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Ford Escape

Every model year 2016–2026: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

11 Model years 2016–2026

118 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

9,332 Complaints owner reports, all years

C Newest grade 2026 Safety Signal

2016 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2026 Escape →Which years to avoid Compare it

Ford Escape — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Ford Escape (2001 generation) · Photo: Elise240SX · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Ford Escape model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2026	Plug-in hybrid Hybrid Gas	C	3	4	★★★★★	40 mpg
2025	Plug-in hybrid Hybrid Gas	F	10	31	★★★★★	40 mpg
2024	Hybrid Gas	F	10	88	★★★★★	39 mpg
2023	Plug-in hybrid Hybrid Gas	F	13	138	★★★★★	40 mpg
2022	Plug-in hybrid Hybrid Gas	F	21	384	★★★★★	41 mpg
2021	Plug-in hybrid Hybrid Gas	F	21	497	★★★★★	41 mpg
2020	Plug-in hybrid Hybrid Gas	F	25	1,905	★★★★★	41 mpg
2019	Gas	C	3	596	★★★★★	26 mpg
2018	Gas	D	4	1,821	★★★★★	26 mpg
2017	Gas	C	4	2,701	★★★★★	26 mpg
2016	Gas	D	4	1,167	★★★★☆	26 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2016

On the filed record so far, the 2016 is the cleanest Escape year we hold, and the 2022 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2016	D	0.4	117	1 critical
2019	C	0.4	85	1 critical
2017	C	0.4	300	1 critical
2018	D	0.5	228	1 critical
2023	F	4.3	46	8 critical
2020	F	4.2	318	9 critical
2021	F	4.2	99	9 critical
2022	F	5.2	96	10 critical

Which Ford Escape years reported which system early

Source: NHTSA complaints, odometer at report

Earliest on the record: 2019 electrical system complaints at 0.22× the mileage of same-age vehicles (median 3,400 miles). Latest: 2018 fuel/propulsion system at 3.4× (108,500 miles).

Year	Engine	Power Train	Structure	Electrical System	Fuel/Propulsion System	Service Brakes
2023	—	—	—	1.07×	—	—
2022	1.07×	—	—	—	1.43×	1.38×
2021	—	1.51×	1.5×	1.34×	1.52×	0.25×
2020	1.26×	1.12×	1.73×	2.66×	1.87×	—
2019	1.71×	2.39×	—	0.22×	—	—
2018	1.72×	2.31×	—	1.55×	3.4×	1.13×
2017	1.33×	1.9×	1.05×	1.11×	1.89×	0.52×
2016	1.29×	1.71×	—	0.97×	1.49×	—

Each cell is that model year’s median odometer when owners reported the system, divided by the median for the same system across every make’s complaints on the same model year. under 0.67× reported early; 1.5× or more late; a dash means too few readings. When problems get reported, not how often — complaint counts are in the table above. Across the whole fleet: which systems go first.

What owners filed about the Ford Escape, by system

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsEvery system, every year →

The systems the federal record is deep on for this nameplate: the complaints per model year, the mileage owners reported them at, and every recall, investigation and manufacturer bulletin filed under the heading — each one linked, none a failure rate.

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2026: 6 → 5 EPA configurations
2025: added plug-in hybrid; best combined mpg 39 → 40; 5 → 6 EPA configurations
2024: dropped plug-in hybrid; best combined mpg 40 → 39; 6 → 5 EPA configurations
2023: best combined mpg 41 → 40
2020: added plug-in hybrid, hybrid; best combined mpg 26 → 41
2017: 5 → 6 EPA configurations

Compare

All Escape head-to-heads →Which is better for you? →

Head-to-head	Verdict
2026 Escape vs Toyota RAV4 · Compact SUV	RAV4 +5
2026 Escape vs Nissan Rogue · Compact SUV	Toss-up
2026 Escape vs Tesla Model Y · Compact SUV	Model Y +11.7

In the studies

Source: computed from the same record, method on each page

Odometer at first complaint · rank 75 of 79 2.78× the mileage of same-age vehicles Ford Escape owners reported problems to NHTSA at a median 60,000 miles across 2018–2022 (fleet 23,512), later than vehicles of the same model year. 1,527 readings.

Common questions about the Ford Escape

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Ford Escape year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2016 Escape comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade D (69/100), 4 recalls and 1,167 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Ford Escape years should I avoid?

2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 have the weakest recall records in this range. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Escape model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Ford Escape have?

Across model years 2016–2026, NHTSA has posted 118 recall campaigns for the Ford Escape. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.