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2017 Ford Escape

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Escape years

Owner complaints for the 2017 Ford Escape are substantially higher than the model-year median of 996.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

1,155 reports with mileage · 1,522 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 1,564 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 507 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 390 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

39 crash reports15 fire reports38 injury reports

What owners actually said

2,677 reports
Mileage unknown · Oct 4, 2023
Engine

I took my vehicle to the Ford dealership I purchased it from as I started to have white smoke coming from my exhaust on startup. Ford ran the diagnostics to identify that the engine short block is failing, causing coolant intrusion into the cylinder bores. This issue will not notify on the dash of the vehicle and it will eventua…

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I took my vehicle to the Ford dealership I purchased it from as I started to have white smoke coming from my exhaust on startup. Ford ran the diagnostics to identify that the engine short block is failing, causing coolant intrusion into the cylinder bores. This issue will not notify on the dash of the vehicle and it will eventually cause the car to catch on fire. The dealership informed me this is a known issue identified by Ford with the motor. Instead of an official recall, Ford issued a customer service program for 5 months in 2022 to fix the issue if your car was exhibiting this issue but will not fix the issue now as that program has ended. I never received notice of this program and the dealership I purchased my car from did not reach out to me. At the time of the program my car was not experiencing the issue. Now my car is experiencing the issue and Ford will not fix this under my warranty or provide financial assistance for a new engine for an issue that is a manufacturers defect.

NHTSA ODI #11548328

83,290 miles · Oct 4, 2023
Engine

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed with coolant leak into the engine cylinders. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provid…

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The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed with coolant leak into the engine cylinders. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to retain documents regarding the cost of the repair. The failure mileage was approximately 83,290.

NHTSA ODI #11548237

Mileage unknown · Oct 4, 2023
Engine

Engine has a coolant intrusion defect resulting in the need of a complete engine swap. The vehicle is at the shop, but potentially available for inspection. The issue is widely known to be a common defect of the 1.5L ford ecoboost engine. It has already been inspected by the mechanics and an extended warranty inspector from Ver…

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Engine has a coolant intrusion defect resulting in the need of a complete engine swap. The vehicle is at the shop, but potentially available for inspection. The issue is widely known to be a common defect of the 1.5L ford ecoboost engine. It has already been inspected by the mechanics and an extended warranty inspector from Veritas Global. A flashing check engine light came on only at the time of failure, not before. When the failure occurred, engine power was lost in the middle of traffic and the car was vibrating vigorously. The vehicle was pulled off the road and towed to a Ford dealer.

NHTSA ODI #11548125

Mileage unknown · Oct 3, 2023
Engine

On Friday, September 15th, 2023 I was driving an on- ramp to enter a highway. I was driving approximately 40mph, as I was merging onto the hi-way I accelerated and the car lost acceleration. There was a loud bust and the car began to sputter. I was not able to drive over 40mph. I exited the hi-way and as I was came to a stop at …

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On Friday, September 15th, 2023 I was driving an on- ramp to enter a highway. I was driving approximately 40mph, as I was merging onto the hi-way I accelerated and the car lost acceleration. There was a loud bust and the car began to sputter. I was not able to drive over 40mph. I exited the hi-way and as I was came to a stop at a red light, the car began to take on gas fumes. The fumes were so strong I thought the car was going to catch on fire. I pulled into the nearest parking lot and called for roadside assistance. The car was towed to the Ford Dealer and I was told the engine blew and would require a new one. The car only had approximately 56,000 miles. The car is still at the dealer having the new engine installed. This was the second such incident with this car. In January 2023, the car was doing the same thing, but as I was driving the car on the street. I took the car to the Ford Dealer and they replaced valves. At that time the car had under 50,000 miles.

NHTSA ODI #11547916

91,000 miles · Oct 2, 2023
EngineEngine And Engine Cooling

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the engine started to vibrate and misfire. The contact stated that DTC codes: P0302 (Cylinder #2 Misfire) and P0012 (Intake A cam shaft position timing) were retrieved. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the veh…

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The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the engine started to vibrate and misfire. The contact stated that DTC codes: P0302 (Cylinder #2 Misfire) and P0012 (Intake A cam shaft position timing) were retrieved. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and advised that coolant had intruded into the engine block and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact was advised by the dealer that there was a TSB: 19-2346 Coolant Intrusion into The Cylinders (Engine and Engine Cooling) related to the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 91,000.

NHTSA ODI #11547769

Mileage unknown · Oct 1, 2023
Engine

The coolant is leaking into the engine block. This is a no problem with these engines. I may have to replace the engine.

NHTSA ODI #11547631

Mileage unknown · Sep 30, 2023
Engine

No warning lights went off nothing just broke down on the highway. Took it to a shop they said it was a coolant intrusion of the cylinders and that I needed a new engine. Ford knows there's a default on these engines they are doing nothing people are forking out a lot of money to get them fixed. It was built faulty and they know…

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No warning lights went off nothing just broke down on the highway. Took it to a shop they said it was a coolant intrusion of the cylinders and that I needed a new engine. Ford knows there's a default on these engines they are doing nothing people are forking out a lot of money to get them fixed. It was built faulty and they know it.

NHTSA ODI #11547478

Mileage unknown · Sep 29, 2023
Engine

A check engine light code popped up which was for cylinder 1 misfire and caused a safety issue because it was burning coolant and caused the engine to overheat and lock up. Ford service center tore down the engine and confirmed that there was coolant in cylinder 1 and in the oil.

NHTSA ODI #11547244

80,000 miles · Sep 28, 2023
Engine

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that on numerous occasions while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start-up. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The veh…

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The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that on numerous occasions while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start-up. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to a different independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the cylinder block was cracked, and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer nor manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

NHTSA ODI #11547109

Mileage unknown · Sep 28, 2023
Engine

I started to experience a check engine light in my 2017 Ford escape with the 2.0 ecoboost engine with approximately 63000 miles on it in late August. The code for the light was P0303 for a misfire in cylinder 3. I also noticed low coolant that I would have to fill sometimes. The misfire progressively got worse quickly and the sp…

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I started to experience a check engine light in my 2017 Ford escape with the 2.0 ecoboost engine with approximately 63000 miles on it in late August. The code for the light was P0303 for a misfire in cylinder 3. I also noticed low coolant that I would have to fill sometimes. The misfire progressively got worse quickly and the spark plug could not be removed. As outlined in Ford service bulletin 22-2229 this is issue is know to Ford with the fix being a replacement engine due to coolant leaking into the cylinder bores. The vehicle was brought to a Ford dealership where they confirmed that there was a coolant intrusion issue and the fix was to replace the engine for approximately $9,000. The mileage of the vehicle was about 63975 when brought into the dealership in mid September. The 1.5 and 1.6 ecoboost engines have similar issues. Ford has Customer Satisfaction Program 21N12 which replaces the 1.5l ecoboost engine free of cost for the customer if the car is less than 7 years old and has less than 84,000 miles on it. All three engines have similar designs and issues with the coolant intrusion. I was fortunate enough to keep the coolant filled so the engine did not overheat for me but it could have been unsafe if the engine overheated or otherwise failed on the highway.

NHTSA ODI #11547039

Official recalls

4

26V374000 · Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls

Jun 9, 2026

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2017 Escape vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under recall number 16V617. The power-operated windows may exert excessive force when encountering an object, before they automatically reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-Operated Window Systems."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A closing window that does not reverse direction as expected can pinch a driver or passenger before retracting, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will update the power window operating system software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 22, 2026. Owners may contact customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26C29. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on July 6, 2026.

26V011000 · Equipment:electrical:engine Block Heater

Jan 15, 2026

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Focus, 2013-2019 Escape, and 2015-2016 MKC vehicles equipped with a 2.0L engine. The engine block heater may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short circuit when the block heater is plugged in.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An electrical short circuit can increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded plug, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed March 6, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S01. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on January 16, 2026.

22V413000 · Power Train:automatic Transmission:gear Position Indication (prndl); Power Train:shift Linkage/cable/rod

Jun 10, 2022

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2019 Escape, 2013-2018 C-Max, 2013-2016 Fusion, 2013-2021 Transit Connect, and 2015-2018 Edge vehicles. The bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A damaged or missing bushing may prevent the vehicle from shifting into the intended gear, and cause the vehicle to move in an unexpected direction. Additionally, the vehicle may roll after the driver selects the 'Park' position. Either scenario increases the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the under hood shift bushing and add a protective cap over the shift cable bushing, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters, informing owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 1, 2022. Remedy parts are expected to be available in 4th Quarter 2022. Owner notification letters were mailed October 27, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 22S43.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Power Train:shift Linkage/cable/rod

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2019 Escape, 2013-2018 C-Max, 2013-2016 Fusion, 2013-2021 Transit Connect, and 2015-2018 Edge vehicles. The bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach.

Consequence: A damaged or missing bushing may prevent the vehicle from shifting into the intended gear, and cause the vehicle to move in an unexpected direction. Additionally, the vehicle may roll after the driver selects the 'Park' position. Either scenario increases the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the under hood shift bushing and add a protective cap over the shift cable bushing, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters, informing owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 1, 2022. Remedy parts are expected to be available in 4th Quarter 2022. Owner notification letters were mailed October 27, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 22S43.

Power Train:automatic Transmission:gear Position Indication (prndl)

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2019 Escape, 2013-2018 C-Max, 2013-2016 Fusion, 2013-2021 Transit Connect, and 2015-2018 Edge vehicles. The bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach.

Consequence: A damaged or missing bushing may prevent the vehicle from shifting into the intended gear, and cause the vehicle to move in an unexpected direction. Additionally, the vehicle may roll after the driver selects the 'Park' position. Either scenario increases the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the under hood shift bushing and add a protective cap over the shift cable bushing, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters, informing owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 1, 2022. Remedy parts are expected to be available in 4th Quarter 2022. Owner notification letters were mailed October 27, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 22S43.

16V617000 · Electrical System:software; Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls

Aug 24, 2016

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2017 Ford Escape Titanium and SE vehicles manufactured October 5, 2015, to May 12, 2016. The settings for the closing-force of the power-operated windows may allow the windows to close on an object such as a body part and injure it before the windows auto-reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-Operated Window Systems."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If a window closes on a body part, it can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Ford has notified owners, and dealers will update the power window operating system software, free of charge. The recall began on September 6, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C12.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Electrical System:software

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2017 Ford Escape Titanium and SE vehicles manufactured October 5, 2015, to May 12, 2016. The settings for the closing-force of the power-operated windows may allow the windows to close on an object such as a body part and injure it before the windows auto-reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-Operated Window Systems."

Consequence: If a window closes on a body part, it can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Ford has notified owners, and dealers will update the power window operating system software, free of charge. The recall began on September 6, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C12.

Visibility:power Window Devices And Controls

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2017 Ford Escape Titanium and SE vehicles manufactured October 5, 2015, to May 12, 2016. The settings for the closing-force of the power-operated windows may allow the windows to close on an object such as a body part and injure it before the windows auto-reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-Operated Window Systems."

Consequence: If a window closes on a body part, it can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Ford has notified owners, and dealers will update the power window operating system software, free of charge. The recall began on September 6, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C12.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

Go deeper into Ford Escape problems