1990 FORD ESCORT — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 101 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (43 complaints · 42.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 5
  • Fires 42
  • Injuries 8
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1989 →
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 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 43 of 101 owner complaints (42.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 43 complaints, 42.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 43 · 42.6% · 28 fire reports ENGINE: 12 complaints, 11.9% of reports ENGINE 12 · 11.9% · 5 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 8.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 8.9% · 4 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 8 complaints, 7.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 8 · 7.9% · 2 crash reports STEERING: 5 complaints, 5.0% of reports STEERING 5 · 5.0% · 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 3 complaints, 3.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 3 · 3.0% SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 3.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 3.0% · 2 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 3.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 3.0% STRUCTURE: 2 complaints, 2.0% of reports STRUCTURE 2 · 2.0% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 85 complaints, 84.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 85 · 84.2% · 3 crash reports 38 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)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 43 42.6% 0 crashes · 28 fires
ENGINE 12 11.9% 0 crashes · 5 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 8.9% 0 crashes · 4 fires
SEAT BELTS 8 7.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 5 5.0% 0 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 3 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 3.0% 0 crashes · 2 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 3.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 2 2.0% 1 crashes · 1 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 85 84.2% 3 crashes · 38 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 Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Oct 1989. 1995-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 1995-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1995-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q2: 21 owner reports 21 1996-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 1997-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1989 Jul 2010 Recall campaign 89V174000 ◆ Recall campaign 89V174000 Recall campaign 96V071000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V071000 Investigation PE94078 ● Investigation PE94078 Investigation PE94089 ● Investigation PE94089 Investigation EA95002 ● Investigation EA95002
  • Campaign 96V071000 was reported 478 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 10
1995-Q2 Owner reports 3
1995-Q3 Owner reports 5
1995-Q4 Owner reports 3
1996-Q1 Owner reports 5
1996-Q2 Owner reports 21
1996-Q3 Owner reports 5
1996-Q4 Owner reports 10
1997-Q1 Owner reports 4
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 3
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 2
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 89V174000
Recall campaign 1 96V071000
Defect investigation 1 PE94078
Defect investigation 1 PE94089
Defect investigation 1 EA95002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 89V174000

    Report date
    Component:
    VISIBILITY
    Consequence:
    OMISSION OF THE PRIMER COULD CAUSE THE WINDSHIELD NOT TOBE PROPERLY ADHERED TO BODY, AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT COMPLY WITH FMVSS 212.
    Remedy:
    REMOVE AND PROPERLY INSTALL WINDSHIELD USING SPECIAL PRIMER.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V071000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE OVERHEATING, SMOKE, AND POSSIBLY FIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN AREA OF THE VEHICLE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE IGNITION SWITCH.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 101 complaints · page 1 of 5

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 2026-08-21
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