Ford Escape Hybrid Problems by Model Year
NHTSA recorded 1,741 consumer complaints across the 13 model years of the Ford Escape Hybrid (2005–2023) that have at least 5 complaints. 2008 has the most, with 443. Across all years, the part named most often is brakes (432 mentions). Pick a model year below to see its parts, mileage, recalls and service bulletins.
Best and worst Escape Hybrid years →
All Escape Hybrid model years
Years with fewer than 5 complaints are not listed. The score compares years of the same model, allowing for the era and for how long each year has collected complaints: 50 is a typical year, lower means fewer complaints. It is not adjusted for sales volume.
| Year | Complaints | Median mi | Recalls | TSBs | Score (50 = typical) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 24 | 8,000 | 0 | 14 | — | Too new |
| 2022 | 70 | 45,000 | 0 | 12 | 50 · Typical | Rising |
| 2021 | 124 | 36,702 | 1 | 23 | 81 · More | Rising |
| 2020 | 290 | 28,400 | 1 | 18 | 100 · More | Rising |
| 2013 | 5 | 93,000 | 0 | 4 | — | Not enough data |
| 2012 | 15 | 38,000 | 0 | 6 | — | Falling |
| 2011 | 37 | 79,000 | 0 | 4 | 0 · Fewer | Rising |
| 2010 | 59 | 77,628 | 0 | 4 | 0 · Fewer | Rising |
| 2009 | 153 | 90,000 | 0 | 5 | 34 · Fewer | Falling |
| 2008 | 443 | 95,250 | 0 | 6 | 51 · Typical | Falling |
| 2007 | 124 | 91,389 | 0 | 6 | Not compared (before 2008) | Rising |
| 2006 | 219 | 100,000 | 0 | 6 | Not compared (before 2008) | Rising |
| 2005 | 178 | 101,019 | 0 | 25 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
Parts named most often, all years
Counts add up complaint mentions across the listed years. A complaint can name several parts.
- Brakes432 23%
- Engine344 18%
- Steering276 15%
- Electrical system241 13%
- Body and structure186 9.9%
- Transmission and drivetrain160 8.6%
- Other or unknown135 7.2%
- Vehicle speed control97 5.2%
Example complaints
One per model year, chosen for length and detail. Personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
2008: “Driving my car and the ABS and brake warning light came on and brakes failed to work properly. Paul miller Ford of lexington ky.said I needed to replace ncu and master cylinder at a cost of $9000. There has been numerous complaints I've discovered after researching this problem. The car is still at the dealer so I don't have paper work yet.”
NHTSA complaint #11209778, filed 2019-05, 111,000 miles2006: “As my seventeen years old daughter was pulling out of the driveway for school she noticed the steering was hard to turn. She took my car to school. I went to try and move the car back up the driveway and could barely turn the wheel myself. Luckily she was at home and not on the road. There is no assisted steering anymore, it just went out.”
NHTSA complaint #11173126, filed 2019-01, 200,000 miles2013: “Takata recall I was driivng on a city street when I was t-boned by a vehicle who ran a stop light. As I became contact with the other vehicle I lost control of my car and ended up hitting a water meter, after trying to slam on the brakes,because they brakes wouldnt catch on. .neither contact with the other vehicle nor the water meter activated the air bags.”
NHTSA complaint #11118117, filed 2018-08, 93,000 milesOther Ford models
38,918 complaintsFord Explorer
34,637 complaintsFord Escape
27,545 complaintsFord Fusion
22,448 complaintsFord Focus
22,108 complaintsFord Taurus
18,164 complaintsFord Windstar
14,152 complaintsFord Edge
14,107 complaints
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 29, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate. Methodology