2022 Ford Escape Reliability Report

Grinding, moaning, or squealing from the rear brakes in reverse is the main complaint. The noise is often louder in humid or wet weather. Dealers call it a known issue, but new pads, rotors, and caliper hardware often fail to stop it. Heavy front brake dust and early pad and rotor wear also appear. More serious reports describe a pedal that sinks to the floor, a hard pedal with longer stops, or stops that pulse and skip. Two complaints involve crashes after the brakes failed to stop the car.

The transmission shifts hard, hesitates, gets stuck in one gear, or drops into neutral while accelerating at highway speed, cutting power in traffic. Some cars refuse to shift into Park, show a Powertrain Fault message, or log code P068A. Dealers often cannot reproduce the problem at first. Several cases end with a transmission rebuild or replacement, including one at 48,000 miles and another at 65,000, just past warranty. A few complaints also mention fuel smell and emissions faults that turn on the check engine light.

The driver door check arm or its spot welds break loose. The door then pops, creaks, and becomes hard to open or close, and dealers often say no recall or warranty covers it. The power liftgate is the other main concern. It comes down on people while they load cargo, causing head and shoulder injuries, and one hatch opened while driving. Owners also report a passenger door opening while moving, sharp metal edges in the cargo area, and a rear window that came loose.

The car speeds up on its own, sometimes right after the driver touches the brake or changes cruise control settings. In some cases cruise control jumps to 74 or 80 mph. Three of the six complaints involve crashes, including a car that hit a tree after accelerating on its own during a slow turn. Another report describes the steering locking up and a crash into a guardrail. Dealers usually find no codes and cannot duplicate the problem.

Front air bags fail to deploy and seatbelts fail to hold occupants in serious crashes, including a rear-end impact and a T-bone collision that left people hurt. Other complaints describe an air bag warning light that keeps coming back, rear seat restraint warnings, and a driver seatbelt that does not lock when the driver leans forward. Mechanics have not found a cause for the warning lights.

A driver's heated seat overheats enough to blister skin. In another case, a rear seatback springs forward when folded and strikes a passenger in the face. Long-term discomfort shows up too: the driver seat base presses into the tailbone, and new cushions and replacement parts have not solved it. Smaller complaints cover a bulge in the passenger heated seat and loose or missing bolts holding the rear seats to the floor.

Lane centering switches off with little warning on a curve, or yanks the wheel toward the road edge. Two of the three complaints describe crashes, one into another vehicle and one into a curb. Owners say a flashing cluster light is not enough warning that the system has stopped steering. Another report describes adaptive cruise raising its set speed to 75 or 80 mph without input. A dealer test drive did not reproduce the steering jerk.