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2012 Ford Escape electrical problems

42 complaints (7% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 59,200. 1 crash reported.

owner complaints
42
of this car's complaints
7%
typical mileage
59,200
crashes
1
recalls
0

Which part fails

  • Wiring
    1
  • Instrument cluster/panel
    1
  • 12v/24v/48v battery: cables
    1

At what mileage

Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.

0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+

Ford Escape electrical problems in other years

200020052010201520202026

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

What 2012 Ford Escape owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Apr 30, 2026 · Electrical, Steering · FL

Vehicle: 2012 Ford Escape Issue: Loss of steering assist while driving While operating my vehicle, the power steering assist suddenly fails, making the steering wheel extremely difficult to turn. This creates a dangerous driving condition and significantly increases the risk of an accident. This issue appears to match known problems with the electric power steering system in this vehicle, which has been the subject of recalls for similar model years. However, my VIN is not currently included. The failure has occurred while driving and has now made the vehicle unsafe to operate. I am requesting investigation into this issue and expansion of the recall to include additional affected vehicles, as this is a serious safety hazard.

Filed Apr 19, 2024 · Electrical · FL

This is a second car so don't drive it every day -- first incident occurred back in 2023 driving in town and car stopped!! Rolled to side and it started back up -- this happened several times and was very hesitant to drive on any highways. Several days the car would not start -- looked on line trying to figure out what was wrong and saw many people were having similar issues but nothing resolved -- battery tested fine but got a new battery from AAA but the next day battery was dead again. My husband did some more research and decided to pull the fuse for the radio and the front display module and the car has not stalled nor the battery been dead since but have been driving without a radio. I had to go on a five hour drive (both ways) last weekend and not fun driving that long without a radio. Stopped by a AAA repair shop yesterday and they said they had many complaints about the radio causing this problem (two actually that morning) and to call Ford to see if there was a recall. I called Ford this morning and the answer was NO! They told me to take it to a Ford Dealer (which is not convenient) and to have it diagnosed but again from what I have read Ford does not have any solutions to this problem. Wanted to get on file to let other people with this same issue to try removing the radio fuses (#14, #28, #39) but they would have no radio either. If I get the radio replaced not sure if that would create other issues and what affect it would have on the anti-theft system.

Filed Oct 31, 2023 · Electrical · 110,000 miles · PA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the vehicle was idling in the restaurant drive thru line, the vehicle shut off and failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic who determined that the battery cable had failed and needed to be replaced. The battery cables were replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 110,000.

Filed Oct 12, 2023 · Electrical, Steering · WI

My grandmothers vehicle has had an intermittent loss of power steering while driving at slow speeds and is a serious safety concern, the safety recall I had found "14S05" is exactly what's goin on with her vehicle and it matches up exactly to the recall down to the assembly plant other than her vehicle was assembled a year after the recall, but yet these symptoms of this recall is exactly what she is having. She has brought it to multiple ford dealerships and they turn her away unless she pays them over $200? I would fix it as a consumer, but no lights come on or even point me in a proper direction of repairs. There's no warning lights or anything and the only way it can be repaired is by the dealer so how can my grandmother be liable for this if the car tells me nothing is wrong? I have found several accident reports concerning this exact situation with her vehicle, I genuinely fear for her safety. It's been a problem for over 6 months and she just got back to driving again after a surgery and her vehicle has this issue. It was addressed a while back and they claimed there was nothing wrong at a local dealership. I can't fix this vehicle of my grandmothers unless the computer is telling me there is something wrong..... I have had the issue happen myself several occasions just starting the vehicle in place with absolutely no power steering and no check engine light/codes. It's happening intermittently to my grandmother who only drives in the city under 40 mph. She claims it happens multiple times while driving and she has to pull over in the middle of the street to shut her vehicle off and then proceed to restart the vehicle and there's no issues, but then often comes back continuously throughout driving and yet there's no lights or anything. My grandma doesn't have hundreds to spend on diagnosis and the dealer isn't willing to address the safety concern without her spending money. She has kept all documents in case of accidents as she is in fear of one happening.

Filed Apr 8, 2023 · Electrical, Locks · TX

Warning on the dash panel intermittently says Lift gate/back glass is ajar even though it is closed. This causes the interior lights to turn on and off. I believe this is due to a manufacturer defect in the gasket that allows water/condensation to seep into the lift gate and cause corrosion of the electrical wires

Filed Dec 13, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

Power steering suddenly went out on right turn onto residential street at approx 10 mph. No warning lights. When car was restarted, power steering back on. Paid dealer to scan. Failure code B2278-2F. Replace steering shaft torque sensor (internal to steering column), steering shaft must be replaced, too, due to play. Just two parts: part cost $2272, labor $886. Part back-ordered for unknown period. Have not yet told dealer service to order parts. Asked dealer if car was safe to drive: they said "probably not."

Filed Feb 27, 2020 · Body, Electrical · 37,000 miles · NY

Driver door seal (top) leaks to the point of there being 2 inches of water on driver floor. Also water is getting inside the door, which is causing electrical issues. Had it repaired 3 times at dealer & leak still exists. This is causing mold & rust in the vehicle. Not sure if this is the fault of the manufacturer or the inexcusable repair work of atlantic automall, but it's becoming a real safety issue & atlantic automall has been refusing to resolve the issue or even respond to my calls

Filed Oct 6, 2019 · Electrical · 135,000 miles · MI

This morning I was running some errands and was approaching a red light and as I started braking my escape stalled. I coasted over to the side of the road, put my car in park and thankfully I was able to start it back up. I continued to drive in the direction I was heading and after about 4 minutes my car stalled again. All together my escape had stalled 6 times in a 5 mile stretch, two of those times were in a busy intersection and one of those two times I was stuck in the middle of that intersection as the lights facing the opposite direction turned green. My car has always been well maintained by the dealership since the day I had picked it up from the lot. My car has never broken down or even showed any signs of mechanical issues until today and of course it could not just happen one time or in a place that was a little safer to try and pull over. A couple of the times I did not even notice that my car had stalled right in the middle of the road until I hit the gas and nothing happened. Kind of crazy how my car was running perfect this morning and by the afternoon I was just a sitting duck just waiting to get rear ended and with no pre warning signs that there was an issue with my car until it was too late. 2 times I was stationary when it stalled and the rest of the time I was in heavy traffic driving about 55 MPH. The faulty part seems to be the throttle body and some vehicles will have a service light on and produce error codes and some of the vehicles will not have a service light pop up and still have the same issues with the throttle body and get the same results after it is fixed. How can some vehicles have a maintenance light on when the issues start occurring with the throttle body and other vehicles not have a maintenance light on and have the exact same problems? Seems like there might be more electrical issues showing up in the escape soon.

Filed Apr 23, 2019 · Electrical · 59,200 miles · NC

Going down the road, and all the sudden my gauges dropped, except for fuel. My initial reaction was to hit the gas pedal to see if I'd lost engine power. I still had engine power, thankfully. Since then, w/o any warnings the gauges will drop, and all the sensor lights will come on while going down the road. I went to advanced auto parts, and had them to put it on their machine to see if it would code. It coded for p-1602. Battery tested fine. Looked up on you tube to see if anyone else was having the same problem, and found this video. In the video is exactly what is happening to my 2012 escape while driving down the road. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0zz0dfessk looking in the comments section the owner of a 2010 escape, said that ford replaced 3 instrument panels, and the factory ford technician finally found that it was cold solder joints. If you hit the dash with you fist, the instrument panel gauges come back up, so seems to be in the wiring, not battery related. Mileage, and information center, still hasn't came back up. This problem is on going, and waiting to hear back from ford if this is covered under extended warranty.

Filed Dec 19, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 110,350 miles · IN

When my heater motor kicks on while I am driving it causes my car to want to stall or die. My car shutters so I must turn off my heat so my far will go as it should. Other times my car has had a hesitation while I am driving. I push the accelerator and it shutters . It has been an issue since I bought it like that. The happy car store glenbrook hyundai in fort wayne indiana sold it to me like this.

Questions about the 2012 Ford Escape electrical

Does the 2012 Ford Escape have electrical problems?

Owners have filed 42 complaints about the electrical of the 2012 Ford Escape, 7% of all its complaints.

At what mileage do 2012 Ford Escape electrical problems start?

The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 59,200 miles.

Is there a recall for the 2012 Ford Escape electrical?

There is no recall for this problem on this model year.

Other 2012 Ford Escape problems

Fuel system 160Steering 140Engine 79Acceleration 70Body 68Transmission 66Airbags 25Brakes 21Visibility 20Seat belts 19Suspension 12Driver assistance 8Locks 8Seats 5Lights 2Wheels 2Tires 1

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