Complaint volume
1435 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2020 Ford Escape Complaints
1435 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Ford Escape, grouped by component category.
1435 Total complaints
19 Crash reports
3 Fire reports
22 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are structure, unknown or other, power train. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 19 crash reports, 3 fire reports, 22 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 305 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 45,215 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to structure, unknown or other, power train?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Ford Escape?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2020 Ford Escape
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Ford Escape complaints?
19 Crash
3 Fire
22 Injury
0 Fatality
30 Towed
9 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Ford Escape complaint categories?
STRUCTURE 503
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 187
POWER TRAIN 110
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 80
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 38
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 34
ENGINE 30
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 26
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 18
VISIBILITY/WIPER 18
1,435 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | STRUCTURE | Rear left window unable to go up or down. Ended up taking inside of door apart, putting it back on track and continue to go off track | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The exhaust gas cooler (EGR) leaked coolant into the intake manifold and mixed with oil causing the engine over-temperature light to come on, a burning smell from the engine bay, loss of power while driving and while smoke to billow from the exhaust. I had my escape towed to the Ford dealership and their mechanic installed a new K2GZ 9F464-B EGR cooler, bled and filled the anti-freeze, drained the contaminated oil and installed a new oil filter and oil. Total cost of repairs was $1100.52 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact called on behalf of the owner of a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light and multiple warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and found metal shavings inside the transmission, with a burn odor coming from the transmission. The contact's daughter was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure persisted, and the vehicle remained at the residence unrepaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 100,000 |
| Aug 2025 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that occasionally the vehicle was difficult to start or was idling roughly at start-up. The contact stated that while driving on a neighborhood road at various speeds and attempting to make a turn, the vehicle lost automotive power and shut shutoff. The contact stated that the electrical components remained operational. The message “Service Vehicle Soon” was displayed, and the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 95,000 |
| Aug 2025 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V467000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable timeframe for the recall repair. The contact stated that there was fuel underneath the vehicle. While inspecting the vehicle, the contact became aware of a fuel leak on top of the engine. The contact stated that the fuel injectors were leaking, and the vehicle was not safe to drive. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the fuel injectors had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer confirmed that the part was not yet available for the recall repair, and was unable to confirm when parts would be available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 15,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,000 |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | All the TPMS sensors have had to be replaced on the Escape with under 51K miles on them. The Ford Dealer admitted this is a serious Safety issue and have had numerous complaints. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | My key fob stopped working due to BCM not being able to communicate. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the driver’s side front door made a popping sound whenever the door was left in certain positions while open. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic, who diagnosed a possible issue with the welding. The vehicle was taken to a body shop, which inspected the door and diagnosed that the spot welds had fractured on the door check hinge. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 70,000 |
| Aug 2025 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that since owning the vehicle, the front driver’s side door was replaced by the dealer after the door failed to open. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving 25 MPH and attempting to make a left turn, the vehicle failed to respond as intended, continued driving straightforward and nearly drove off the road into a wooded area. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where a wheel alignment was performed. Additionally, the contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V467000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated and related the warning light to the recall. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the purge valve had failed, and the purge valve was replaced. The contact was also informed that the fuel injectors were in good condition, and that the vehicle was safe to drive. The recall repair was not performed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 69,527. | Crash: No Fire: No | 69,527 |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | A module is causing communication issues in the car between its and the key fob causing the car not to be able to start at all. It has been at the Ford dealer [XXX] for over a month now and they are unable to remedy the situation. They claim they can’t update the software or can’t find out what’s wrong with the car. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid experiences complete electrical failure - battery saving mode followed by total power loss. Ford has published Technical Service Bulletins SSM 49990 (NHTSA ID: MC-10199655-0001) and SSM 49574 (NHTSA ID: MC-10187983-0001) addressing this exact issue through ABS module programming. However, both my local Ford dealership and Ford Customer Service claim these documented TSBs do not exist in their systems. This appears to be systematic denial of safety-related warranty repairs for a known defect. According to my research, some of Ford owners could receive a 8 year Hybrid component warranty through these TSBs. It seems to be a typical pattern for Ford to avoid warranty procedures by denying TSBs. I have records of the calls. I cannnot upload it from this page | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STRUCTURE,VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and opening the sunroof, the interior sunshade was opened, but the sunshade failed to close as intended and remained stuck open. The vehicle was diagnosed by a Ford mechanic, who informed the contact that the sunshade sealant had deteriorated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 24,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 24,000 |
| Aug 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | obd communication with emissions and state safety inspection. Ford knows -- will not fix under recall | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | All kinds of warning lights come in and stay on, which a lot of people are having the same issue which is due to a faulty sensor module.. I almost hit a truck who pulled out of a parking lot once I was on top of him ( was trucks fault) and no warning lights were functioning properly. There's also a recall for a fuel injector issue that ford is taking their sweet time to remedy, but technically I'm driving a time bomb that st any moment this fuel injection issue could crack and leak and cause a fire. And I'm not about to lose my life because of it. I've contacted ford for a lemon law buyback and they are taking their sweet time in that. No warning lights are functioning properly causing a danger for me to drive it. But I have to have a reliable care to get to dr appts and to shop for groceries. Something has got to be done about this. And further more when I purchased this car used I questioned the salesperson at the used car lot about this recall paper that was in the glove compartment about the recall on the fuel injection. He told me it was nothing. Bull!!! Why have that paper in the car if there wasn't a recall for the fuel injection when I bought it back in July 2023. No dealership should have the right to sell any car with a recall already in place. I want to sue the used car dealership for selling me this lemon. The car dealership was key auto of Somersworth nh but now they have a new place in Rochester nh...they should be held accountable for selling me the vehicle with a recall already in place. Ford said recall didn't go into effect till 2025, but why have a document in the car about it when I purchased car in 2023. Makes no sense. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The sunroof trim fell down while I was driving. This caused the sunshade to retract completely. It is available for inspection upon request. The safety concern is that this was startling to the driver and caused me to swerve. Luckily there were not any other cars around. If I had a passenger in the back seat, they could have been harmed. The problem was reported to the dealer where I bought the car and also to another dealer where I had some recall work done. I also did a live chat with someone from Ford within in the Ford app. I was told this is not covered under warranty and if I needed to have it looked at, I would have to the diagnosis fee. There were no warning lights or other indicators that this piece of plastic trim was going to fall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | AWD FAULT, PRE-COLLISION ASSIST AND HILL START ASSIST WARNINGS DISPLAYING IN CLUSTER. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Driving from Michigan to Missouri [XXX] and the wipers stopped working once we got to Missouri. Called Ford dealership in Springfield and they could not fit us in their schedule, so we took it to a Goodyear certified service center and they said it was the wiper motor. we fixed and eventually drove back to Michigan. About1 week later, the windshield wipers again, stopped working, I called the shop in Springfield and they told me to take it to a shop in Westland Michigan (Redford Auto/Goodyear Certified) because the part was under warranty. I did that, they replaced the part (motor). Now a year later and my wipers are not working again. They stop midstream and get stuck. They are inoperable again. Never in my lifetime of driving (I am [XXX] ) have I ever repaired a wiper motor, let alone 2 x and the problem is still not fixed. I do believe this is faulty by manufacturer and needs to be looked into. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Car was jerking during acceleration. RPM needle was bouncing while accelerating. It felt like there was a loss of power. Brought it to a Ford Dealership and they were unable to find a problem directly related to this issue. They took care of other problems such as the fuel sensor. Brought it to a transmission specialist and they said the torque converter was bad and need to be replaced. Car has 89k miles on it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Transmission selector is poking my fingers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | ENGINE | Well there is a recall for fuel injection that could cause a fire under the hood and ford has no parts and info to fix it right now. So basically I am driving a time bomb. How safe is that???? I either get my money back for purchasing this car or I will sue ford company. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Shortly after having new tires installed at the dealership the following warnings displayed: AWD Fault Service Required, Hill Start Assist, Pre-Collision and Traccontrol. Mileage was around 10,700, June 2025. Dealer unable to look at until July 2025. Advised that the RDU motor needed replacement. Replacement was completed 7/23/25. The vehicle was 5 months past the Powertrain warranty. So out of pocket was over $1,900. Given the low mileage on the vehicle it seems that this should not have happened. Research here and other websites indicate this is a known issue. The dealer indicated the same. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | I have a recall been having this problem for months told them what was going on they said nothing was wrong. Months later recall got called for the fuel injector and replacement of high fuel injectors im a single mother. Check engine came on when I gas it..it won't go or goes slowly then takes off into gear | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Power Train Fault Indicator came on indicating that the Turbo Charger was in an underboost condition. This caused the vehicle to lose power on the highway which could have placed my family in a unsafe condition. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Warning lights coming on and staying on unless I press ok on steering wheel. Warning lights are: pre-collision assist not available, and fault service required, and off, and traction light comes on and stays on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Component: Powertrain / Transmission Vehicle: 2020 Ford Escape Mileage at failure: 53,500 Transmission began violently jerking, hesitating, and mis-shifting around 53,000 miles. Brought to Ford of Sunnyvale on May 2, 2025 where the dealership diagnosed complete transmission failure. Instead of replacing, they installed a software update that masked the problem for a few weeks before it returned worse. Vehicle is now unsafe to drive — surging, delayed shifting, unpredictable acceleration — especially dangerous for highway merging or family use. This is a known issue with Ford’s 8F35 transmission. Ford TSB 22-2281 documents widespread failures and need for planetary gear replacement. What’s more concerning is that this failure occurred within what should have been the 5-year/60k powertrain warranty. Ford denied full coverage based on a hidden warranty start date from demo use. I was never informed at lease that the warranty had started 6 months earlier. My wife drives our two small children in this car, and it is now unsafe and undrivable. Ford should be held accountable not only for the mechanical failure, but for masking the problem and compromising customer safety. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |