1998 FORD ESCORT — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 368 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (65 complaints · 17.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 84
  • Fires 11
  • Injuries 78
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1997 →
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 AIR BAGS appears in 65 of 368 owner complaints (17.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 65 complaints, 17.7% of reports AIR BAGS 65 · 17.7% · 58 crash reports 1 fire reports SUSPENSION: 46 complaints, 12.5% of reports SUSPENSION 46 · 12.5% · 3 crash reports ENGINE: 44 complaints, 12.0% of reports ENGINE 44 · 12.0% · 1 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 36 complaints, 9.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 36 · 9.8% · 1 crash reports 8 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 33 complaints, 9.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 33 · 9.0% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 27 complaints, 7.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 27 · 7.3% · 3 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 19 complaints, 5.2% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 19 · 5.2% · 3 crash reports STEERING: 15 complaints, 4.1% of reports STEERING 15 · 4.1% SEAT BELTS: 13 complaints, 3.5% of reports SEAT BELTS 13 · 3.5% · 6 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 285 complaints, 77.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 285 · 77.5% · 73 crash reports 3 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)
AIR BAGS 65 17.7% 58 crashes · 1 fires
SUSPENSION 46 12.5% 3 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 44 12.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 36 9.8% 1 crashes · 8 fires
POWER TRAIN 33 9.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 27 7.3% 3 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 19 5.2% 3 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 15 4.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 13 3.5% 6 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 285 77.5% 73 crashes · 3 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 Jul 1997; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2004. 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 1998-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 1998-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 1999-Q1: 34 owner reports 34 1999-Q2: 17 owner reports 17 1999-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 1999-Q4: 18 owner reports 18 2000-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2000-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2000-Q3: 22 owner reports 22 2000-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2001-Q1: 24 owner reports 24 2001-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2001-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2001-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2002-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 2002-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2003-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2004-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2004-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2005-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2005-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1997 Jul 2019 Recall campaign 04E048000 ◆ Recall campaign 04E048000 Investigation DP01001 ● Investigation DP01001
  • Campaign 04E048000 was reported 2,253 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 12
1998-Q3 Owner reports 15
1998-Q4 Owner reports 15
1999-Q1 Owner reports 34
1999-Q2 Owner reports 17
1999-Q3 Owner reports 12
1999-Q4 Owner reports 18
2000-Q1 Owner reports 11
2000-Q2 Owner reports 10
2000-Q3 Owner reports 22
2000-Q4 Owner reports 9
2001-Q1 Owner reports 24
2001-Q2 Owner reports 12
2001-Q3 Owner reports 10
2001-Q4 Owner reports 6
2002-Q1 Owner reports 9
2002-Q2 Owner reports 13
2002-Q3 Owner reports 6
2002-Q4 Owner reports 17
2003-Q1 Owner reports 5
2003-Q2 Owner reports 9
2003-Q3 Owner reports 7
2003-Q4 Owner reports 3
2004-Q1 Owner reports 7
2004-Q2 Owner reports 4
2004-Q3 Owner reports 10
2004-Q4 Owner reports 6
2005-Q1 Owner reports 5
2005-Q2 Owner reports 3
2005-Q3 Owner reports 9
2005-Q4 Owner reports 3
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 3
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 04E048000
Defect investigation 1 DP01001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 04E048000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEAT BELTS
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE RESTRAINT SYSTEM MAY NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION TO THE SEAT OCCUPANT, WHICH MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.
    Remedy:
    TRW WILL NOTIFY THE CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASED THE REPLACEMENT SEAT BELT ASSEMBLIES FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 27, 2004.
    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 368 complaints · page 1 of 15

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