2015 Ford Escape3rd gen (2013–2019), third year

Updated 2026-08-29NHTSA counts read on this date — 1074 complaints. They rise over time.

The 2015 Ford Escape Draws More Complaints Now Than It Did New

Twenty-eight complaints about the 2015 Escape were filed during calendar 2015. In 2026 the count is 153 and the year is not over. That is the opposite of what a complaint record usually does, and the reason is not that the car got worse.

Owners have filed 1,074 complaints with NHTSA about the 2015 model year. Ford sold 306,209 Escapes in calendar 2014 and 306,492 in 2015, and the 2015 model year sold across both, so the denominator is in the hundreds of thousands. That is not a rate — 1,074 filings are not 1,074 owners — and the count earns its keep only because the other years in this series are counted the same way.

The basics

Third year of the third-generation Escape, and the last one before the 2017 facelift changed the engines. Three four-cylinders, all with the same six-speed automatic: a 2.5-liter in front-wheel drive only, and EcoBoost turbos at 1.6 and 2.0 liters.

The engine mix in the complaint record has shifted from the earlier cars. On the 2014, two thirds of filings that decode are 1.6L. Here it is under half.

Specs

Horsepower is from NHTSA’s vPIC catalog, which holds what the manufacturer submitted. Fuel economy is EPA. Towing is Ford’s own 2015 RV & Trailer Towing Guide.

Unchanged from the 2014 apart from a city mpg on two of the three engines. NHTSA rated it four stars overall — four frontal, five side, four rollover, on both drivetrains.

What owners filed

Sections below are sorted by count and each complaint is counted once. They add up to 787. The remaining 287 are spread thin — NHTSA tagged 73 of them electrical, 51 engine, and 25 each fuel and steering.

Engine identification comes from decoding the VIN attached to each filing. 1,033 of the 1,074 decode: 1.6L 49.3 percent, 2.0L 35.3, 2.5L 15.4. The sections below are read against those shares. The 1.6L figure is much lower than on the two earlier cars.

This is not a failure rate by engine. The shares here are shares of the complaint record, not of the cars Ford built — the complaint record does not contain that. An engine that draws more complaints of every kind would move both numbers together.

Transmission and shifter — 278

Counted as filings NHTSA tagged power train, plus those that name the transmission, the shifter, or the shift cable.

The largest section on this model year, which is a first for this generation — the 2013 and 2014 are led by the engine.

78 name the shifter, the shift cable, or the bushing. 45 describe a transmission being replaced. 29 describe the car rolling or moving on its own. 39 cite a shifter recall by number.

This car carries two shifter campaigns rather than one. 22V254000, from April 2022, covers 2015 Escapes with the 2.0L and says the bushing attaching the shifter cable to the transmission “may degrade or detach.” Two months later 22V413000 covered 2013–2019 Escapes for the same thing without the engine restriction.

From ODI 11682798:

“While driving, the car hesitates changing gears. Sometimes the car will not go in gear or go into Park. Had a recall in 2022 for some bushings and cable shifter. The car is too dangerous to drive and mechanics have stated a new transmission is needed.”

Backup camera — 165

Counted as filings NHTSA tagged back-over prevention, plus those that name the backup, rear or reverse camera.

This is the section that explains the shape of the whole record, so it is worth being specific about the timing. Camera filings on this car ran in the single digits every year through 2024. In 2025 there were 41. In 2026 so far there are 105.

Ford filed recall 25V695000 in October 2025. It covers a long list of vehicles including the 2015–2016 Escape, and it says the rearview camera “may display a distorted, intermittent, or blank image when the vehicle is in reverse.” NHTSA’s consequence line reads: “A rearview camera that fails to properly display an image can reduce the driver’s view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.”

The dates in the remedy text are the ones that matter here. VINs “became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 14, 2025.” Interim letters “notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on October 25, 2025.” The campaign is phased, with the remedy arriving by model and model year, and additional letters going out when it does. NHTSA’s record also carries an agency action number against it, PE24030.

92 of these 165 filings name 25V695000 by number. 103 mention a letter or a notification. 30 say the part was not available when they went in.

From ODI 11757438:

“The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera failed to display an image. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.”

63 of the 165 describe the screen going black or blank; 48 describe an image that is distorted, inverted, or upside down. Both are what the recall document describes.

Coolant and overheating — 148

Counted as filings that name the coolant, the engine overheating, or a head gasket.

A fifth the size of the 2013 car’s section, on a car with half as many filings. 144 decode and 110 of those are the 1.6L — 76 percent against 49 percent of the whole record, so the skew inside the complaint data is still there, just smaller.

54 use the word overheat. 17 describe the engine being replaced. 15 name a head gasket.

From ODI 11727617:

“MIL activated, reported misfire in cylinder 2. Attempted to replace spark plugs but they had seized. Took to dealership: was told coolant leaked into cylinder and entire engine needed to be replaced. Technician said this was common with Ecoboost engines for this model year, but not enough to merit a recall. Cost to replace engine more than the vehicle is worth”

The 1.6L engine campaigns from the earlier cars — 12V431000, 12V551000, 13V583000, 17V209000 — do not cover the 2015.

Stalling — 65

Counted as filings that say the car stalled.

One 2015-only recall speaks to the opposite failure and is worth knowing about anyway. 15V436000, from July 2015, covers 2015 Escapes built April 1, 2014 to June 12, 2015, where “the engine may continue to run after the key or the START/STOP engine button is turned to off.” Ford filed it as a noncompliance with FMVSS 114, “Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention,” and the fix is a body control module software update.

Door latch — 46

Counted as filings that name a door latch, or a door that opened or would not stay closed.

Two campaigns reach this car: 16V643000 and 20V331000. The 2013–2014-only door recall, 14V239000, does not.

Power steering — 44

Counted as filings that name the power steering or the steering assist.

A quarter the size of the 2013 car’s section. NHTSA has no recall against the 2015 Escape for the electric steering assist.

Brakes — 22

Counted as filings NHTSA tagged service brakes.

Fires — 19

NHTSA’s own flag on the filing, not a word count.

Nineteen, against 89 on the 2013 and 103 on the 2014. Of the 19, eight decode to the 1.6L. This is the single largest change between the 2014 car and this one, and the complaint record does not say why. What it says is that the number went down and stayed down — 2016 through 2019 run 10, 15, 5 and 3.

What doesn’t show up in the complaints

The body, the seats and the interior barely appear — 26 structure filings out of 1,074. The crash performance that earned four stars overall and five on side impact has not generated a pattern of complaints. Neither has the 2.5L on its own: it is 159 of the 1,033 filings that decode, and it is under-represented in every section above.

What the complaint curve says

Filings ran 28 in 2015 and climbed slowly to 83 in 2019. They have not settled since — 111 in 2020, 67 in 2021, 136 in 2022, then 110, 99, 142, and 153 so far in 2026.

Two of those bumps have documents attached. The 2022 rise sits alongside the two shifter recalls, filed in April and June of that year. The 2025–2026 rise is the camera: take the camera filings out and 2026 drops from 153 to 48, which is lower than 2020.

That is the useful thing to carry out of this page. A complaint count going up can mean a recall letter arrived, not that a car got worse. The 2015 Escape’s record looks alarming in aggregate and reads calmly when you sort it by year and cause.

Complaint databases collect complaints. Nobody files to say the camera works. Rates are not comparable across models without running the same arithmetic on each. What this data supports is the ranking inside this car and the timing behind it.

If you’re looking at one

Ordered by what it costs you if it goes wrong, not by how many people filed.

Ask whether the shifter cable bushing has been done, and get the campaign number. This is the largest section on the car and the one that can move a parked vehicle. If it has the 2.0L, two campaigns apply — 22V254000 and 22V413000. Ask for the repair order rather than a yes.

Put it in reverse and look at the screen, then check the recall status. 25V695000 is open on this model year and phased, so “my dealer says it’s on the list” and “it’s fixed” are different answers. Thirty filings describe being told the part was not available. A camera that works today is worth confirming anyway.

If it is a 1.6L, get a compression or leak-down test. The coolant section is smaller here than on the earlier cars but the engine skew is still there, and none of the 1.6L engine recalls cover the 2015.

Drive it long enough to reach operating temperature and watch the gauge. The overheating filings on this car describe highway driving, not a lap of the block.

Turn the key off and make sure the engine stops. That sounds absurd, and it is a real 2015-only recall — 15V436000, on cars built April 2014 through June 2015, is a software fix for exactly that.

Open and close all four doors from the outside. Forty-six filings describe a latch that will not hold, and two campaigns touch it.

Numbers worth writing down

NHTSA lists nine campaigns against this model year, less than half what the 2013 car carries.

The 2016 car is next, and the camera section gets bigger.

Sources

• NHTSA complaint database — 1,074 complaints for the 2015 Escape, quoted above by ODI number
• NHTSA recall API — nine campaigns, quoted from the campaign summaries and remedy text
• NHTSA vPIC — engine and horsepower, decoded from the VINs attached to the filings
• NHTSA safety ratings — 2015 Escape FWD and AWD
• EPA fueleconomy.gov — fuel economy by engine and drive
• Ford 2015 RV & Trailer Towing Guide (official)
• GoodCarBadCar — Escape US sales figures

Complaint counts and quotes come from NHTSA’s public database, retrieved 2026-08-29; each quote lists its ODI number so you can look it up. Engine identification comes from decoding the VIN attached to each filing — 1,033 of the 1,074 decode. Recall applicability depends on the VIN — check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls. This summarizes what owners reported. It isn’t buying or repair advice.