2015 Ford Escape: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Jul 11, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · MO

Dash board panel comes on when you turn on the car, but once you put it in drive it automatically shuts off accept the rpm gauge, car goes into limp mode when driving and causes it to not allow any acceleration or movement of vehicle.

Filed May 20, 2026 · Transmission · KY

The gear shifter cable became detached from it’s mount located under the air filter in the engine bay and stranded the driver at a gas station after she turned off the vehicle until she was able to use the gear release to shift the car into neutral and start the car. After arriving to her destination the vehicle would not shift into park or reverse even with use of the gear release. This can put the driver at risk in the event the car rolls away when it’s indicated to be parked or when needing to shift the car to reverse out of parking spots or out the way of incoming traffic or hazards. This vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer, dealer or police. A dealer was contacted about recalls for this problem and one did not exist for this VIN regarding the gear shifter cable, however there are existing recalls for this same issue for Ford Escapes made from 2013-2019. This is a 2015 Ford Escape.

Filed Jan 7, 2026 · OH

The transmission just failed. No warning lights or anything. I was just driving along and it started to flutter then it hesitated and went into limp mode. Took it to the shop and it they said it needs a whole new transmission.

Filed Mar 21, 2024 · Transmission · 139,000 miles · ID

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving the vehicle, it made a loud noise and went into limp mode. The transmission fault service soon light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic and a diagnostic was performed and the contact was informed the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to cost. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 139,000.

Filed Feb 24, 2024 · Electrical, Transmission · GA

I was driving down the road and all of a sudden my vehicle lurched forward despite me depressing the brakes then would not shift into any gear or move at all. I turned the vehicle off waited 10 minutes and attempted to restart the vehicle so that I could move into a safer area out of traffic. The vehicle began shaking and would not go into gear but did roll enough that I was able to move out of the way of incoming traffic. There were no warning lights displayed on the dash and the vehicle was not malfunctioning prior to the event. The other issue has been that the backup camera repeatedly fails to function at all. Instead the screen is either blue or black and no images are visible.

Filed Jul 12, 2023 · Electrical · ME · fire

While driving my vehicle went into limp mode and then caught on fire.

Filed May 12, 2023 · Engine, Transmission · IL

https://www.cars.com/articles/2013-2015-ford-escape-fiesta-st-fusion-transit-connect-recall-alert-1420694733115/ While driving 80 miles an hour on an 8 lane freeway, with the flow of high traffic-including semi commercial traffic, and my child in the car, the vehicle went into limp mode due to an overheat warning. I was unable to accelerate and was able to "limp" to the side of the road. Very scary and VERY dangerous. My child and I are lucky something worse did not happen. Root cause lack of coolant circulation resulting in the engine overheating. This possibly has caused a crack in the cylinder head, resulting in a pressurized oil leak that, in the presence of a heat source such as a hot engine surface, increases the risk of an under-hood fire. Through research, I found this is a known issue with my vehicle and besides a limited recall (of which my VIN is excluded) there is a class action pending in California. I contact FORD customer service and its answer was my VIN isn't included in the recall so nothing they could do. When I brought up on FORD's knowledge and request for someone in its escalation team to call me, they said a supervisor would call and the customer service supervisor said- my issue because my VIN not included in the recall. There have been 30+ cases of engine fires related to this issue and hundreds if not thousands of FORD owners affected. How is the federal safety agency not taking action? This is very dangerous and a very expensive cost to consumers who were misled by FORD to purchase these dangerous lemons. This is a dangerous defect that FORD has known about for years. the federal safety agency should require FORD to recall these for the safety of children and consumers. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-caed-2_21-cv-00468/pdf/USCOURTS-caed-2_21-cv-00468-0.pdf https://www.change.org/p/hold-ford-accountable-for-fixing-their-ecoboost-engines https://www.lieffcabraser.com/2021/05/ford-ecoboost-engine-defect-lawsuits-consolidated-in-california/

Filed Apr 30, 2023 · Transmission · IN

While driving on rural roads (30-45mph) the vehicle had a sudden loss in power, as though the transmission was slipping. The problem went away as suddenly as its onset, but approximately a week later, a warning 'Transmission Failure, Service Now.' appeared and the vehicle immediately went into limp mode, and would not shift into higher gears. AAA was called to tow the vehicle to the dealer for service. The Ford dealer received the vehicle and reported that the clutch plates had failed. This vehicle had the original transmission fail at 65,000 miles. Ford refused to pay for any parts or labor, as the car was out-of-warranty (by 5000 miles). Customer payed out-of-pocket for diagnosis, parts, and labor to install a new transmission ($5820.86). The second failure noted above occurred at 81,000 miles (only 15,000 miles / 18 months on the new transmission) and was covered under the warranty of the prior transmission.

Filed Feb 10, 2023 · Transmission · WA

I received Safety Recall Notice 22S43/ the federal safety agency Recall 22V413 from Ford in October 2022. I called my local Ford Dealer West Hills Ford in Bremerton WA to schedule the recall service soon after. They told me they were too busy to do the service, and said they would call back. They never did. Today, my car will not shift out of park and I was in a busy parking lot. Once turned off, it will not start again. I called West Hills Ford to schedule the service today and was told they don't have the part and can't do the recall service.

Filed Jun 14, 2022 · SC

The bushing to my vehicle unattached itself while I was in the car and my 6 year old child. The car continued to roll forward although I tried to hold the brakes down and it would not go into park. I had to use the emergency brakes to keep the vehicle from continuing to roll forward. I looked up a recall for my vehicle but it has no remedy to the issue. I cannot drive my car in the condition that it is in because it will not go into gear or crank up because it is stuck in reverse.

Filed Feb 1, 2022 · Transmission · 86,000 miles · IN

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and running, she attempted to shift to drive however, the gear shifter would not go into drive. The contact stated that the gear shifter would move but would not go into any other gear. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed that the transmission shifter cable bushing had failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 18V471000 (Power Train) because her VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer referred the contact to the federal safety agency for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.

Filed Nov 14, 2021 · Transmission · MI

There was a recall for 203-2014 Ford Escapes (18S20) for the bushing on the shifter cable breaking and requiring repair. However our vehicle is a 2015 Escape and we were told it was not covered by the recall although we experienced a similar issue. Upon putting the vehicle in reverse the gearbox stuck in reverse and was not able to shift to neutral, drive, or any other gear. Since the vehicle was stuck in gear and not able to move until the tow truck arrived it put others at risk. We had the car towed to Merrill Ford in Okemos Michigan where they confirmed the bushing failed however due to Ford's protocol they had to replace the entire shifter cable at an estimated price of $950. I did some investigation and found another cable and requested the dealer remove the bushing from the new cable and install it on the vehicle. I could have purchased just the bushing however the dealership advised against it. In addition, the shifter cable was not available for approximately another week since 1,400 were on backorder which makes me believe this is a bigger problem than just our vehicle. There were no prior warnings to the bushing failure. Although the dealership knew there was an alternative solution of only replacing the bushing they originally refused to do it. I find this practice of not replacing the failed part (bushing) negligent and trying to create more revenue for Ford and the dealership.