Ford Escape

Which Ford Escape years should you avoid?

Going by 27,560 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Ford Escape years to avoid are 2002, 2013 and 2017.

• 20022.6× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (104 fires, 66 crashes, 2 deaths).
• 20132,753 complaints, 2.5× a typical Escape year, most often about the engine.
• 20172,704 complaints, 2.5× a typical Escape year, most often about the engine.

Better bets: among years old enough for a low count to mean something, the 2019 and 2012 drew the fewest complaints without an unusual share of serious ones.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →