IllustrationDRIVER'S SHOULDER BELT DOES NOT PROPERLY RETURN INTO RETRACTING MECHANISM, CAUSING THE SEAT BELT TO BECOME INOPERABLE, CAUSE UNKNOWN. PLEASE GIVE ANY FURTHER DETAILS. *AK
1996 Ford Escort
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Escort years
Owner complaints for the 1996 Ford Escort are substantially higher than the model-year median of 101.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Escort years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 21 of 205 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
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.
- Seat Belts. Review the 77 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 30 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Power Train. Review the 19 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
23 crash reports7 fire reports18 injury reports
What owners actually said
205 reportsCOIL SPRING BROKE, CAUSING THE BACK IN OF THE CAR TO SAG. THIS COULD CAUSE THE TIRES TO GO FLAT. DEALER HAD TO REPLACE COIL SPRING. *AK *ML
IN FEBRUARY OF 1999 STARTED NOTICING A CLICKING SOUND FROM THE SPEEDOMETER. PROBLEM PERSISTED AND NOISE STARTED BECOMING A GRIND. TOOK IN FOR SERVICE MARCH 1999 WITH MILEAGE AT 37962. REPLACED SPEEDOMETER CABLE. NOISE STOPPED AND THEN SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE STARTED AGAIN TO ACT ERRATICALLY. *AK
DRIVERS SIDE SHOULDER BELT MOTOR IS STUCK MIDWAY. THIS WILL NOT ALLOW THE BELT TO PROPERLY RESTRAIN A PASSENGER. 3FASP11J8T. *AK *ML
I STARTED UP THE VEHICLE AND THE RETRACTABLE SEAT BELT STOPPED HALF-WAY THROUGH ITS NORMAL TRACK. THE MOTOR IS AUDIBLE, HOWEVER, THE BELT CONTINUES TO STAY STATIONARY HALF-WAY THROUGH ITS TRACK. THE MOTOR IS CONSTANTLY "MAKING AN ATTEMPT" TO MOVE THE SEAT BELT THROUGH THE REST OF ITS TRACK, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE SEAT BELT LIGH…
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I STARTED UP THE VEHICLE AND THE RETRACTABLE SEAT BELT STOPPED HALF-WAY THROUGH ITS NORMAL TRACK. THE MOTOR IS AUDIBLE, HOWEVER, THE BELT CONTINUES TO STAY STATIONARY HALF-WAY THROUGH ITS TRACK. THE MOTOR IS CONSTANTLY "MAKING AN ATTEMPT" TO MOVE THE SEAT BELT THROUGH THE REST OF ITS TRACK, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE SEAT BELT LIGHT IS ON ALSO. *AK
BOTH REAR RETRACTOR BELTS WERE TWISTED ACROSS BODY, AND WAS UNABLE TO STRAIGHTEN THEM OUT. BELIEVED THIS PROBLEM WAS DUE TO PARTS INSTALLED BACKWARD. DEALER NOTIFIED, AND REFUSED TO REPAIR UNLESS COST GOES TO CONSUMER.*AK *ML
AS SOON AS CONSUMER TURNED ON ENGINE AIR BAG LIGHT WILL CAME ON, AND STAYED ON DASHBOARD UNTIL SHE TURNED OFF THE ENGINE. DEALER HAD TOLD CONSUMER THAT THE CAUSE WAS A SIGNAL CODE FOR THE AIR BAG. DEALER REPLACED WIRING HARNESS ANS SENSOR BUT PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. *AK *ML
THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION IN THE ENGINE, ROUGHLY WORK OF THE ENGINE 5 TO 10 SECONDS WITH METAL SOUNDS IN THE ENGINE, THEN THE ENGINE COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. FOUND THE 3RD CODE, 2ND CODE (A/C HI-PRESSURE SWITCH INTERMITENT-DIRTY CONNECTOR). *AK
BOTH THE DRIVER'S SIDE AND PASSENGER'S SIDE MOTOR SEAT BELTS STOPPED WORKING. DRIVER'S SIDE MOTOR STOPPED MOVING. THE SEATBELT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRACK. SOMETIMES I GET HIT IN THE HEAD WHEN I GET OUT. THE TOOL THAT CAME WITH THE CAR TO MANUALLY MOVE THE SEAT BELT DOES NOT WORK. LUCKILY, THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT BELT MOTOR …
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BOTH THE DRIVER'S SIDE AND PASSENGER'S SIDE MOTOR SEAT BELTS STOPPED WORKING. DRIVER'S SIDE MOTOR STOPPED MOVING. THE SEATBELT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRACK. SOMETIMES I GET HIT IN THE HEAD WHEN I GET OUT. THE TOOL THAT CAME WITH THE CAR TO MANUALLY MOVE THE SEAT BELT DOES NOT WORK. LUCKILY, THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT BELT MOTOR STOPPED WHEN IT WAS IN THE NORMAL POSITION. WHEN GOING FASTER THAN 45 MPH THE SPEEDOMETER JUMPS TO 70 MPH OR FASTER AND MAKES A WEIRD NOISE. *AK
FIRST HEARD A EXPLOSION IN THE ENGINE, AFTER THET THE ENGINE RAN ROUGH 5-10 SEC AND SHUTDOWN. PERFORMED THE COMPRESSION TEST AND FOUND CYLENDER 4 COMPRESSION AT 0(ZERO) AND 30% LEAKED. REPLACED THE ENGINE WITH A NEW ONE. PROBLEMS REPETED WITH THE NEW ENGINE TWO TIMES( ONE TIME IN THE TOWN ROAD AND ANATHER TIME ON THE HIGHWAY)…
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FIRST HEARD A EXPLOSION IN THE ENGINE, AFTER THET THE ENGINE RAN ROUGH 5-10 SEC AND SHUTDOWN. PERFORMED THE COMPRESSION TEST AND FOUND CYLENDER 4 COMPRESSION AT 0(ZERO) AND 30% LEAKED. REPLACED THE ENGINE WITH A NEW ONE. PROBLEMS REPETED WITH THE NEW ENGINE TWO TIMES( ONE TIME IN THE TOWN ROAD AND ANATHER TIME ON THE HIGHWAY). BOTH TIMES THE ENGINE WAS SHUTDOWN. *AK
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
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
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.