What 94 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Ford Escape Gas

While driving on an interstate, the Instrument cluster / digital gauge cluster screen behind my steering wheel turned off. I was driving with my adaptive cruise control on when all of a sudden I see the screen go black and I was no longer able to see how fast the car was going, the engine temperature, or how much fuel I had, as well as all of the other metrics on that dashboard. The car never lost power, because the entertainment screen in the middle of my dash remained on and responsive during the short period of time that my instrument cluster screen was off, and I never lost power steering. Instinctively, I pressed on the break pedal and pulled off of the road onto the shoulder, so I’m not sure if the cruise control would have stayed on. After a few minutes on the shoulder, the instrument cluster screen turned back on, not quite like it does when you turn on the car, but it flashed a bunch of the warning lights and slowly came back to normal. I was able to drive my car safely and without another incident back home, however I am very concerned about this happening again. There were no warning lights, signals, or sounds before this happened. Driving on any road, weather it’s a highway or an interstate, it is very important to be able to see how fast you are traveling for the safety of yourself, your children, and the other drivers. There is a popular recall among this same vehicle type, however mine was not included in the previous recall even though it just repeated the same problem the other ford escapes were having. My local dealership is not taking this problem seriously, and I am very concerned.

NHTSA ODI 11638922

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the center console display remained off. The contact was able to continue driving the vehicle however, the center console and the display was independently turning on and off. No warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 8,000.

NHTSA ODI 11630551

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine and the front driver’s side tire. In addition, the instrument panel was occasionally turned off independently. Additionally, during rainy weather driving the brakes were making abnormal sounds. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were occasionally illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer on several occasions and was diagnosed; however, the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer, Mullinax Ford of Kissimmee (1810 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy, Kissimmee, FL 34744); for a second opinion; however, the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was also taken to a third local dealer, Tropical Ford (9900 S Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL 32837); but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that an unknown material might have intruded into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

NHTSA ODI 11626254

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated on several occasions while driving, or while the vehicle was parked, all four doors locked inadvertently with the keys inside the vehicle. The contact stated the hatch failed to lock securely and there was no other way to get into the vehicle. The emergency brake light had illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the cruise control was inoperable. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed but the vehicle could not be repaired on several occasions. The contact stated that a systems update was performed; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4,000.

NHTSA ODI 11602771

Quite often, the display screen for the back up camera does not turn on at all. It will also go blank during use at times.

NHTSA ODI 11588863

See attached document for complaint

NHTSA ODI 11585390

On 1/29/24, I drove around town to run errands and on my second stop, I tried starting the car and it would not start, but it went into "accessory mode". I received SEVERAL warnings: Pedestrian Sounder, Memory Recall Failure, Front Collision Sensors, Tractions Control, Check Engine Light, etc. It also stated it would sound an alarm if we tried turning it on again. I sat there for 10 mins and tried turning it on after getting in and out of the car, looking underneath to see if oil or gas was leaking, which nothing was leaking. I kept trying to start the vehicle with no success, still getting the warnings. My spouse arrived after 15 mins and when she opened the hood and wiggled some cables around, we were able to start the car up and it was like it went through a factory reset as the memory for the driver seat went really close to the steering wheel. We called roadside assistance thinking we need to get this towed to a dealership but cancelled it after seeing it would start and my spouse driving it around the grocery parking lot carefully. When we got it to the dealership, it wasn't having those issues and they couldn't do much for it. On 2/10/24, the check engine light came on. We took it to the dealership on 2/12/24 and they told us the PCM malfunctioned. They did a software update on the PCM, which the dealership said has fixed the problem for now. Just worried this is going to happen again and will happen when I'm in a place where maybe my spouse can't come or we are traveling long distance. Prior to this incident, the dash (MPH, Gas level, Oil level, Engine Temp) of the vehicle, which is entirely digital, flickers like there is a short in the wiring somewhere. It doesn't happen every time we drive it, just sometimes (maybe 35% of the time). This was happening shortly after purchasing the vehicle in July 2023. I have a feeling that something relating to the electrical components, battery, chip/software/firmware in the Ford Escape needs to be replaced entirely.

NHTSA ODI 11571481

Engine does not start or crank. It is available for inspection upon request. Pregnant wife and child were left stranded in the cold until I could pick them up. Problem has occurred on three separate occasions: 6/29/23 - No DTCs generated, Ford dealership did not do any work 9/22/23 - No DTCs again, but Ford dealership replaced a module and cleared other codes 1/29/24 - No DTCs. Dealership cleared other codes and informed of Ford SSM 52179 2023 Escape/Corsair - Intermittent No Crank/No Start Condition With Various Lost Communication DTCs Stored In Various Modules And Multiple Illuminated Warning Indicators Displayed In The IPC - Built On Or Before 07-Sep-2023. Dealership explained other customers have had complaints and Ford has no solution and is telling dealerships to return the vehicles to customers. Vehicle has not been inspected by any other party, including manufacturer, other than the dealership. There are messages for "Service AdvanceTrac" and "Park brake limited function, Service required" in the instrument panel each of the three occurrences.

NHTSA ODI 11569144

Unknown

NHTSA ODI 11568800

New 2023 Ford Escape purchased Dec 15, 2023. While accelerating onto expressway- get an error flashing "Engine Coolant Over temperature - service vehicle soon"

NHTSA ODI 11563415

3 times, either merging on the highway or full throttle, vehicle screams overheat warning with wrench light for a couple of seconds and disappears. No limp mode or smoke at all. And coolant level is at MAX. No clue is this some sort of glitch or engine failure? Vehicles drives amazing and power is great. Maybe it’s a software glitch?

NHTSA ODI 11552516

Vehicle has a 1.5L dragon 3 cylinder. When passing vehicles, on 3 occasions it throws codes that says that the engine has an engine overheated issue, service asap, and goes into a limp mode which does not give you any time to get to safety before your speed is dropped below 55 mph. It will not go out of limp mode until you completely shut off the vehicle and wait 5 or so minutes and turn it back on. Even after it stays in a limp mode capacity and does not easily get back up to highway speeds. The certified dealership service department has had my brand new vehicle 7 weeks with no resolution. Car was bought with 16 miles on the odometer, on August 25th, 2023, at 650 ish miles on September 6th it happened the 1st time. The 2nd time was on September 14th, 3rd time September 15th, 4th time was, September 29th. 3 times on a 4 lane highway, 1st time on a 2 lane country highway.

NHTSA ODI 11551709

As I was driving home with about 5 minutes to go, in my brand new (2 week old)2023 Ford Escape, I smelled something burning. I pulled over and saw smoke so I turned off the car and got out. As I got out of the car I looked under and saw fire. I got away from the car and as I did, the fire kept growing and growing from under the hood. The fire went high enough to hit the trees on the side of the roasd. The police and fire department came and were able to put out the fire but not before the car was distroyed. There were no warning lights or any other symtoms of a problem prior to smelling burning. The Ford company has not responded to me from the day my wife spoke to a representative on Monday, October 2nd. The car fire was on Saturday, September 30th. It's been 3 days. My insurance company was going to do an inspection. Ford wants nothing to do with us. We have a police report and a fire report. This clearly was a engine or electrical problem with this car. I was lucy this happened on a small street and not on the highway where pulling over would have been difficult. Lucky I could smell it so I knew to stop. Lucky I didn't have one or both of my toddler grandchildren in the back seat in their car seats! I would never have been able to get them out in time!

NHTSA ODI 11548405