NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
598 reports140,000 miles · Jan 27, 2022
Steering
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. While his wife was driving and making a left turn, the power steering suddenly failed, and the steering wheel would not turn in either direction, causing the vehicle to nearly crash into a telephone pole. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The cause of the…
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The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. While his wife was driving and making a left turn, the power steering suddenly failed, and the steering wheel would not turn in either direction, causing the vehicle to nearly crash into a telephone pole. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 140,000.
NHTSA ODI #11449069
125,000 miles · Dec 22, 2021
Steering
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while approaching a stop sign to make a right turn, the steering wheel seized. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated she restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving. The contact stated that she experienced the failure once a mont…
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The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while approaching a stop sign to make a right turn, the steering wheel seized. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated she restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving. The contact stated that she experienced the failure once a month since 9/1/2021. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.
NHTSA ODI #11444729
85,000 miles · Dec 21, 2021
Engine
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would inadvertently stall. The contact stated that the check warning light would illuminate. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing throttle body link replaced but the vehicle was not repair…
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The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would inadvertently stall. The contact stated that the check warning light would illuminate. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing throttle body link replaced but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
NHTSA ODI #11444570
Mileage unknown · Dec 20, 2021
Steering
My son was driving my 2012 Escape. While entering the Highway the steering became very stiff while making a left had turn. It felt like there was no power steering. the vehicle is at 135,970 miles. I was able to drive it to my parents and take another vehicle to work. Upon returning to the vehicle that evening the and start…
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My son was driving my 2012 Escape. While entering the Highway the steering became very stiff while making a left had turn. It felt like there was no power steering. the vehicle is at 135,970 miles. I was able to drive it to my parents and take another vehicle to work. Upon returning to the vehicle that evening the and starting it up, the steering had returned to normal. I looked online and saw that this is a common occurrence with the 2012 Escapes and that there was a recall for this for he 2011 Escapes.
NHTSA ODI #11444503
Mileage unknown · Dec 9, 2021
Steering
DRIVING CAR AND ALL OF A SUDDEN STEERING LOCKS UP, I PULLED OVER SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF AND LOOKED UNDERNEATH TO SEE IF POWER STEERING FLUID LEAKED OUT, FOUND NO VISIBLE EVIDENCE OF A LEAK , GOT BACK IN VEHICLE AND STARTED IT AND STEERING WAS FINE AGAIN, THAT WAS ABOUT A WEEK AGO, THIS MORNING I'M DRIVING TO WORK AND SAME THING HA…
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DRIVING CAR AND ALL OF A SUDDEN STEERING LOCKS UP, I PULLED OVER SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF AND LOOKED UNDERNEATH TO SEE IF POWER STEERING FLUID LEAKED OUT, FOUND NO VISIBLE EVIDENCE OF A LEAK , GOT BACK IN VEHICLE AND STARTED IT AND STEERING WAS FINE AGAIN, THAT WAS ABOUT A WEEK AGO, THIS MORNING I'M DRIVING TO WORK AND SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN. WHEN I GET TO WORK I GO ONLINE AND NOTICE THAT THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO A LOT OF 2012 FORD ESCAPE OWNERS AND THAT THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THOSE VEHICLES MADE IN 2008 TO 2011 AND ASSEMBLED IN KANSAS CITY JUST LIKE MINE WAS. I CALLED FORD AND THEY TOLD THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY VEHICLE. THERE ARE NO FAULT CODES OR CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS COMING ON.
NHTSA ODI #11443252
Mileage unknown · Dec 4, 2021
Steering
Operator of vehicle will be driving on the roadway, suddenly without warning, steering system locks up. Operator has to forcefully pull vehicle to the side of the roadway. completely shut off the vehicle, wait for a short period and restart the vehicle. This lockup may occur several times during a trip. Vehicle has been repaired…
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Operator of vehicle will be driving on the roadway, suddenly without warning, steering system locks up. Operator has to forcefully pull vehicle to the side of the roadway. completely shut off the vehicle, wait for a short period and restart the vehicle. This lockup may occur several times during a trip. Vehicle has been repaired. The Steering shaft torque sensor had to be replaced. The steering lockup has been occurring over a period of a year. There appeared to be no pattern in the frequency of occurrences.
NHTSA ODI #11442694
Mileage unknown · Dec 3, 2021
Exterior LightingPower TrainSteering
My car was accelerating slowly and making rough sound. The power steering goes out too often without any warning
NHTSA ODI #11442596
Mileage unknown · Dec 2, 2021
Unknown Or Other
4 times soon after starting car my steering wheel locked up. Had to stop car,shut off, restart and then steering was fine. If this happened while i was further along this could have caused an accident. Will be setting up appointment when i get my next job schedule so i know when to bring it in. I had a rubbing noise in the steer…
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4 times soon after starting car my steering wheel locked up. Had to stop car,shut off, restart and then steering was fine. If this happened while i was further along this could have caused an accident. Will be setting up appointment when i get my next job schedule so i know when to bring it in. I had a rubbing noise in the steering when i turned left about a month ago had brought it in, but they heard nothing and found nothing. Vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer insurance etc. Did pass MA state inspection this summer. No warning lights, messages etc. This first happened after i accidently leaned on my pocketbook with my keys in it and the remote start turned my car on. I went to go out to my car, realized it was running( i never use this feature)put my key in and drove off. As i went to go out of my street steering wheel locked up. Shut off car, restarted and sthen steering was fine.Happened beginning of Nov.2021
NHTSA ODI #11442407
Mileage unknown · Dec 1, 2021
Steering
My power steering gave out while driving. Fortunately, I was going at a low speed. I researched recalls on the 2012 Ford Escape and found recalls for this same problem were only on Ford Escapes up to 2011.
NHTSA ODI #11442237
64,500 miles · Nov 12, 2021
Unknown Or Other
The contact's mother owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while her mother was at a standstill at a stop sign, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to park on the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The driver towed the vehicle to…
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The contact's mother owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while her mother was at a standstill at a stop sign, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to park on the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The driver towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering column to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 64,500.
NHTSA ODI #11440187
NHTSA investigations
2PE13003 · Electronic Throttle Body Malfunction
Opened Feb 21, 2013 · Closed Feb 28, 2014
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine
On February 21, 2013, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE13-003 to investigate allegations of electronic throttle body (ETB) failures resulting in sudden reduction of engine power in model year (MY) 2009-2013 Ford Escape, Fusion, Mariner and Milan vehicles. During this investigation, Ford identified a condition in subject vehicles equipped with 2.5L and 3.0L engines that may result in a sudden reduction of engine power.According to Ford, the ETB internal motor contacts may develop a high resistance material buildup condition on the commutator, resulting in intermittent electrical connectivity and reduced engine power. When this condition occurs, the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) or Wrench light will illuminate and the vehicle may enter a limited limp home mode.Ford?s trade name for the feature is Failure Mode Effects Management (FMEM) mode.In this mode, engine power and vehicle speed are reduced, while full function of the power steering, power braking, lighting, and climate control systems are maintained.ODI?s complaint analysis indicate that the predominant failure mode involved reduced motive power associated with the limited limp home mode with engine speeds limited to approximately 900 RPM. Analysis of warranty claims provided by Ford identified 59,807 claims related to ETB replacements and approximately 50 percent of claims are associated with diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) P2111, Throttle Body Stuck Open, and P2112, Throttle Body Stuck Closed.Ford described several factors where the ETB motor may fail resulting in DTCs P2111 or P2112 but the failure is not an existing stuck open or closed ETB valve position.According to Ford, the ETB control strategy provides the driver with three FMEM modes that allow varying degrees of vehicle mobility depending on the severity of the fault detected.DTCs associated with stuck open or closed throttle valves are designated the highest failure severity resulting in engine speeds limited to high idle corresponding to the limited limp home mode.Vehicles are not likely to unexpectedly stall as a result of this condition, but drivers may characterize the reduced functionality as a stall, even though their vehicle may still has motive capability.Other FMEM limp modes may result in reduced engine performance but will maintain vehicle speed above 20mph. During this investigation, Ford and its suppliers, Delphi and Igarashi, updated the powertrain control module (PCM) software to include a throttle body motor cleaning cycle during key-on and modified the ETB internal motor components design, surface finish and material composition to improve durability. Additionally, Ford developed a remedy procedure and issued a special Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP) 13N03 extending the ETB warranty coverage and instructing dealers to update the powertrain calibration to improve vehicle performance in the event that intermittent electrical connectivity of the throttle body motor contacts occurs. The program extends the coverage for up to 10 years of service or 150,000 miles from the warranty start date of the vehicle, all vehicles are eligible for the program through January 31, 2015 regardless of mileage.Owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted by mail to take their vehicle to a Ford dealer who will reprogram the PCM to the latest calibration. The bulletin was sent to dealers on January 17, 2014 and the owner letter mailing began on January 27, 2014. See the investigative file for copies of Ford's bulletin and owner letter. This preliminary evaluation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding that
DP12006 · Electronic Throttle Body Malfunction
Opened Oct 2, 2012 · Closed Feb 21, 2013
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine
In a letter dated August 30, 2012, The North Carolina Consumers Council (NCCC) petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a defect investigation of alleged electronic throttle body failures resulting in engine stall or surge while driving in model year (MY) 2005 through 2012 Ford Escape vehicles. On October 2, 2012 the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Defect Petition DP12-006 to evaluate whether to grant or deny the petition. The petition is hereby granted on certain model years. The NCCC letter cites two complaints of stall while driving in MY 2009 Ford Escape vehicles that were diagnosed as failed throttle bodies with diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) P2111, Throttle Body Stuck Open, and P2112, Throttle Body Stuck Closed. The petitioner indicates that the owners of both vehicles reported experiencing repeated incidents of stalling and engine surging. According to Ford, Escape non-hybrid vehicles are equipped with Electronic Throttle Body (ETB) assemblies beginning with MY 2009. Vehicles manufactured between June 22, 2009 and October 15, 2009 may contain contaminated printed circuit boards (PCB) with plating variations. Plating variations could lead to a lack of continuity in the throttle position sensor circuit where P2111 and/or other DTCs would be generated and stored. Ford and its electronic throttle body supplier, Delphi, modified the PCB manufacturing process and issued a technical service bulletin (TSB) 09-23-5. Vehicles produced after October 15, 2009 incorporated ETBs manufactured with a PCB process that resolved this condition. ODI's analysis identified a total of 123 unique reports indicating allegations of reduced motive power or vehicle stall. Depending on the condition of throttle control system malfunction, a driver may experience varying levels of reduced engine performance associated with three limp home modes. In two limp modes, reduced engine performance may maintain vehicle speeds above 20mph while the third is a limited limp home mode with engine speeds limited to approximately 900 RPM. Allegations of stall appear to be related to the limited limp home mode. Vehicles are not likely to unexpectedly stall as a result of this condition, but drivers may characterize the reduced functionality as a stall, even though their vehicle may still has motive capability. Allegations of vehicle surge appear to be related to limp home mode operation. Complaints alleging surge are most likely related to engine RPM fluctuations at low vehicle speeds or idle as the control system engages to prevent engine stall. In limited limp mode, rough-idle conditions may exist while the control system attempts to modulate engine RPMs once the vehicle reaches a reduced speed to maintain approximately 900 RPM. Separately, ODI received 59 complaints alleging incidents of engine stall while driving in model year (MY) 2010-2011 Ford Fusion vehicles. Approximately 60 percent (36) of the incidents occurred at speeds of 40 miles per hour or more. Eighty percent of complaints (47) were received beginning March 2012 and 14 complaints reported that the throttle body was replaced or DTCs associated with limp home modes. Additionally, Ford issued TSB 10-21-6 addressing DTCs associated with idle speed drops and limited limp home mode. The petition is granted on certain model years.Preliminary Evaluation PE13-003 has been opened to assess the scope, frequency and potential safety consequences associated with the alleged defect.See full copy of the closing resume for this defect petition for list of the VOQs associated with the defect petition analysis.