254 complaints reported

2016 Ford Escape Power Train

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
254
Crashes
4
Fires
0
Injuries
5

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Jan 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle downshifted as the transmission warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 98,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2025
Jan 2025

On march 13th I was coming home and my transmission stopped working I had to have it towed and now it’s being replaced

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2025
Jan 2025

Transmission failure. Had to have the transmission repaired at 132,000 miles. Had idle issues and inconsistent speed while driving on the road, constant jerking causing me to lose speed while driving. Check engine light illumination was on but this is not always a tell-tell sign of the transmission failure in these vehicles.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Sep 2024
Dec 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that when the brake pedal was depressed the vehicle failed to stop as intended. In addition, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle did not restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was advised to tow the vehicle to an independent mechanic who specialized in transmission replacement. The vehicle was towed to a second independent mechanic that specialized in transmission replacement. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Sep 2024
Dec 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle started to roll backwards, with the transmission fault message displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, but the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The contact stated that the failure occurred immediately after the vehicle was serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (POWER TRAIN). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 198,465.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Sep 2024
Dec 2024

The vehicle flashed to move it to park, which i did and then the vehicle proceeded to die in the middle of a busy intersection. My children were in the vehicle on an incredibly hot day, surrounded by lots of traffic, making it incredibly dangerous for us. I had my vehicle towed to my home, where my husband, who is a mechanic, was able to figure out that the 50 amp fuse in the fuse box had blown, but it never registered on the scanner, that the fuse was the issue. He changed the fuse, thus fixing the issue. I would just like other owners of this type of vehicle to know, that hopefully this could also be their issue, and a simple fix.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2024
Dec 2024

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

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 9999 TBD TBD, Manufacturer: ODI Demo Co
Incident: Sep 2024
Nov 2024

Transmission problem. Car slow down drastically. Cannot back up.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Nov 2024
Oct 2024

The car completely died at a busy intersection with no previous issues. Ford states I need a new transmission.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2024
Oct 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jun 2024
Sep 2024

Transmission, currently available for inspection. Vehicle stalled in traffic. Yes, confirmed by dealership No other inspections On occasion it did seem to stay in low gear too long. Dash message said Transmission Fault on September 10, 2024 but no other warnings prior. While driving "Transmission Fault" displayed on dash after revving up, gearing down, and apparently shifting into neutral while driving causing it to stall in traffic. It was towed to dealership and diagnostics showed a transmission replacement was needed but the cost was book value of the vehicle, $9100+. Vehicle has 111,000 miles.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Oct 2024
Sep 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Oct 2023
Sep 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2023
Aug 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 148,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2024
Aug 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the transmission shifted gear independently with the "Shift to Park" message displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that several icons on the instrument panel were blinking intermittently. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 121,312.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2024
Jul 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2024
Jul 2024

I recently purchased a 2016 Ford Escape with a 6f35 transmission in it. I have been experiencing hard shifts out of the transmission. This is a current on going problem with many users of this vehicle with this transmission. The valve body fails causing the harsh shifts, soft shifts, and shift flares which leads to catastrophic failure. Please issue a recall of this as it’s a defect in the development of this transmission.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2024
Jun 2024

Transmission suddenly loosing power without any signs on highway , car has only 93k miles , at highway speed I lost all power without warnings .

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jun 2024
Jun 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2023
May 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Nov 2024
May 2024

I was driving on a highway. All of a sudden the transmission fail light came on and my vehicle almost came to a complete stop. I NO warning. I was scared to death!!!! I see I am not the only one. I see several similar reports online.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Sep 2024
May 2024

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 NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2024
Apr 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Sep 2023
Apr 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2024
Mar 2024

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 NHTSA Campaign Number: 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 NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 184,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD ESCAPE, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2024

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2016 Ford Escape has 254 Power Train complaints on file. 4 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.