2019 Ford Escape
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 588 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 18th highest complaint count among 26 Escape model years with reports.
Of the 2019 reports, 24 involved a crash and 3 involved a fire. 28 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
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
TiresMar 10, 2021
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2018 F-150, 2018-2020 F-250, F-350, and 2019 Escape vehicles equipped with Continental tires. On the affected vehicles, it is possible that one or more tires were cured for too long during tire production.
Over cured tires may develop a break in the sidewall, resulting in sudden air loss or belt edge separation which could lead to tread/belt loss. Either condition can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the tires, and replace them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on March 27, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S10.
Campaign 21V155000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: engine
384 reports, newest first. Show all
Engine, Feb 7, 2020
PURCHASED VEHICLE APRIL 2019. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY HEARD COOLANT GURGLING SOUND COMING FROM ENGINE WHEN ENGINE AUTO TURNED OFF AT STOP LIGHT. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS SOUND WAS NORMAL. JANUARY RECEIVED NOTICE FROM FORD THAT MY VEHICLE NEED PCM REPROGRAMMING. DAY AFTER REPROGRAMMING I BEGAN TO RECEIVE CHECK ENGINE WARNINGS. SOON AFTER THE HEATER WOULD NOT WORK WHEN CAR WAS NOT IN GEAR. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED DUE TO COOLANT LEAK IN TO VALVES. DEALER ALSO MENTIONED THAT I HAD LOST ALMOST ALL OF MY COOLANT. NOTE: I NEVER RECEIVED ANY WARNING MESSAGES ABOUT LOW COOLANT LEVEL. I HAVE SINCE DISCOVERED THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF THESE ENGINES THAT HAVE HAD TO BE REPLACED DUE TO THIS ISSUE.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Engine, Feb 2, 2020
WE WERE DRIVING ON A 3 LANE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT, STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. SUDDENLY, THE CAR WENT COMPLETELY DEAD - NO LIGHTS OR POWER. CARS DRIVING AT BETWEEN 40-50 MPH WERE COMING UP BEHIND US, BUT COULD NOT SEE US BECAUSE WE COULD NOT EVEN GET HAZARD LIGHTS ON. WE WERE LOCKED IN - THE DOORS WOULD NOT OPEN!! AFTER SEVERAL NEAR MISSES, WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A STRANGER STOP AND HE WAS ABLE TO ALERT ONCOMING CARS SO WE WOULD NOT GET HIT. ENDS UP THAT THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL OF THE BATTERY WAS VERY LOOSE AS WELL AS THE SURROUNDING FASTENERS OF THE BATTERY. WE PURCHASED THE CAR 5 WEEKS EARLIER, BRAND NEW WITH 11 MILES ON IT. AFTER GETTING TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP, IT WAS AN EASY FIX, BUT MY SAFETY CONCERN WAS THE FACT THAT THE DOORS WOULD NOT OPEN!!! IF THERE WAS A FIRE, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN TRAPPED, AND WE COULD NOT GET OUT IN CASE WE WERE HIT BY THE VEHICLES COMING UP BEHIND US, WHICH CAME CLOSE A FEW TIMES!
Power train, Engine, Dec 14, 2019
THE VEHICLE STARTED RUNNING ROUGH AND MISSING AT 75 MPH WITH ABOUT 5000 MILES ON IT. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, CRUISE CONTROL SHUT OFF. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID I HAD 3 TROUBLE CODES BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE WERE. THEY REPROGRAMMED SOMETHING A GAVE ME THE CAR BACK A WEEK LATER. TWO WEEKS AFTER THAT I STARTED GETTING ANOTHER CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WITH THE CODE P0420. THE LOCAL DEALER SAYS THEY CAN'T FIX IT OR HONOR MY WARRANTY BECAUSE IT'S A US SPEC VEHICLE AND I'M IN EUROPE. I HAVE A BRAND NEW VEHICLE THAT I HAVE TO CLEAR THE CODE EVERY OTHER DAY. TO MAKE MATTERS WORST THE SMALL DOOR THAT COVERS THE ODB PORT WON'T CLOSE CORRECTLY. I'M SURE IT WASN'T DESIGNED TO BE OPENED EVERY OTHER DAY.
Engine, Nov 22, 2019
I BOUGHT MY 2019 FORD ESCAPE BRAND NEW IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR, IT HAD LITTLE UNDER 25 MILES. AS OF NOVEMBER 11TH I AUTO STARTED MY CAR- WHEN I WENT TO GET IN IT WAS RUNNING FUNNY AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS BLINKING. TOOK IT TO DEALERSHIP, ON NOVEMBER 13TH THEY CALL AND TELL ME MY ENGINE IS BAD. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, MY CAR HAS 11,647 MILES ON IT & NEEDS A NEW ENGINE. FORD NEEDS TO DO A RECALL ON THESE FORD ESCAPES - I KNOW 3 PEOPLE NOW WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE. VERY UNACCEPTABLE FOR BUYING A BRAND NEW CAR
Engine, Oct 31, 2019
I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND THE ENGINE JUST SHUT DOWN FOR NO REASON. AN ALERT CAME UP THAT SAID AUTO STOPSTART SHIFT TO P RESTART ENGINE.
Electrical system, Engine, Jul 2, 2019
WHILE DRIVING A LOCAL INTERSTATE BETWEEN 60 AND 70 MPH, OUR NEWLY PURCHASED (3,000 MILES) 2019 FORD ESCAPE SEL SPORT COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN WITHOUT WARNING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. LUCKILY, MY WIFE WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE NEAREST EXIT AND PULL OFF THE ROAD WHILE TRAFFIC WAS WHIZZING BY US AT BREAKNECK SPEED. TURNS OUT THAT PART OF THE WIRING HARNESS HAD EITHER LOOSENED ON ITS OWN OR WAS NEVER PROPERLY SECURED FROM THE FACTORY. SO, THE SERPENTINE BELT MANAGED TO CLIP THIS WIRING HARNESS WHICH, IN TURN, PULLED THE HARNESS FROM ITS SOCKET WHILE STARTING TO GRADUALLY SHRED THE SERPENTINE BELT. INSTANTANEOUS LOSS OF POWER WITHOUT WARNING CREATED A VERY SERIOUS AND DANGEROUS SITUATION. FORD NEEDS TO ISSUE A SERVICE BULLETIN AND/OR ISSUE A RECALL ASAP SINCE IT WOULD ONLY TAKE ONE OTHER INCIDENT SIMILAR TO THIS BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED, OR WORSE.
Electrical system, Engine, May 8, 2019
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 FORD ESCAPE. WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY SHUT OFF. APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS LATER, THE VEHICLE RESTARTED AND SHUT OFF AGAIN AFTER THE CONTACT DROVE HOME. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO ISLAND FORD (3698 RT 9 SOUTH OLD, BRIDGE, NJ) AND UNKNOWN PINS WERE TIGHTENED. AFTER RETRIEVING THE VEHICLE AND LATER PARKING IT, THE VEHICLE COULD NOT BE RESTARTED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 800.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Apr 5, 2019
VEHICLE SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING. STEPS TO REPRODUCE ISSUE: KEYFOB IS INSIDE VEHICLE IN DRIVERS COAT POCKET, MOBILE PHONE IS INTERMITTENTLY CONNECTED TO VEHICLE VIA USB CORD, VEHICLE IS ON, ENGINE RUNNING, START/STOP IS ON, VEHICLE IS DRIVING THEN STOPS AT A STOPLIGHT, START/STOP ENGAGES AND IDLES ENGINE FOR AT LEAST 15 SECONDS. WHEN FOOT BRAKE IS RELEASED VEHICLE SHUTS OFF, INSTRUMENT CLUSTER, RADIO, INFOTAINMENT, ETC TURN OFF. TO RESTART VEHICLE TRANSMISSION MUST BE PLACED IN NEUTRAL OR PARK AND VEHICLE ON/OFF BUTTON PRESSED. VEHICLE RESTARTS, POWERTRAIN MALFUNCTION ERROR DISPLAYS AND INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM APPEARS TO BE REBOOTING AND DISPLAYS WELCOME MESSAGE SUCH AS BEFORE IT WAS SET UP. VEHICLE WAS IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT TO DEALER; BLACKWELL FORD IN PLYMOUTH MI BOTH TIMES. DEALER COULD NOT REPRODUCE ISSUE OR PULL DETAILED INFORMATION BEYOND GENERAL FAULT. DEALER PERFORMED 1265OD EEC SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS QUICK TEST, 1265OD45 ENGINE MODULE DIAGNOSTIC PIN POINT TEST, 12650DX1 EEC SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS QUICK TEST TWICE, ROAD TESTED, IDS TEST P164C, PPT AA IN PCED MANUAL, RESET KAM AND RETEST PASS, AND UPON REQUEST CHECKED THAT PCM FIRMWARE WAS THE LATEST VERSION. DEALER REQUESTED PERMISSION FOR EXTENDED MILEAGE TESTING WITH SKYTRACKER INSTALLED AFTER 2ND FAULT, PERMISSION WAS GIVEN. ISSUE OCCURS APPROXIMATELY EVERY 30 DAYS DRIVING 2 TRIPS/DAY. ISSUE PRESENTS A HIGH AND SEVERE RISK OF FATAL INCIDENT BECAUSE VEHICLE IS STOPPED AT A GREEN LIGHT AND MAY BE REAR ENDED BY AN APPROACHING VEHICLE AT HIGH SPEED. BECAUSE VEHICLE IS OFF, AIRBAGS AND OTHER SAFETY EQUIPMENT MAY NOT ACTIVATE INCREASING RISK OF FATAL INCIDENT. VEHICLE WAS BOUGHT NEW WITH 10 MILES RECORDED ON ODOMETER IN FEBRUARY OF 2019, AS OF APRIL 2019 THE ISSUE HAS OCCURRED TWICE. ONCE ON FEBRUARY 22ND AND ONCE ON APRIL 3RD.
Engine, Mar 7, 2019
SMELL ENTERS PASSENGER CABIN FROM WHAT APPEARS TO BE CATALYTIC EXHAUST FUMES WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY.