The 2026 Ford Escape is sold in the U.S. as a plug-in hybrid, hybrid and gas compact SUV with 5 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Escape FWD PHEV, is EPA-rated at 40 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 3 recall campaigns for this model year, 1 rated critical, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of C. Owners have filed 4 complaints, most often about the engine. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall. Manufacturer pricing runs from $30,350 to $38,935 across 6 trims.
MSRP excludes destination. Open a trim for the complete spec sheet and standard/optional equipment. Have the car in front of you? Decode its VIN to see which of these trims it is and what it was priced at.
Specs & fuel economy
Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov
Configuration
Powertrain
Drive
Engine / motor
City
Hwy
Comb
Range
kWh/100mi
Charge (240V)
Annual fuel*
Escape FWD PHEV
Plug-in hybrid
FWD
2.5L 4-cyl + 78 kW DCPM
42
37
40 (101 MPGe blended)
37 mi electric
33
3.2 h
$1,700
Escape AWD HEV
Hybrid
4WD (part-time)
2.5L 4-cyl
42
36
39
—
—
—
$1,700
Escape FWD
Gas
FWD
1.5L 3-cyl turbo
27
34
30
—
—
—
$2,250
Escape AWD
Gas
AWD
1.5L 3-cyl turbo
26
32
28
—
—
—
$2,400
Escape AWD
Gas
AWD
2.0L 4-cyl turbo
23
31
26
—
—
—
$2,600
*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 49763, 49851, 49842, 49850, 49849.
New-vehicle warranty
Source: manufacturer press kits, make-level
Basic3 yr / 36,000 miPowertrain5 yr / 60,000 miRoadside5 yr
As stated in Ford's press kits for the 2025–2026 model years (8 kits); this model year's own kit states no warranty terms, so the make's are shown. Confirm the term for this car with the dealer.
Insurers price the 2026 Escape very differently, and the gap between the best and worst quote on the same car and driver is usually larger than any option you are weighing on this page.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Recalls (3)
Source: NHTSA recall database
▲high
Power Train
25C69
208 vehiclesbuilt Oct 27, 2025 – Dec 9, 2025
ProblemFord Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Escape and Lincoln Corsair vehicles.The integrated park module may fail to lock into the park position when the driver shifts into park. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."RiskA loss of park function can allow the vehicle to rollaway, increasing the risk of a crash.FixThe Secondary On Board Diagnostic Module C (SOBDMC) software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 16, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C69. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on May 15, 2026. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 25V863.
25,237 vehicles43% reported repairedPlug-in hybrid only
ProblemFord Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2026 Ford Escape and 2023-2026 Lincoln Corsair plug-in hybrid vehicles.A manufacturing defect in one or more of the high voltage battery cells may result in an internal short circuit and battery failure.RiskBattery failure can cause a loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash. Battery failure can also increase the risk of a fire.FixDealers will update the battery energy control module (BECM) and hybrid powertrain control module (HPCM) software, free of charge. Owners are advised to only use "Auto EV" mode and will be instructed by mail to limit the maximum charge of the battery until the remedy has been completed. Owner notification letters were mailed September 4, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SC4. This recall expands previous recall numbers 24V954 and
ProblemFord Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Corsair and Escape vehicles.The seat belt retractors for the left and right rear passenger seats may not be securely fastened.RiskAn improperly secured seat belt retractor may not restrain an occupant as intended, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.FixDealers will inspect and secure, or replace the seat belt retractor bolts, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 26, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C68. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on December 15, 2025.
These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.
Whether any of this applies to one specific Escape
A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2026 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Ford publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.
The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2026 Ford Escape, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.
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Parts & accessories for the 2026 Ford Escape
Search by fitment on eBay Motors — OEM take-offs, aftermarket, and the trim pieces dealers no longer stock. The listing and the price are the seller's.
0 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 0 injuries · 0 deaths reported
1.0 per 10,000 built · Ford reported 39,867 Escape built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)
Filed per year: 2026: 4
Most-cited components
Engine2
Electrical System2
Visibility/Wiper1
Fuel/Propulsion System1
Service Brakes1
Unspecified1
In owners' own words
Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.
Description On your vehicle, the integrated park module ipm may not properly engage the park pawl, preventing the vehicle from locking into park when park p is selected. If this condition occurs, a wrench light and shift system fault message will be displayed in the instrument panel cluster.
Service BrakesJun 14, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11744045
PHEV sometimes fails to "start". That is, vehicle will not enter "Ready" mode when brake is depressed and Start button is pressed. Instead, 'Refuel Error', 'Stop Safely Now', 'Service AdvancTrac', 'PreCollision Assist Not Available', and several other warnings appear.
EngineFeb 25, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11720491
My 2026MY Ford Escape is having intermittent rear view camera issues. On two separate occasions in the last week, when I put the vehicle into reverse, there is no image displayed on the center stack screen. The screen was completely blank and did not show what is behind my vehicle.
Visibility/WiperFeb 24, 2026NHTSA owner report · ODI 11720074
Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.
Crash ratings
Source: NHTSA NCAP
Configuration
Overall
Frontal
Side
Rollover
Rollover risk
SUV AWD
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
17%
SUV AWD
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
17%
SUV FWD
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
17%
SUV FWD
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
17%
SUV FWD
★★★★★
★★★★☆
★★★★★
★★★★☆
14%
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program.
Service bulletins & campaigns
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications
Communicationsfiled with NHTSA36
Most recentmanufacturer date2026-10-14
Kindsas classified by NHTSA26 service bulletins, 9 over-the-air updates, 1 other
Most often about: Electrical System, Unknown Or Other, Fuel/Propulsion System, Power Train, Engine.
This bulletin supersedes 26-2297. Reason for update: Add 2022-2025 Transit vehicles. Some of the vehicles listed in the model statement above equipped with SYNC4 may experience a blank center display screen or black center display screen after welcome animation. The rear-view camera will still function when shifting the vehicle to reverse under these conditions.
For 20222026 vehicles equipped with a 8F35 transmission, a revision to the Road Testing Vehicle procedure has been made in the WSM, Section 307-01 > Diagnosis and Testing. This updated procedure improves the diagnosis of customer reported transmission concerns and aids in locating the proper root cause. During diagnosis and testing, details regarding whether the condition is more prevalent when t
2023-2026 Escape and 2025-2026 Bronco Sport vehicles equipped with a 1.5L EcoBoost engine may require removal of the turbocharger wastegate control actuator linkage for various reasons. The Workshop Manual (WSM), Section 303-04 Fuel Charging and Controls - Turbocharger - 1.5L EcoBoost > Removal and Installation > Wastegate Control Actuator Linkage service procedure has been added. In addition, the
This article supersedes TSB 25-2466 to add Bronco Sport, Escape, Maverick and Corsair, as well as removing Expedition and Navigator. One time use parts for Corsair and Bronco Sport were also added to the parts list. Some of the vehicles listed in the Model statement above may exhibit a headliner rattle or sagging condition around the roof opening panel. This may be due to the adhesive separating f
Customer Satisfaction Program 26N15 Certain 2020-2026 Model Year Escape and 2021-2026 Model Year Corsair Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) – High Voltage Battery Replacement
For Various Ford and Lincoln vehicles, if diagnostics lead to the replacement of the front seat cushion cover J-clips, lower-level service parts are now available. Use service part W709919-S901 if the J-clip is completely detached from the seat cover and W715386-S424 if the clip is still partially attached. It is not necessary to replace the seat cover if only the J-clip is separating from the cov
A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.
Diagnostic trouble codes on file
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaints
Codes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.
Code
What it means
Most often filed under
Where it appears
B1B38
Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard.
Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard.
Power Train
1 bulletin
Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.
Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Manufacturer pricing runs from $30,350 for the Active to $38,935 for the ST-Line Elite, across 6 trims. Those are MSRPs from the manufacturer's own press material; they exclude destination, options, taxes and whatever the dealer adds. Every trim and price is listed above.
Does the 2026 Ford Escape have any recalls?
NHTSA has posted 3 recall campaigns for the 2026 Ford Escape, 1 of them rated critical. The most serious on file is 26V091000, covering Electrical System. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.
How safe is the 2026 Ford Escape?
NHTSA gave the 2026 Ford Escape 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 5-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 4-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it C (72/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.
What is the fuel economy of the 2026 Ford Escape?
Across the 5 EPA-rated configurations of the 2026 Ford Escape, the best EPA combined figure is 40 mpg (MPGe on the electrified versions). Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.
What do owners complain about on the 2026 Ford Escape?
Owners have filed 4 complaints with NHTSA about the 2026 Ford Escape, most often about engine, electrical system, visibility/wiper. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.
Are there service bulletins for the 2026 Ford Escape?
The manufacturer has filed 36 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2026 Ford Escape, most often covering electrical system, unknown or other, fuel/propulsion system. The most recent is dated 2026-10-14. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.
Which 2026 Ford Escape trim is the best value?
$8,585 separates the cheapest of the 6 trims from the most expensive, so the answer depends on which of the differences you would actually use. Every trim has its own page here with the manufacturer's full specification and equipment list, plus a short summary of exactly what it adds over the base trim — worth reading before a dealer frames the walk-up for you. The trim-by-trim ladder shows what every step up costs and what it makes standard.
Is the 2026 Ford Escape better than the 2026 Toyota RAV4?
The Toyota RAV4 edges it, 91.8 to 86.8, on safety, fuel & range. The Ford Escape is ahead on price. We publish a full side-by-side of the 2026 Ford Escape against the 2026 Toyota RAV4 — specifications by family, equipment feature by feature, safety record and ownership costs. You can re-weight what matters to you and the verdict recalculates.
What we hold, and what an empty row means
Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.
Data
Held
Source
What it covers — or what empty means
Fuel economy & configurations
5 configurations
EPA certification records
Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures.
Emission certificates
none
EPA emission certificates
The EPA published no certificate we could match to a configuration on this page.
Recalls
3
NHTSA recall campaigns
A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags.
Owner complaints
4
NHTSA complaint database
Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold.
Crash ratings
5 tested
NHTSA NCAP
Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them.
Service bulletins
36
NHTSA manufacturer communications
Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall.
Investigations
none
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
No defect investigation has been opened.
Driver-assist crash reports
none
NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01
No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like.
Specifications filed with NHTSA
none
NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns
We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable.
Trims, pricing & equipment
6 trims
Manufacturer press kit
Transcribed from the manufacturer's own press material, every value carrying the document it came from.
Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.
EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly. Trim-level specifications and pricing are transcribed from the manufacturer's official press kit; every value carries its source in the data file.
