transmission needs to be replaced as it went bad. getting done 7/15/24 for a cost of $7,041. only 68,000 miles on the car and just out of warranty. these need to be recalled and or owners be reimbursed for costs related to replacement and/or rebuilding.
2016 Ford Escape transmission complaints
Page 4 of 12: complaints 71 to 100 of 323, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The car completely died at a busy intersection with no previous issues. Ford states I need a new transmission.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle began chugging and lunging. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road into a parking lot and restarted but the failure persisted. On another occasion while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle began lunging and chugging. The contact stated that while attempting to place the vehicle in park(P), the gear selector was stiff. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then towed to another independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,796.
This car is an accident waiting to happen. 1st car kept on shuddering or pulling while driving over 40 miles per hour. Took it to Ray Price Ford in Stroudsburg PA 4 times they couldn’t diagnose or replicate what I was talking about. I had to pull over a few times because I thought a cable popped or I hit something. Took it back the 5th time 6/2020 92,000 miles just out of warranty they finally diagnosed it with a bad transmission. $6,000. I fought with them and was able to get them to split the cost because they weren’t able to diagnose it when it was under warranty. I thought I was past the nightmare called Ford Escape. However around 5/2024, 115,00 miles my daughter was driving the car on the highway. Cruising at 60mph, when she had to press the gas pedal to speed up to get to her exit. The car lost power, she floored it and it wouldn’t move. She pulled over and called us. She said the check engine light came on and the car had no pickup when she stepped on the gas pedal .I told her to drive it home with the hazards on. We took it to Ray Price and they said the turbocharger was on the way out and cleared the code. I called Ford customer service to complain again about the piece of garbage that they sold us and their answer was if the car is over 7 years old and 100,000 miles they can’t help. I think that’s total [XXX]!!! I have never had a car that the transmission went before 100,000 miles. Ford customer Service is a joke. There was just a huge recall on their F-150’s for transmission problems. They are making dangerous vehicles and they need to fix them. It’s not fair that you buy a vehicle for $30,000 or more and then you have to replace the transmission and turbocharger just over 100,000 miles. These vehicles should be recalled and fixed once and for all. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was shuddering and chugging significantly. Additionally, the transmission was slipping between gears. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the engine was replaced. Additionally, the contact stated while driving 70-75 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle jerked and lunged forward. The contact also stated that while attempting to drive from a complete stop, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to respond while the engine was revving. The contact stated that he continuously depressed the accelerator pedal until the vehicle responded. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.
The contact's daughter owns a 2016 Ford Escape. While the contact's daughter was driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled upon depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact and the contact's husband were called and arrived at the scene where an attempt was made to restart of the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer where it remained in the dealer's possession for a week. The contact called the dealer and was informed that the vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
I have 2 ford escapes a 2015 and a 2016 (2016 referenced in this complaint) both have experienced catastrophic transmission failure within weeks of each other. The transmission would slip and hard shift, eventually disable completely and would indicate the transmission needed to be serviced.
The car started revving without any warning lights while I was on the highway 635 which caused the car to suddenly lose speed and despite every effort I put into getting it to move putting my life and that of other road users at risk. The car would revv jerk forward and then decline in speed. The "Transmission Fault" warning indicators only came on much later. This led me to conduct research and discover that a lot of other drivers have had the same issue with the same car model. I took it to TownEast Ford and they confirmed the transmission was slipping. I have since taken it to two independent repair companies who ran diagnostic tests on it and confirmed that the transmission was completely faulty. A general search on google has shown to me that this is a very common issue with the 2016 Ford Escape costing users an unbelievable amount of money in repair costs.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000.
The transmission suddenly failed with no warning. 2016 under $90k miles. Mechanic saying very abnormal and was because a small piece inside broke that is manufacturer error.
While Driving the vehicle Car came out of gear and the tachometer revved. I had to pull the car off the side of the road shut the car down and then restart it and it then was able to go into gear but for only a short time maybe a minute or two. No lights appeared on the dash. Luckily I was on a residential street and not a highway where my life definitely could've been put at risk. Car was towed to a Ford dealer and they stated complete transmission failure. Car has 85,xxx miles on it.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the son was driving approximately 55 MPH the vehicle suddenly began to lose motive power and stalled. The "Transmission" warning message was displayed after the failure had occurred. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 72,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while revering in a parking area at low speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost all motive power, and the contact was unable to shift the gear selector. As a result, the vehicle rolled into a busy intersection. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission shifter cable. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number:Â 22V413000 (Power Train), and the VIN was included but had already been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the federal safety agency hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 184,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and stalled. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to move upon depressing the accelerator pedal. The message "Insufficient Transmission Fluid. Service Now" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the torque converter had failed, and the transmission fluid was leaking. The dealer determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 159,834.
Out of the blue on highway. Tachometer reved up to 6 without using throttle. No power, then it jumped out of gear to neutral down a hill. I almost got hit by a truck , no dash lights came on till I called fot help and my husband drove to a safe area and ford escape reared up in air . Then transmission default light came on . A guy put transmission module in to it and it didn't work. So this is not right if it was recalled and now it is doing the issue later
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in for routine maintenance, the mechanic discovered fluid leaking from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was examined, and the contact was informed that the rear differential unit was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 34,573.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond as designed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to pull over when the vehicle stalled. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and had the vehicle towed to a dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 101,224.
Driving the car with no signs at all, car instantly drops rpm’s and won’t accelerate at a busy intersection. Warning for transmission faulty or engine issues did not come on at all. Car was driving normal and then stopped as clutch started slipping. Confirmed with dealership that transmission is out. The car stopped in traffic.
This wasn’t an accident. Over Christmas weekend, my vehicle’s transmission would no longer shift gears correctly. After being told I was looking at thousands of dollars to repair, I decided to sell it. When I listed it on AutoTrader, I discovered a recall from 2022 FOR EXACTLY THE PART OF MY TRANSMISSION THAT MIGHT BE BROKEN. If Ford was supposed to notify me of this in 2022, they certainly did not. So now here I am with a vehicle that doesn’t move.
I am the original owner of this vehicle. I bought it brand new in 2016 and had all service done by Ford Dealership. I was told to have transmission flushed and serviced at 80,000 miles which I did. I was never advised to have anything done to the transmission before 80,000 miles. On 12/06/2023 with absolutely zero lights on the dash I went to put the car in reverse and it didn’t move. I had the car towed with 121,000 miles to a transmission shop where it cost $5,121.79 to have the transmission REBUILT! Again never had a check engine, service transmission not a single light or anything on the dash. I know nothing will get done but I have driven cars reach 200,000 miles with zero transmission problems. I see this is clearly a common problem with Fords across the board but it would have been nice to have been told by Ford to service the transmission every 30,000 miles as I have now been advised by the mechanic who rebuilt my transmission. Just disappointing this is my first Ford and I love this car it’s just really disappointing to have no indication that the transmission needed service BEFORE it shit the bed!
When driving the car at interstate speeds the transmission overheats after just a few minutes. When this happens it triggers the car’s information system to send a message stating “Transmission Fault Service Engine Now.” Just a moment or two later it sends another message stating “Speeds Reduced To Lower Engine Temperature.” Once that message is received you no longer have any throttle control and speed will continue to decline, speed dropped from 70 mph to 30 is maybe an minute, until you pull over and let the transmission cool down. This is especially hazardous on the interstate if your in faster moving traffic with cars behind you and you can no longer accelerate with no way to signal this to the traffic behind you except the four ways. The problem seems to be the fan to cool the transmission never gets the signal to turn on and cool down the transmission. This is an ongoing issue with this vehicle and has been since I got it, there are also multiple site and forums full of this same year make and model having the same issue.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the rear wheels failed to roll and were dragging. Additionally, there was an abnormal popping sound heard. The contact pulled over to the side of the road after each failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was towed several times. The contact stated that the front and rear axles had been replaced by an independent mechanic; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the rear differential had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
On November 14th, 2023, a red alert appeared on the dash that indicated an engine temperature warning indicating that there was a high temperature warning and that I should find a safe place to pull over and immediately stop the vehicle. The temperature indicator on the dash showed the needle move instantly into the red/high area and then drop down. This happened twice, back-to-back. I checked the coolant and it was below the minimum level indicator as shown on the reservoir. A day later, the service engine light illuminated. I took the vehicle to Advanced Auto and asked to pull the service code and was told there were two, P0303 and P0304 which indicated a cylinder three misfire and cylinder four misfire. I noted that the coolant was also low once again despite seeing no fluid on the ground after allowing the vehicle to run. Bill Collins Ford inspected the misfires and coolant and found the issue to be related to a flaw in the engine design which allows coolant to leak into the cylinders. I was told this could have allowed the vehicle to overheat and catch on fire as well as causing the engine to lock up while in operation. Bill Collins Ford provided an estimate of $13,000 to repair the vehicle stating it required a new engine. I purchased this vehicle used from CarMax on August 2, 2023 and have put less than 3,000 miles on it before experiencing this issue.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the transmission inadvertently downshifted to a lower gear. The contact stated that the gear shifter became inoperable. The check engine and electronic throttle control system warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the motor mounts and transmission bushing cable needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his daughter was at a stop light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to move forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but the vehicle was not repaired. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact called three transmission specialists and was made aware of other vehicles with the same failure. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
The transmission went out suddenly while driving. My safety was at risk since it suddenly went out while the vehicle was in motion on a typically busy road. I had to pull over with my hazards on hoping no one would hit me.The car was taken to a local dealer where they determined there were metal shavings in the transmission and it needed to be replaced. A warning came up on the screen but when it came up it was determined that the cause was not need to fix immediately and did not relate to the transmission.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 87,277.
Randomly on10/26/23 my car started shaking while in the drive mode at a stop light. When I took off from the light the car stalled. This continued to happen all the way to my job. When I realized it would not shake when it was in neutral at a stop I would just do that. The stalls would continue. Next after one of the shake a wrench light came on saying "Engine Fault service now" I got to my destination. At lunch I went to take my car to Bobby and Erick at W.B Motors in Fairfax VA for a diagnostic thinking maybe a coil issue. I also noticed the wrench light was gone. No further lights ever came on. The evaluation from the shop was: "No codes or pending codes stored in the engine or transmission. The misfire counter shows zero misfires. Found engine idles very rough in gear. The actual slip RPMS under transmission data is less than 500 while desired is around 1000rpms. We believe the torque converter clutch may be sticking" They referred me to High Tech Transmissions. I called and spoke to a Gary before driving there. They could not get me in. Gary spoke to Bobby about the issue. I got back on the phone with Gary. He explained that I would have to leave the car. My only car had to get home. Here is where my complaint is. Gary said that he had 4 other ESCAPES IN his SHOP with the SAME issue. Being a female I didn't get into did he figure those out. I was so upset about mine. BUT 4 others. So I dropped it off at a ford dealer near my home for further diagnostic. That manager told me he has an ESCAPE with the same issue. I am guessing this isn't just an isolated problem. I will know more today on the exact issue. I feel this should be looked into. Was just confirmed I need a torque converter , valve body and solenoid.
When travelling on a surface roadway, we received a transmission failure warning. We were able to get to a safe area at reduced speed. I feel that if this had happened while on a freeway, our lives could have been jeopardized. The Ford tech said that the transmission needed to be replaced. The torque converter failed. The transmission has been replaced. I don't know where the failed component is now
My vehicle has 57 thousand miles bought it at Ford Dealership with 48k miles and already having transmission issues. Tow truck driver who picked my vehicle up claimed “Every Ford escape i pick up for a tow is always a transmission issue” Horrible car, Waste of money.
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