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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Doors are breaking off of car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that overtime she became aware that there was a sharp piece on the transmission dial, causing cuts on her fingers while turning the dial. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 37,000 |
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Door Hinge on drivers side door is broken. Making loud popping noises and now cannot roll my window down. Door changes plane when opening or closing and pops loudly. Afraid it is going to fall off | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the message "All Wheel Drive Fault" was displayed, and the vehicle only operated in 2WD. The contact was concerned that during winter weather the vehicle was unsafe to drive in 2WD only. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and was diagnosed with AWD module failure. The contact was informed that the AWD module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 50,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 50,000 |
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I have a door bracket that has broke. I contacted my Ford Dealer in early September roughly. A door was supposedly ordered. I still have not received a replacement door. I've been in contact with other Ford Escape owners in the same situation. Many go back to August and further back. Ford has not issued any ETA on when our door replacements will be delivered. All contact with my Ford dealer has resulted in "your door is on order, we don't know when it'll arrive". I addition to having a hard to open/close door, I also cannot fully open my drivers window. If I lower the window, it will hit the unsecured bracket that is flopping around inside the door. I'm concerned if I should lower the window, it'll break it. This is a part of this issue. [XXX] Ford has been dragging their feet on issue doors to customers in a timely manner. And yet Ford is continuing to manufacture new Ford Escapes with updated doors. Obviously not allocating any of the doors to repair the broken customer doors. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated the vehicle failed to start as intended. The contact waited for a while to restart the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was driven to O'Reilly's to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with an undisclosed emission code. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 106,000 |
| Mar 2025 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was idling rough, accelerated rough, and started rough. The check engine warning light was occasionally illuminated. The vehicle was taken to two different local independent mechanics where the vehicle was scanned for an emission valve failure. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had spoken with the Manufacturer recall service representative where it was diagnosed with a fuel injection failure, that would be repaired by the manufacturer; however, the vehicle would not be repaired for an emissions valve failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 65,000 |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | My car wasn’t producing heat it was only blowing cold air. Dealership advised of no coolant and it’s a known issue with this car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | When riding down the road once the car heats up it jerks like it's going to cut off going down the road and you can smell has it has just recently started doing this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | First Ford had issues a Customer Satisfaction Program 21B19 was issued to all Ford dealers on April 9, 2021. Then they put out a TSB 23-2061 which my vehicle is part of but says it is not covered under warranty. There are MANY 2020 FORD ESCAPES with this issue. Seems to be just gas vehicles 1.5 and 2.0l engines. My vehicle was not covered along with many other vehicles. Then they even put out a The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the messages "Hill Start Assist Not Available", "Pre-Collision Assist Not Available", "Service Advance-trac" and "Service All Wheel Drive" remained displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the All-Wheel Drive module was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | AWD module fault. $2200 repair. Reading online many 2020 ford escape are having this issue of the part failing. Most are still under warrenty when it goes but in my case I wasn't. This part should he investigated because there shouldn't be this many reports of the part malfunctioning without a recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I had first took car to get first free Oil change from ABC Nissan and the service department couldn’t do it under 5000 miles and just topped of the oil. I had went back like few days later for an air filter replacement and they did not have to part and sent me over to ford right across the street. I had ford dealership run a code diagnostics on vehicle and found it needs computer updates and an expensive purge valve after having car for a couple days and hit me with a hefty price estimate I could not or NPP car warranty from ABC Nissan couldn’t cover for engine repairs since it wasn’t an engine issue but can affect the engine. I had went back into abc Nissan recently for a possible trade in and just got the run around from manager that help sold me the car and seem it was a waste of time putting almost 7500 for the car down payment plus 518 a month for car payments to be cheated when car start to have issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | We had the car brand new and transmission with two weeks wouldn’t go in reverse. Then the door was stuck OPEN and we shut it now we can roll the window down FORD says we’re not covered it’s a new door! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I have been notifying the ford dealership about a problem that i feel is due to faulty fuel injectors since I bought the vehicle back in 2021, all of the repairs that have been done and that they have told me to do have not resolved the issue I keep getting the runaround, the vehicle sometimes while on the highway will automatically enter safe mode and i get a notice of an issue with the high pressure fuel system which immediately forces the vehicle to lower the speed to am unsafe speed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | STRUCTURE | Faulty welds on door hinges, particularly where the check arm connects. This happened yesterday, loud cracking and grinding noise when the front driver door is opened or closed. Ford has known about this issue and refuses to issue a recall. And getting in touch with my local Ford dealer's service department is difficult. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | AWD module not working was on screen after starting vehicle plus other codes about adaptive cruise control | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving up an incline at various speeds, the turbo failed to operate as needed and the vehicle failed to accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated after the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle had been taken to the dealer on three separate occasions where the turbo was replaced each time only for the failure to return. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 75,800. | Crash: No Fire: No | 75,800 |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The silver base of gear selector is chipping leaving sharp plastic edges causing pain to right thumb and repeated punctures with bleeding when operating the gear selector. Ford dealer and corporate report this repair is not covered under warranty since 3 year/36,000-mile warranty has expired. The issue became known at 4.5 years/ 32,519 miles. Ford previously had a service bulletin to repair the window lever buttons for the same issue at no cost to the owner. This issue is more dangerous because it involves gear selection which may impact safety when operating the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | A rattle developed in the panoramic sunroof. When the shade was retracted it popped loose from the retainers and retracted to the full open position. The piece that covers the joint of the roof glass came out. Due to the inability to close the shade, there is a constant glare while driving in the day light. This issue appears to be common according to my research and quiet expensive for dealership repair. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I had warning lights flashing on my dashboard continuously "parking assist off" "AWD off" "Collison Assist Off" I could not change my car over to snow, ice, or deep snow it all showed not available. This happened 3 or 4 days before I took it back to the dealership. I researched online and found out there were a lot of complaints about the 2020 Ford Escape 2.0 Titanium which is what my car is. I also seen where people were talking about a class action lawsuit due to the low miles on their cars and this happening. My car only has 31,000 miles. I took my car to the shop I had an appointment and they told me the ADM Module was bad. This is the same thing everyone online complained about. This is costing me $1100.00 to replace. I did not have any AWD traction this was useless. I read that someone said the recall should be expanded. Which tells me there was a recall at one point for this problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was difficult to steer in the intended direction, with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with metal debris on the rear brake magnet on the rear brakes. The contact was informed that the debris needed to be removed from the magnet of the rear brakes. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 19,185. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 19,185 |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact was locked outside of the vehicle; however, the key fob was within range. On another occasion, the contact attempted to start the vehicle using the key fob and the manufacturer app however, the vehicle stalled. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the battery was dead and needed to be replaced. The VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V954000 (Electrical System). The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,470. | Crash: No Fire: No | 60,470 |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Awd fault. Module needed replaced | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | STRUCTURE | I reported my 2020 Ford Escape last year. It went into the shop for inspection at Cook ford in Texas City after the ford recall for the doors. I also had reported it here. Kyle at Cook ford did a thorough inspection but advised me that their dealership did not have a paint and body shop and referred me to other dealerships with the ability to fix my car. After going to two dealerships, I ended up at Maik Haik in Pasadena Texas. They said they had two doors in stock and three months later my car was still in the shop and not fixed. They had put me in a rental and said in early December that the rental was not being covered by Ford and they were having to "eat" the expense. So, they returned my car in December with hopes of getting parts for it in the future. It now has been two months and no call from them Now your website says I do not have an open recall on my vin, but it does! My car is still not fixed! I am [XXX] and the windows don't work and the locks also have been effected by the problem with the doors! My [XXX] brother and I got locked out of and In the car several times and I had to use my app to unlock the door or climb in the back to get in! During the time the dealership had my car they wiped off all the history in my app and I am not able to reconstruct the history of my car! Including the recalls! I am very upset! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Receiving multiple errors and Ford determined it is the AWD module that needs to be replaced. However, they say my vehicle is not included in the recall based on vehicle identification number. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |