When considering a Ford Escape, it’s crucial to be aware of the model years that have a history of reliability issues. Models from 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2015 are particularly problematic due to issues such as transmission failures and engine stalling. However, from 2019 onwards, Ford (NYSE: F) has significantly improved the reliability of the Escape with new designs and platforms. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid models from 2015 and earlier and opt for models from 2019 and later.

 

Transcript:

So Austin, buying a vehicle is one of the biggest decisions a family can make.

And one analysis we’ve been doing at 24-7 Wall Street is going through the model years of different cars to look which ones have had a history of more problems than others.

So I want to focus today on the Ford Escape.

What years are you seeing that customers should avoid when making a purchasing decision on this car?

Yeah, this is an incredibly important automotive segment, the compact SUV segment.

This is where other popular nameplates like the Honda CRV and the Toyota RAV4, even technically the Tesla Model Y, occupy.

So this is the most popular segment for vehicles sold in the US.

The Ford Escape is a very popular vehicle within that segment, but there is a huge reliability range.

So we looked at NHTSA complaints per thousand vehicles made.

And the bottom line is that the earlier years of Ford Escape are absolutely vehicles you want to avoid.

So in 2008, we saw a lot of Ford Escape years had transmission issues.

That was the same for 2009.

It looks like they fixed that in the later years.

But then in 2013, they had engine stalling issues, which persisted into 2014.

And in that same year, for 2014 Ford Escapes, we saw 14 recalls.

So they still hadn’t figured out all the bugs there.

So 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, really unreliable years.

And then rounding it out in 2015, those vehicles were so unreliable that they had an assumed $600 a year in additional annual maintenance due to recalls and repairs.

So the first, the earlier generations Ford Escape are worth avoiding.

But 2019 onward, Ford ended up revamping their vehicle.

They had new designs, they put them on a new platform, and those start to look much better.

So 2019 going to 2020, 2021, still a high volume, much more popular vehicle, but it looks like they worked out all of those issues and unreliable factors from the first generation there.

So if you’re looking at a Ford Escape, the bottom line, avoid everything 2015 prior, 2019 onward, you should be good.

 

 

 

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