2013 Ford ESCAPE - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

Based on the safety rating data for the 2013 Ford Escape SUV 4x2, this vehicle has received an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5. In terms of specific crash ratings, the car scored 4 out of 5 for the front crash for both the driver and passenger side, while achieving a perfect score of 5 out of 5 for the overall side crash rating. The car also received excellent ratings in various other safety categories such as rollover, side barrier, and side pole crash ratings.

Moreover, the 2013 Ford Escape comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances the car's stability on the road. However, it does not feature forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems. In case of any safety concerns, there have been 2480 complaints lodged regarding this vehicle, and it has been subjected to 17 recalls. It is important for potential buyers to consider these factors when evaluating the overall safety of the 2013 Ford Escape SUV 4x2.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

2,480

Recall Count

17

Investigation Count

4

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2013 Ford Escape SUV 4x2 Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2013 Ford Escape SUV 4x2

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2013 Ford Escape SUV 4x2 Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2013 Ford Escape SUV 4x2 Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2022 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 4 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2022 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2022 Score
Rollover Rating 3 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2013 Ford ESCAPE

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2013 ford escape. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge indicated that the vehicle was overheating, prompting the contact to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. after a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the coolant reservoir was empty. the check engine warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that coolant was leaking into the cylinders, resulting in damage to the engine and requiring the engine to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. after investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 13v583000 (engine) but the vin was not included. the manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline for assistance. the failure mileage was 84,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2025-11-01
Complaint:
"coolant leaks due to hole in cylinder head causing overheated engine."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-01-01
Complaint:
"i have been reaching out to ford for over 9 months my suv started having issues with shifting at 90,000 and i took it to my local ford dealer 2 (jefferson ford motors) jefferson georgia and then once to the ford office in winder georgia both said that until the vehicle broke down they did not see what the problem was however the last time i took it to jefferson ford motor they said they can tell its showing signs of some type of transmission failure at which they could not tell why because they said it was not enough miles to cause that fast forward to november of 2023 i was driving down a busy intersection and the suv stops shifting completely and slammed to a stop in the middle of 6 lanes all coming at my vehicle and nearly causing a horrible accident and unsafe environment to even have it towed ford had recalls on the shifting that caused this very same issue with the same model as my vehicle and they should be liable for this i have wrote letters and called ford spoke to the nhtsa multiple times with absolutely no help from anyone how is this fair to me i can not fix my suv because i can not afford it i am not asking for ford to cover anything else but do the right thing and fix the issues with the vehicle that caused a near death accident i need help for someone instead of being ignored!"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-08-11
Complaint:
"vehicle started to overheat. it now will not move. car has sat for two days and as soon as you start it the overheating warning comes on"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-01-12
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2013 ford escape. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 mph. the engine overheated message was displayed, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. the contact was able to drive to the residence. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the water pump. after the repair was performed, the contact and his passengers detected an abnormally strong oil odor while driving. the contact and his passengers suffered from headaches; however, medical attention was not received. additionally, while driving, there was smoke coming from underneath the hood. the vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic, who determined there was an oil leak. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 13v583000 (engine); however, the vin was not included in the recall. the failure mileage was approximately 133,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2025-03-10
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2013 ford escape. the contact stated that after driving the vehicle for an extended period, the vehicle would hesitate without warning upon depression of the accelerator pedal. the contact initially took the vehicle to a dealer where they informed the contact that the turbo booster needed to be replaced. despite the turbo booster replacement, the failure persisted. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer for a second time; however, the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was unknown."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-01-08
Complaint:
"coolant leaked into the cylinders causing major overheating. only to be told by ford mechanics, that a new engine is needed."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-03-10
Complaint:
"i had issues with my turbo in july. it needed to be fully replaced. one week ago, is started leaking coolant. white smoke was coming from the exhaust. last night while driving on the highway, it would not accelerate and threw an error code saying cylinder three misfire detected. i had to stop on the side of the highway in the middle of the night in pitch black with no streetlights due to no fault of my own. car is no longer drivable until fixed."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-10-10
Complaint:
"heater coil hose leaking profusely. common issue reported in 2013 escape, yet no recall, why?"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-05-08
Complaint:
"the contact's wife owns a 2013 ford escape. the contact stated while starting the vehicle, there was significant amounts of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact stated that the failure mainly recurred after the vehicle had been sitting overnight. the dealer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline for assistance. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the contact related the failure to tsb number: ssm-49210. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 140,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-05-09

Recalls for the 2013 Ford ESCAPE

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain model year 2013 escape vehicles manufactured january 11, 2012, to april 1, 2013, and 2013-2014 focus st vehicles manufactured may 03, 2012, to october 14, 2013. insufficient compression in the engine wiring harness splices to the manifold absolute pressure (map) sensor may provide incorrect signals to the powertrain control module (pcm)."
Consequence:
The incorrect signals could cause the vehicle to hesitate or the engine to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the current crimped splices with new splices, free of charge. The recall began on January 7, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 14S17-S1.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM > WIRING
Date of incident: 2015-12-02
Recall:
"ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 escape vehicles manufactured october 5, 2011, to april 1, 2013, and equipped with 2.0 liter engines and focus st vehicles manufactured february 14, 2012, to october 14, 2013, and equipped with 2.0 liter engines. insufficient compression in the engine wiring harness splices to the manifold absolute pressure (map) sensor may provide incorrect signals to the powertrain control module (pcm)."
Consequence:
The incorrect signals could cause the vehicle to hesitate or the engine to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the current crimped splices with new splices, free of charge. The recall began in October 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14S17.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM > WIRING
Date of incident: 2014-08-11

FORD Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

FORD ranks 1 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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