2020 Ford ESCAPE - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2020 Ford Escape SUV FWD received an exceptional overall safety rating of 5 out of 5 according to the NHTSA's safety rating data. This vehicle excelled in various crash scenarios, including front and side impacts, resulting in top marks across the board. Additionally, the Ford Escape is equipped with standard electronic stability control, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning systems, enhancing its safety features.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that there have been 946 complaints lodged against the Ford Escape, highlighting areas of concern that may require attention. Additionally, there have been 11 recalls issued for this model, indicating potential safety issues that need to be addressed to ensure the safety and satisfaction of the vehicle owners. Despite these concerns, the Ford Escape's robust safety features and high safety ratings make it a compelling choice for consumers who prioritize safety in their vehicle selection.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

946

Recall Count

11

Investigation Count

2

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2020 Ford Escape SUV FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2020 Ford Escape SUV FWD

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.

Standard
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.

Standard

2020 Ford Escape SUV FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2020 Ford Escape SUV FWD 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 2020 Score 2022 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 driver side front door is making a popping sound when opening and closing. rusty eck for says this is a known issue but are refusing to repair without us paying for it. i see that 346000 autos are potentially affected, why is there not a recall?"
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2026-01-01
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2020 ford escape. the contact stated while opening the driver’s side door, there was an abnormal cracking sound coming from the door. the failure persisted and the driver’s side door hinge sheared off. upon investigation, the contact discovered that the front driver’s side door spot welds had failed. the dealer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. the contact was referred to a body shop for assistance. the manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was provided the same information as the dealer. the contact was referred to the nhtsa hotline for assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 55,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2025-04-01
Complaint:
"initially driver side door began sluggishly opening proceeding to a grinding open which and finally incomplete opening. power window has also become inoperable. dealer charged $400 to look at what is obviously a known problem and said needed a brand new door and quoted $3,000+ (10% of a new car!) refused service and a mechanic explained the situation regarding the welding failure and said he "opted" to not attempt to re-install the door check, meaning the door now will fly wide open if not perfectly controlled (which will obviously result in damage to hinge system. we found our car with several hilarious flyers printed (attached below) showing the full awareness of the issue.our escape is a fully loaded titanium model and issue began developing at about 49,000 miles. car has never been in a crash of any kind and has 50,000 miles the vast majority being 300 mile round trips on the highway for work."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2023-01-11
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2020 ford escape. the contact stated that while opening and closing the driver's side door, there was an abnormally loud banging sound heard. there were no warning lights illuminated. the local dealer was not contacted. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline. the contact stated that the failure was related to nhtsa action number: pe23013 (structure). the approximate failure mileage was 55,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2026-03-01
Complaint:
"spot welds on the door check arm bracket have broken on the driver's side front door. the arm is still attached to the pillar, but is no longer attached to the door itself. this is also preventing the window from rolling down fully."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2025-07-01
Complaint:
"shortly after purchasing my 2020 ford escape my driver side window stopped working. soon after my door hinges began to fail. i took this to several dealerships who said that the hinge was sagging leading to the electric within my door to have weight on it. my car is available for inspection, i am concerned my door will stop opening or not close all the way at some point putting my safety at risk. both independent dealerships that i took my car to said this was a common issue. no warning lamps or messages."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2023-03-07
Complaint:
"all 3 welds that hold the drivers front door check arm failed over the course of a day. when travelling with the car i observed some strange creaking/cracking sounds when opening or closing the door, and within a day i found that the door was difficult to close and latch. i looked at the hinges, and notices 3 holes where the welds were, and the check arm moving inside the door. the safety issue is its difficult/impossible to close and latch the door, and difficult to make sure the door is actually latched and stays latched. the door has opened while driving, and i'm not sure if this is due to not being able to close it all the way or of the loose check arm is breaking other parts inside the door. the power window no longer works because the loose check arm appears to be blocking it or has destroyed those components. the dealer inspected the issue, and claimed that they have seen many cars with the same defective door welds. they claimed the door would have to be replaced and repainted though this work hasn't been completed yet. according to the dealer though this is a safety issue and 100% a manufacturing defect that ford is well aware of they are forcing customers to pay for the repairs. this has not been inspected by police or insurance since it is a manufacturing defect and not related to an accident. this has only been an issue for a day, but if an accident, injury or death results from the door flying open while driving i will contact the police, insurance, and get legal representation. no warning lamps or symptoms prior to failure. i opened and closed the door less than 5 times after the first odd noise to when all the door welds failed."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2026-04-01
Complaint:
"the driver door is trying to fall off. when i open it, it makes a loud creaking noise and then comes loose. when i try to shut it, it’s not lined up and won’t shut correctly and completely. this issue started almost immediately after purchasing it in july 2023. i brought it to the ford dealership and it sat there for over a month before they looked at it. they never did give me an official diagnosis or estimate although i asked several times. i have been driving around like this for months."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2025-06-08
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2022 ford escape. the contact stated that the driver's side door spot weld was fractured. the contact stated that the door was difficult to close. the driver's side window also failed to open as needed. there were no warning lights illuminated. the local dealer was contacted, and the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the hinge and door weld had failed. the mechanic recommended replacing the door. the manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the warranty had expired. no assistance was provided. the failure mileage was approximately 33,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2024-10-01
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2020 ford escape. the contact stated that the passenger’s side door check spot welds had failed, and the door would not properly open or close. the vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the door needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not yet repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 28,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2024-01-01

Recalls for the 2020 Ford ESCAPE

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain 2018-2020 f-150 and 2019-2020 f-250, f-350, f-450, and f-550 super duty pickup trucks, and 2018-2019 ford explorer, 2019-2020 expedition, and 2020 escape vehicles equipped with driver and/or passenger's manual front seat back recliner mechanisms. also included are certain 2020 ford explorer and lincoln aviator vehicles equipped with rear outboard seats and manual seat back recliner mechanisms. the recliner mechanisms may be missing the third pawl required for seat back strength, resulting in a loose seat back. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) numbers 202, "head restraints" and 207, "seating systems.""
Consequence:
A seat back with an improperly assembled recliner mechanism may have reduced strength and may not adequately restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy:

Ford will notify owners, and Ford and Lincoln dealers will inspect the seat structure and replace them, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 21, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19C07.

Component(s) Involved: SEATS > FRONT ASSEMBLY > RECLINER
Date of incident: 2019-08-28

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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