Ford Escort Years to Avoid, Problems & Recalls

Which Ford Escort years should you avoid?

Going by 3,481 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Ford Escort years to avoid are 1995.

1995576 complaints, 2.1× a typical Escort year, most often about the seat belts.

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 →

Year	Complaints	Recalls	Fires	Crashes	Most reported	Status
2003	10	1	—	1	Vehicle Speed Control	Routine
2002	33	1	1	4	Engine and Engine Cooling	Routine
2001	68	1	3	14	Power Train › Automatic Transmission	Routine
2000	98	2	2	22	Air Bags › Frontal	Routine
1999	325	2	11	79	Air Bags › Frontal	Fatalities reported
1998	375	1	11	84	Air Bags › Frontal	Fatalities reported
1997	543	2	83	67	Air Bags › Frontal	High concern
1996	205	1	7	23	Seat Belts	Above average
1995Avoid	576	5	20	75	Fuel System, Gasoline › Storage › Tank Assembly	Fatalities reported
1994	279	2	16	51	Seat Belts	Fatalities reported
1993	379	3	16	31	Seat Belts	Fatalities reported
1992	162	3	17	7	Fuel System, Gasoline › Storage › Tank Assembly	Fatalities reported
1991	327	4	61	20	Electrical System › Ignition › Switch	Fatalities reported
1990	101	2	42	5	Electrical System › Ignition › Switch	High concern

Year

Complaints

Relative volume

Recalls

Fires

Crashes

Most reported

Status

2003

—

Vehicle Speed Control

Routine