera failed to display an image behind the vehicle. The screen flashed a light or show a blank screen intermittently. The dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
Other or unspecified, Jul 27, 2026
Manufacturer (Ford) has failed to remedy the problem highlighted in following NHTSA recall. The recall was initiated by NHTSA on January 17, 2025, recall schedule proposed by FORD was "Planned Remedy Owner Notification Date: Jun 29, 2026 - Jul 03, 2026 ", which has passed and FORD still is not fixing. The schedule was already lenient and still has been ignored and they need to be held accountable for it. Manufacturer Recall Number - 25SA9 NHTSA Recall Number - 25v695 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available
Back over prevention, Jul 27, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while reversing at an undisclosed speed, the rearview camera was inoperative. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and stated that parts were available to repair Mustang vehicles only. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 50,020.
Electrical system, Back over prevention, Jul 27, 2026
The rear view camera does not work at times and when it does the image is distorted and discolored and it is also upside down.
Electrical system, Jul 25, 2026
Safety recall issued last year for faulty rear camera and still no remedy available.
Back over prevention, Jul 24, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the display screen and camera shut off without warning, and the camera failed to operate while in reverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 125,000.
Back over prevention, Jul 23, 2026
See attached document for complaint.
Back over prevention, Jul 23, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the rear-view image glitched and eventually failed to display. The failure mileage was 102,000.