Reliable Auto DB

2025 Ford Escape reliability

Is it reliable?

Owners have filed 23 complaints with NHTSA about the 2025 Ford Escape over 2 years — 12 per year. It is too early to rank against other Escape years: a year is compared here only after 3 years on the road. NHTSA has 9 recalls on file, including EGR valve, Retractor, and Hinge.

2020 Ford Escape SEL
Photo by SsmIntrigue, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Complaints

23

Per year

12

Recalls

9

Years on the road

2

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Electrical system (6 of 23), then Engine (5) and Engine and engine cooling (4). Complaints that include an odometer have a median of 5,000 miles.

Next to 2024 and 2026

The 2024 Escape has 76 complaints, 25 per year, and the 2026 has 3 complaints, 3 per year.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2025 Ford Escape. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (9)

Recall engine and cooling, exhaust system, emission control, EGR valve 2026-03-03 · NHTSA campaign 26V122000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Ranger, Lincoln Nautilus, Mustang, Maverick, Explorer, Escape, Lincoln Corsair, Bronco Sport, and Bronco vehicles. The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve may fail, resulting in an unexpected loss of drive power.
Remedy Dealers will replace the EGR valves, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 31, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S10. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on March 4, 2026.
Vehicles affected 47,804
Recall seat belts, rear or other, retractor 2025-12-12 · NHTSA campaign 25V862000
Summary Ford 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.
Remedy Dealers 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.
Vehicles affected 780
Recall structure, body, liftgate, hinge 2025-12-01 · NHTSA campaign 25V829000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Escape and 2025 Escape vehicles. The liftgate hinge covers may not be properly secured and detach from the vehicle.
Remedy Dealers will inspect and reinstall, or replace any missing liftgate hinge covers as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 3, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SD6. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on December 3, 2025.
Vehicles affected 108,762
Recall Electronic stability control (ESC) 2025-11-14 · NHTSA campaign 25V787000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Maverick and Escape vehicles. The cover for the electric brake booster's ECU may cause the printed circuit board to overheat and result in a loss of vehicle stability control systems (anti-lock braking, electronic stability control, and traction control) or a loss of brake power assist.
Remedy Dealers will replace the electric brake booster, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on November 28, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SC6. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 17, 2025.
Vehicles affected 2
Recall Engine 2025-06-03 · NHTSA campaign 25V372000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Escape, and 2025 Bronco Sport vehicles. The cylinder head may have been improperly manufactured, which can cause the ball plugs to fail, resulting in an oil leak.
Remedy Dealers will replace the cylinder head assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 8, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S61.
Vehicles affected 404
Recall Electrical system 2025-05-23 · NHTSA campaign 25V343000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Lincoln Nautilus, 2023-2025 Escape, 2023 Lincoln Corsair, 2025 Lincoln Corsair, Maverick, and Bronco Sport vehicles equipped with a 1.5L or 2.0L MPC engine and an engine block heater. The engine block heater may overheat when the vehicle is parked with the block heater plugged in.
Remedy Dealers will replace the block heater element and inspect the electrical cord, replacing it if necessary, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded blanking plug coupled, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Owner notification letters were mailed June 9, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S52.
Vehicles affected 6,781
Recall back-over prevention, sensing system, camera 2025-03-14 · NHTSA campaign 25V161000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Escape vehicles. The rearview camera may incorrectly display an inverted image when the vehicle is in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Remedy Dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C08.
Vehicles affected 4,721
Recall electrical system, instrument cluster 2025-01-31 · NHTSA campaign 25V049000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Bronco Sport, Escape, and Lincoln Corsair vehicles. The Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) may not illuminate at startup or while driving. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays" and 102, "Transmission shift lever sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect" as well as FMVSS numbers 126, 108, 135, 138, 208, and 305.
Remedy Dealers will replace the instrument panel cluster, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 17, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C02.
Vehicles affected 298
Recall electrical system, instrument cluster 2024-11-08 · NHTSA campaign 24V850000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Escape vehicles. The passenger side instrument panel cover may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can cause the air bag not to deploy as intended. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Remedy Dealers will replace the passenger side instrument panel cover, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 18, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24C38.
Vehicles affected 15

NHTSA's count is every vehicle in that campaign. A campaign can cover other model years and other models.

Complaints by component (23 total)

Electrical system
6
Engine
5
Engine and engine cooling
4
Powertrain
3
Fuel and propulsion system
2
Structure, body
2
Adaptive cruise control
1
Air bags
1
Automatic emergency braking
1
Cruise control
1
Forward collision avoidance
1
Hydraulic brakes
1
Lane departure
1
Speed control
1
Steering
1
Visibility and wipers
1
Warnings
1
Show 9 more Show less
Crash-flagged

0

Fire-flagged

0

Injury reports

0

Death reports

0

Of the 6 complaints that include an odometer reading, the median is 5,000 miles.

Complaints filed per year

72025162026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "Several spots on the body are misaligned which could indicate underlying assembly issues down to the frame which could impact crumple zones and safety."
    structure, body · filed 2026-09-13
  • "Multiple computer related problems, including sensing objects that do not exist while using automated cruise control. Automatic braking engagement when car senses objects that do not exist both in the front and rear…"
    forward collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, forward collision avoidance, automatic emergency braking, forward collision avoidance, warnings · filed 2026-09-02
  • "The contact owns a 2025 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the message that the engine was overheating was displayed, and the vehicle drove under reduced power. The contact exited the highway,…"
    Engine and engine cooling · filed 2026-07-23
  • "My Ford Pass notified me that it detected an issue with the EGR valve. The dealership said I have to pay for this because it was not part of the recall. It is a 2025 Ford Escape which to my understanding most were…"
    Unknown or other · filed 2026-07-02
  • "While driving, the hood of my vehicle flew up and broke my windshield and caused damage to body by the hood hinge on both sides. There were no warning lamps or signals that warned me that the hood was loose. I had…"
    Visibility and wipers, structure, body · filed 2026-06-11

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2025 Ford Escape Gas SUV AWD 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2025 Ford Escape Gas SUV FWD 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2025 Ford Escape HEV SUV AWD 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2025 Ford Escape HEV SUV FWD 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2025 Ford Escape PHEV SUV FWD 5 stars 4 stars 5 stars 4 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim Engine Transmission Drive City Hwy Combined Annual fuel cost
Escape all-wheel drive 2L, 4-cyl Automatic 8-speed All-wheel drive 23 31 26 MPG $2500
Escape all-wheel drive 1.5L, 3-cyl Automatic 8-speed All-wheel drive 26 32 28 MPG $2300
Escape all-wheel drive hybrid 2.5L, 4-cyl Automatic (variable gear ratios) Part-time four-wheel drive 42 36 39 MPG $1650
Escape front-wheel drive 1.5L, 3-cyl Automatic 8-speed Front-wheel drive 27 34 30 MPG $2150
Escape front-wheel drive hybrid 2.5L, 4-cyl Automatic (variable gear ratios) Front-wheel drive 42 36 39 MPG $1650
Escape front-wheel drive plug-in hybrid 2.5L, 4-cyl Automatic (variable gear ratios) Front-wheel drive 42 37 40 MPG / 560 mi range $1600

Specs and fitment

4th generation, 2020–present
Body styles SUV
Oil 5W-20 (1.5L EcoBoost); 5W-30 (2.0L EcoBoost); 0W-20 (2.5L hybrid/PHEV) synthetic , 5.4 qt capacity
Tire size 225/65R17 (S/SE) to 225/55R19 (Titanium)

Known issues for this generation

NHTSA recall 24V-954 covers certain 2020-2024 Escape vehicles, together with 2021-2024 Lincoln Corsairs, for a manufacturing defect in one or more high-voltage battery cells that may result in an internal short circuit and battery failure. Battery failure can cause a loss of drive power and can also increase the risk of a fire. Owners are advised not to charge the battery until the remedy has been completed; dealers perform a battery energy control module software update and replace the high-voltage battery pack as necessary, free of charge. The campaign covers 20,484 vehicles.

Compare

Previous year 2024 Ford Escape See every Ford Escape model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2025 Ford Escape reliable?

Owners have filed 23 complaints with NHTSA about the 2025 Ford Escape over 2 years — 12 per year. It is too early to rank against other Escape years: a year is compared here only after 3 years on the road. NHTSA has 9 recalls on file, including EGR valve, Retractor, and Hinge.

What are common problems with a 2025 Ford Escape?

The complaints owners file most often name Electrical system (6 of 23), then Engine (5) and Engine and engine cooling (4). Complaints that include an odometer have a median of 5,000 miles.

Is the 2025 Ford Escape more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2024 Escape has 76 complaints, 25 per year, and the 2026 has 3 complaints, 3 per year.

Has the 2025 Ford Escape been recalled?

The 2025 Ford Escape has 9 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2025 Ford Escape?

Owners have filed 23 complaints about the 2025 Ford Escape with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2025 Ford Escape get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2025 Ford Escape is 33.7 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What generation is my Ford Escape?

2008-2012 is the 2nd generation, 2013-2019 is the 3rd generation, and 2020-onward is the 4th generation.

Should I avoid charging my Ford Escape's high-voltage battery?

If your 2020-2024 Escape is covered by recall 24V-954, Ford advises not charging the high-voltage battery until the recall remedy has been completed.