2016 FORD ESCAPE Complaints

Driving the car with no signs at all, car instantly drops rpm’s and won’t accelerate at a busy intersection. Warning for transmission faulty or engine issues did not come on at all. Car was driving normal and then stopped as clutch started slipping. Confirmed with dealership that transmission is out. The car stopped in traffic.

This wasn’t an accident. Over Christmas weekend, my vehicle’s transmission would no longer shift gears correctly. After being told I was looking at thousands of dollars to repair, I decided to sell it. When I listed it on AutoTrader, I discovered a recall from 2022 FOR EXACTLY THE PART OF MY TRANSMISSION THAT MIGHT BE BROKEN. If Ford was supposed to notify me of this in 2022, they certainly did not. So now here I am with a vehicle that doesn’t move.

While driving home going about 40 mph my Ford Escape lost acceleration and then completely shut off IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! I was able to "limp" it to the side of the street where it would not start at all. I then placed it in reverse (as I was on a hill) to roll it backwards into a neighborhood to get it out of the way of on coming traffic. It was 10 PM at night! I waited for a few minutes and was able to get it to start but not change gears. I was able to get it to my neighborhood with hazards on going barely 10mph. It literally rolled into my driveway where it has been since (November 2023).

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle started and was idling rough, with white smoke coming from the exhaust. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle started to lose motive power. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that coolant had intruded into the cylinders and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure several years ago, and a second engine replacement was needed. The contact researched online and related the failure to the Technical Service Bulletin Number: 19-2139 Coolant Intrusion into the Cylinders (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.

I am the original owner of this vehicle. I bought it brand new in 2016 and had all service done by Ford Dealership. I was told to have transmission flushed and serviced at 80,000 miles which I did. I was never advised to have anything done to the transmission before 80,000 miles. On 12/06/2023 with absolutely zero lights on the dash I went to put the car in reverse and it didn’t move. I had the car towed with 121,000 miles to a transmission shop where it cost $5,121.79 to have the transmission REBUILT! Again never had a check engine, service transmission not a single light or anything on the dash. I know nothing will get done but I have driven cars reach 200,000 miles with zero transmission problems. I see this is clearly a common problem with Fords across the board but it would have been nice to have been told by Ford to service the transmission every 30,000 miles as I have now been advised by the mechanic who rebuilt my transmission. Just disappointing this is my first Ford and I love this car it’s just really disappointing to have no indication that the transmission needed service BEFORE it shit the bed!

When driving the car at interstate speeds the transmission overheats after just a few minutes. When this happens it triggers the car’s information system to send a message stating “Transmission Fault Service Engine Now.” Just a moment or two later it sends another message stating “Speeds Reduced To Lower Engine Temperature.” Once that message is received you no longer have any throttle control and speed will continue to decline, speed dropped from 70 mph to 30 is maybe an minute, until you pull over and let the transmission cool down. This is especially hazardous on the interstate if your in faster moving traffic with cars behind you and you can no longer accelerate with no way to signal this to the traffic behind you except the four ways. The problem seems to be the fan to cool the transmission never gets the signal to turn on and cool down the transmission. This is an ongoing issue with this vehicle and has been since I got it, there are also multiple site and forums full of this same year make and model having the same issue.

A hole the size of a quarter suddenly blew out of the inside section of the metal wheel while driving 65 mph, and the tire instantly went flat. There was nothing in or on the road, no prior accidents that may have damaged the wheel, and there was no existing or resulting damage to the tire. Thankfully the wheel was on the rear passenger side. If it had been on the front end, the driver most likely would have lost control of the vehicle, causing a serious accident at a high rate of speed.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the rear wheels failed to roll and were dragging. Additionally, there was an abnormal popping sound heard. The contact pulled over to the side of the road after each failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was towed several times. The contact stated that the front and rear axles had been replaced by an independent mechanic; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the rear differential had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

engine coolant leaking into cylinders 1&2, causing check engine light to come on, misfires (over a period of 6 months)and block to crack. Had to replace. Bought escape in April 2023, Have car loan plus personal loan to pay for repairs. This was caused by defective design. Caused finical hardship for us. Could have caused engine overheating and fire. I will download one document for engine replacement, I have to many to download.

On November 14th, 2023, a red alert appeared on the dash that indicated an engine temperature warning indicating that there was a high temperature warning and that I should find a safe place to pull over and immediately stop the vehicle. The temperature indicator on the dash showed the needle move instantly into the red/high area and then drop down. This happened twice, back-to-back. I checked the coolant and it was below the minimum level indicator as shown on the reservoir. A day later, the service engine light illuminated. I took the vehicle to Advanced Auto and asked to pull the service code and was told there were two, P0303 and P0304 which indicated a cylinder three misfire and cylinder four misfire. I noted that the coolant was also low once again despite seeing no fluid on the ground after allowing the vehicle to run. Bill Collins Ford inspected the misfires and coolant and found the issue to be related to a flaw in the engine design which allows coolant to leak into the cylinders. I was told this could have allowed the vehicle to overheat and catch on fire as well as causing the engine to lock up while in operation. Bill Collins Ford provided an estimate of $13,000 to repair the vehicle stating it required a new engine. I purchased this vehicle used from CarMax on August 2, 2023 and have put less than 3,000 miles on it before experiencing this issue.