1999 Ford Escort Steering Problems
- Complaints
- 16about this part
- Share
- 5%of 325 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 54,000miles
- Trend
- StableComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are within 25% of the 3 years before.
NHTSA recorded 16 complaints about the steering of the 1999 Ford Escort, 5% of the 325 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 54,000 miles. 4 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“I took my 99 Ford Escort to a auto repair shop to fix one front tie rod (another frequent problem on Escort) and the mechanic told me that one of the spings in the rear suspension was broken. I did not notice anything different when driving and I don't know for how long it has been broken. The mechanic also said that this is a frequent problem with Escort, and advised me to check the existance of a recall with a Ford dealer. To this date (jan 2006) there is no recall. …”
NHTSA complaint #10147184, filed 2006-01, 88,000 miles“I bought this 1999 Escort from a dealer. It was used with around 20k miles on it. I made the dealer change out the tie rod ends before I took it because I noticed they were bad. The car now has 54k miles on it and the passenger side tie rod end failed causing the car to skid and turn into oncoming traffic. Due to a quick-reacting oncoming driver, no accident happened. However, this could have LED to a serious accident and possibly deaths. The tow truck driver said that whenever he gets a call for a failed tie-rod, its an Escort. This was definitely changed too. …”
NHTSA complaint #10200965, filed 2007-08, 54,000 miles“Dt: the vehicle was a 1999 Ford Escort. Both of the back coil springs were broken. Consumer found this out when getting the brakes inspected. The front brake rotors, tie rods and the rear struts including the coil springs needed to be replaced. The inspection took place on 7-8-05. Consumer took the vehicle to a Ford dealer to have all the parts replaced. They were replaced on 7-20/22-05. Vehicle was shaking before hand. Consumer knew that Ford company issued a recall issue concerning this problem with some of their other models. Updated 11/02/2005.”
NHTSA complaint #10129752, filed 2005-07, 131,569 miles“Whenever it rains and I drive in a puddle of water my serpentine belt comes off, causing my car to have no power steering and my battery light comes on. Everytime this happens I go to my mechanic and he has to manually put the belt back on. The mechanic tells me he doesn't know why this keeps happening and doesn't know how to fix it because he's inspected my vehicle and can't find anything wrong.”
NHTSA complaint #10106194, filed 2005-01“The power steering pressure line blew out of the pump as we backed out of the garage. The pump quickly emptied its oil supply onto the serpentine belt, engine bay & the driveway. It appears as if the retaining o-ring was sheared in half as the male fitting blew out of the retaining nut that attaches it to the pump. I have digital close-up pictures of the failed part if desired (e-mail). There is no excuse for this totally disabling failure in a 2 yr old car!!”
NHTSA complaint #748485, filed 2001-07Steering: other model years
| Year | Complaints | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 3 | 9% |
| 2001 | 5 | 7% |
| 2000 | 4 | 4% |
| 1999 | 16 | 5% |
| 1998 | 17 | 5% |
| 1997 | 22 | 4% |
| 1996 | 10 | 5% |
| 1995 | 19 | 3% |
| 1994 | 11 | 4% |
| 1993 | 13 | 3% |
| 1992 | 4 | 2% |
| 1991 | 12 | 4% |
| 1990 | 5 | 5% |
| 1989 | 7 | 5% |
| 1988 | 9 | 6% |
| 1987 | 3 | 5% |
| 1986 | 1 | 2% |
Other parts of the 1999 Ford Escort
66 complaintsEngine cooling
62 complaintsSuspension
42 complaintsElectrical system
39 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
35 complaintsBrakes
25 complaintsSeat belts
16 complaintsEquipment
15 complaintsTires
14 complaintsFuel system
13 complaintsExterior lighting
12 complaintsVehicle speed control
8 complaints
← All problems reported for the 1999 Ford Escort
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.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology