Complaint volume
88 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
2023 Ford Escape Complaints
88 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Ford Escape, grouped by component category.
88 Total complaints
2 Crash reports
3 Fire reports
1 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 electrical system, engine, 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 2 crash reports, 3 fire reports, 1 injury report, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 23 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 27,963 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to electrical system, engine, 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 2023 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.
2023 Ford Escape
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2023 Ford Escape complaints?
2 Crash
3 Fire
1 Injury
0 Fatality
4 Towed
0 Medical attention
What are the most common 2023 Ford Escape complaint categories?
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16
ENGINE 11
POWER TRAIN 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 4
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3
BACK OVER PREVENTION 2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 2
88 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I purchased a Ford Escape 2023 in Green Bay, Wisconsin on [XXX] from Dorsch Ford Dealership. On October 7, 2023 I tried to start my vehicle and the battery was drained/dead. This continued through January of 2024, and I received a new battery. I thought the problem was fixed. Not so, and it has continued throughout the past two years. My vehicle will go into Deep Sleep Mode at different times of the day. I have to drive it to regenerate the battery. At times I do not even have lights when I start the Ford Escape. I have taken it to a Ford Dealership in Appleton. I am suppose to go again on March 25, 2025 and it will be my tenth time. The service person stated why should I even come because they can not find the problem. There is a parasitic draw and it needs to be found, or the battery is not operating properly, and needs to be replaced. I am a school teacher, and I thought I was buying a safe and reliable car. This is not the case. I have over 100 pages of documentation. I have filed complaints with Ford and with the State of Wisconsin Lemon Law to no avail. Also, I am close to warranty and then I will have to pay out of pocket. The Ford Motor Company is violating the consumer laws and not following their obligation to make repairs on my car. This is similar to the Bronco/Maverick battery issue. Something more electrical is happening under the hood. The service people I have dealt with even stated that I don't drive the car regularly. I have to now get up at 4am to get the battery charged. I can not access the added features such as remote start. I paid for something I didn't receive! Plus, what happens when I am driving and the vehicle decides to have a major malfunction? This is wrong on all levels. Please look into this matter immediately. I have had one recall concerning the door locks which were repaired last summer. I am worried and nervous to continue driving the Ford Escape 2023 because of its battery. [XXX] 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,LANE DEPARTURE | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the "Blind Spot Detection System Fault" message was displayed. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the trailer tow wiring harness (Part Number: LX6Z-15A416-B). The contact was informed that the wiring harness was damaged by the heat shield. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 9,000 |
| Feb 2025 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to close the front driver’s side door; however, the door failed to close securely. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 30,000 |
| Jan 2025 | VISIBILITY,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the front driver's door window would not completely roll up and close. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the front driver's side door window motor, and the vehicle was repaired but failure reoccurred. Additionally, while operating the vehicle, the message "Front Collision Camera Inoperable" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, but failure code could not be retrieved, and the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failures, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 13,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 13,000 |
| Jan 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the back-over prevention camera screen went to a blue screen. The contact stated that while driving, the camera turned on and the image was shown. The camera was unavailable, and a message to contact the dealer was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the camera needed to be reset and the software updated. The vehicle was test-driven. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 10,668. | Crash: No Fire: No | 10,668 |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | 8,000 |
| Nov 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | 5,000 |
| Aug 2024 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle suddenly decelerated after the engine overheated and shifted into "LIMP Mode". The contact stated that during the failure, the message "Engine Overheated" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine was faulty and needed to be replaced. No further information was available. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted regarding the failure. The failure mileage was 4,200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 4,200 |
| Aug 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | At any random time, all sensors fail. Blind spot systems, parking sensors, pre-collision assist, front camera fault, cross traffic system, cruise control, lane assist, auto headlights. Returned to the dealership multiple times, with no resolution. All sensors continue to fail, with no immediate fix available, according to Ford, until the fourth quarter. So, I am left with an unrepairable vehicle to drive in the already dangerous central Texas traffic. The problem has been confirmed at Leif Johnson Ford, 501 E. Koenig, Austin, Tx 78751. Main #512-454-3711, Service #512-454-3767, and reported to Ford Care at 800-392-3673 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | ENGINE | I was driving home to Aspen, CO from Denver. I was about 44 miles from my home, on the other side of an 11,000 ft mountain pass. As I was passing another vehicle, the car died. The dashboard light said "engine coolant over temperature". The car died as I was pulling back into the right lane. The person behind me swerved around me. I had to have the car towed to a dealer that is 2 1/2 hours from my home. It's been sitting at the Ford Dealership in Salida, CO for 9 days. They keep telling me they will get it in to diagnose the problem but every day it's the same story and they do nothing. After doing online research, that make, model and year vehicle engine issue has been reported by many owners. There was no warning about this issue. It simply died while driving on the highway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | STRUCTURE,ENGINE | I've had this thing less than 6 months, I've already had the engine rebuilt with 34 parts a month and a half in and the drivers side rear door handle replaced during this time because it would not open from the outside and only the inside despite being unlocked. All of this occurred at the beginning of May 2024 and it sat for 3 months due to the engine being basically rebuilt with most parts being on backorder. Today the same door is having the same issue, only this time the same exact door won't open neither from the inside or outside, which is a huge safety hazard in my eyes if I got into an accident and had passengers in the backseat. I do have video proof of this too. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | 4,000 |
| Jul 2024 | POWER TRAIN | a 2023 Ford Escape. while driving at approximately 76 MPH, I observed a warning chime dinging, the power train warning light illuminated, and the low engine coolant message was displayed. I received a notification via the Ford Pass APP stating that "There was a failure with the vehicle and to see the dealer'. I contacted the dealer, and they stated they did not see any warnings. Anytime I exceeded a certain rate of speed it still does this. The first time it happened, it had less than 800 miles on it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN | HAD A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COME ON 2 WEEKS AGO. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPROGRAMMED THE PCM AND INSPECTED CYLINDER BORES. DEALER ALSO CHANGED THE OIL AT THAT TIME. SHORTLY AFTER THAT THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN, TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER THEY'VE HAD SINCE LAST FRIDAY AND NOW REPORT THE VEHICLE MAY NEED A REPLACEMENT ENGINE BLOCK. VEHICLE HAS 10,565 MILES AND IS JUST 13 MONTHS OLD. I HAVE RESEARCHED AND FOUND MANY OTHER SIMILAR INSTANCES ON THE INTERNET. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at approximately 50 MPH, he observed a warning chime dinging, the power train warning light illuminated, and the 'low engine coolant' message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The contact's wife received a notification via the Ford Pass APP stating that “There was a failure with the vehicle and to see the dealer”. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine and head gasket needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 3,900. | Crash: No Fire: No | 3,900 |
| May 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | ENGINE | Upon reaching 60 mph my vehicle displayed overheating messages and cut power to the motor. Vehicle was towed into Ford service on 4/4/24 and remains in the shop. Been told it needs a new top end of the motor with no eta on parts. I was approximately one mile from my home when the incident occurred. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | See attached document for complaint | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | STRUCTURE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact rented a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at about 20 MPH and driving over a railroad track, the hood of the vehicle opened abruptly and struck the windshield. The contact lost visibility and went through an intersection before coming to a complete stop. The contact made the rental company aware and was informed that they could not diagnose the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | ENGINE | The car warned of overheating and messaged to service immediately... | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | See attached document for complaint | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | ENGINE | Within a block of my wife pulling out of our apartment complex onto a 55mph highway to travel to work in the morning, the vehicle had several lights on the cluster illuminate and indicated that it was overheating and went into limp mode. She was able to move to the shoulder and call me. The amount of traffic on this highway and the speed in which she lost power made this a very unsafe event. The check engine light had come on and the vehicle indicated maximum engine temperature, service engine soon light illuminated as well as powertrain fault. The vehicle was towed to the selling Ford Dealer and the condition was confirmed and the vehicle still indicated high temp even after sitting overnight. It was diagnosed from a service bulletin as having a faulty head that had manufacturing debris in it which was released into the coolant system and blocked the coolant temperature sensor. Warranty covered parts have been ordered with some being on Backorder. The vehicle is still in the shop awaiting parts and we have been provided a loaner. We have only owned the vehicle three months and 1500 miles when this occurred. Ford declined a buyback request on the vehicle and offered no remedy except warranty repair. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving with the cruise control set to 45 MPH, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated to 65 MPH. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was unknown. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |