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What 220 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Ford Escape

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (220)Crash / fire / injury (13)Fuel system (78)Brakes (33)Engine (28)Transmission & drivetrain (28)Body & structure (20)Electrical system (19)Backup camera & sensors (9)Speed control (9)Engine & cooling (6)Driver assistance (5)

1 of 220 complaints match · Driver assistance · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jan 2, 2023Speed controlDriver assistanceLane DepartureCrash

I used to drive my Ford Escape just perfectly and I was happy. I liked it. One day in December 2022, I drove my car normally and perfectly during the day. Then, after work, I went to do my shopping. After I finished shopping, I drove my car again. I changed the cruise control settings. After less than a mile, I was tuning left at low and normal speed less than 10MPH. Suddenly, I found the car accelerated on its own and I lost the control of the wheel. I did not feel the pedals under my feet, no resistance. Every thing was out of my control. Then, the car hit a tree. Fortunately, no injury, I had a pain lasted for weeks, but no injury. There are huge smokes, but no fire. The car was declared as a total loss, and I lost a lot of money. After that I was curious what happened to me. I found complaints about Ford Escape, in which the drivers stating the same experience as mine. The accelerated on its own after adjusting the cruise control. That’s inspired me to complain and warn other driver about the safety of this car. I don’t know the main reason the car accelerated, but I hope it will be investigated. However, I found that Ford has a recall in the last week of November (a week before my accident) related to fuel injection. I searched again and I found that the problems on car’s computer, fuel injector or ECU could lead to uncontrolled amount of fuel passing to the engine and may cause acceleration or burn. I am very lucky that the acceleration didn’t hit people or the car burnt from speed and heat. Again, I don’t know what happened, but I hope it will be investigated to safe lives of others. Photos can be supported upon request. The car is now with the insurance company.

NHTSA ODI 11499831

Working with the data? Download all 220 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 11, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2022 Ford Escape verdict →