2020 FORD ESCAPE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 1,864 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: STRUCTURE (696 complaints · 37.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 21
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 32
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2019 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution STRUCTURE appears in 696 of 1,864 owner complaints (37.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. STRUCTURE: 696 complaints, 37.3% of reports STRUCTURE 696 · 37.3% POWER TRAIN: 189 complaints, 10.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 189 · 10.1% · 3 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 143 complaints, 7.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 143 · 7.7% ENGINE: 121 complaints, 6.5% of reports ENGINE 121 · 6.5% · 1 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 94 complaints, 5.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 94 · 5.0% VISIBILITY: 52 complaints, 2.8% of reports VISIBILITY 52 · 2.8% FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: 50 complaints, 2.7% of reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 50 · 2.7% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 33 complaints, 1.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 33 · 1.8% · 2 crash reports BACK OVER PREVENTION: 19 complaints, 1.0% of reports BACK OVER PREVENTION 19 · 1.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 1,248 complaints, 67.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1,248 · 67.0% · 6 crash reports 4 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
STRUCTURE 696 37.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 189 10.1% 3 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 143 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 121 6.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 94 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 52 2.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 50 2.7% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 33 1.8% 2 crashes · 0 fires
BACK OVER PREVENTION 19 1.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1,248 67.0% 6 crashes · 4 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 2019. 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2020-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2020-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2020-Q4: 21 owner reports 21 2021-Q1: 16 owner reports 16 2021-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2021-Q3: 20 owner reports 20 2021-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2022-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2022-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2022-Q3: 22 owner reports 22 2022-Q4: 23 owner reports 23 2023-Q1: 65 owner reports 65 2023-Q2: 99 owner reports 99 2023-Q3: 260 owner reports 260 2023-Q4: 255 owner reports 255 2024-Q1: 247 owner reports 247 2024-Q2: 127 owner reports 127 2024-Q3: 78 owner reports 78 2024-Q4: 50 owner reports 50 2025-Q1: 57 owner reports 57 2025-Q2: 70 owner reports 70 2025-Q3: 98 owner reports 98 2025-Q4: 70 owner reports 70 2026-Q1: 60 owner reports 60 2026-Q2: 78 owner reports 78 2026-Q3: 54 owner reports 54 Owner reports Oct 2019 Jul 2026 Investigation RQ21002 ● Investigation RQ21002 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005 Investigation PE23013 ● Investigation PE23013 Investigation PE23013 ● Investigation PE23013
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 8
2020-Q2 Owner reports 7
2020-Q3 Owner reports 18
2020-Q4 Owner reports 21
2021-Q1 Owner reports 16
2021-Q2 Owner reports 16
2021-Q3 Owner reports 20
2021-Q4 Owner reports 15
2022-Q1 Owner reports 13
2022-Q2 Owner reports 16
2022-Q3 Owner reports 22
2022-Q4 Owner reports 23
2023-Q1 Owner reports 65
2023-Q2 Owner reports 99
2023-Q3 Owner reports 260
2023-Q4 Owner reports 255
2024-Q1 Owner reports 247
2024-Q2 Owner reports 127
2024-Q3 Owner reports 78
2024-Q4 Owner reports 50
2025-Q1 Owner reports 57
2025-Q2 Owner reports 70
2025-Q3 Owner reports 98
2025-Q4 Owner reports 70
2026-Q1 Owner reports 60
2026-Q2 Owner reports 78
2026-Q3 Owner reports 54
Defect investigation 1 RQ21002
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
Defect investigation 1 PE23013
Defect investigation 1 PE23013
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 1,864 complaints · page 1 of 75

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources