general problems of the 2020 Ford Escape - part 1

The transmission on my 2020 Ford Escape began shuddering around 30 mph and occasionally shifted harshly during acceleration without any warning lights or messages. I took the vehicle to beechmont Ford, where the technician confirmed the concern, found metal contamination in the transmission fluid, and determined the transmission has internal damage consistent with a failed output planetary bushing, requiring a complete transmission overhaul. The vehicle has approximately 65,000 miles, and the estimated repair cost is $7,200. This issue creates a safety concern because the transmission could unexpectedly lose power, fail to shift properly, or stop propelling the vehicle while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

Transmission needs to be replaced at 70k miles. In reading other user's stories online and hearing from mechanic, I was told to make a report here in reference to Ford's internal memo (ssm 54939). It would be nice for NHTSA to urge Ford to replace/fix transmissions on the 1. 5l dragon engines on the Escape 2020, etc. Too many widespread safety concerns/issues with a defective engine that they know about yet failed to act.

Since about 80,000 miles my Escape has been jerky when shifting in low gears and hesitates to accelerate or accelerates slow putting me and other drivers at risk. I have taken it to Ford several times and each time they fixed something but not the problem. They replaced my rear differential, alternator, compressor and awd module. Also they have done transmission fluid exchanges and updates on the software, however they never fixed the issue. I stressed everytime I took my car in that I was worried about my transmission and powertrain and everytime they did diagnostics I was told everything was great. They drove it as well. ( it dont take much to reproduce the symptoms) all that happened over the past 2 years and the car is still shifting hard in low gears and hesitates to accelerate. Recently I had an incident where it seemed to go in to neutral while shifting between gears on acceleration and actually rolled backwards and the wrench light came on ??. So I took it back. Now im told I need a new transmission and turbo boost at just over 100,000 miles for $13,098. The car isnt even worth that much. I've done some research and there are definitely alot of other Escape/Ford owners with same issues.

Severe transmission shiudder and hesitation when shifting, Ford has had this problem for 6 plus years with theese Escapes and still has no fix.

Clutch inside transmission failed while driving. Started lurching and I was able to pull into a parking lot. Towed to service station where it was confirmed. Warning sign came on after attempting to drive the car to service station.

Vehicle: 2020 Ford Escape issue: transmission / torque converter my 2020 Ford Escape has ongoing transmission problems, including slipping, shuddering, delayed shifting, and sudden loss of power. The vehicle hesitates when accelerating and sometimes fails to engage properly, creating unsafe situations in traffic. These issues appear related to the torque converter and are happening more often over time. This behavior makes the vehicle unreliable and dangerous to drive. I request that NHTSA investigate transmission and torque converter defects in the 2020 Ford Escape.

Vehicle went into low power or limp mode unexpectedly on interstate highway. Vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly slowed and was unable to maintain highway speed.

I have a 2020 Ford Escape se that I am having a lot of issues with the transmission. I looked to see what kind of recall is for on it and I'll see there is a lot of complaints related to the transmission and when I called Ford they said mine was not included with the recalls on the transmission although my transmission is also jerking, hard shifting, along with a shuddering, loud clunking when you shift and to reverse or drive, also my park break has been kicking on by itself and it's done it to me while sitting in traffic, decrease in acceleration (it about got me hit on the highway) as the car could not get gas it would drop dramatically from 70 down to nothing almost on interstate I-75 highway. Also I've had a burning smell coming from the engine. My car is now at the transmission shop and they are trying to figure out what's going on with it I've had it to autozone for them to put it on their tester and a lot of transmission codes came up and one of them so happen to bend the clutch solenoid which could be caused by leaking fluids! I called Ford the corporate office that and they said well you're 20 20 Ford Escape it's not the one in the recalls or the will with the transmission issues but yet it is doing the exact same thing as the other ones that are listed!! it has just a little over 100,000 mi on it the car's not driven hard whatsoever. I was not giving much warning about the transmission the little wrench thing came on flashing and then suddenly these things start happening while on the highway, but then did not stay on! I had to drive my car 45 mi at speed about 30 to get it home. . I do use my car once in a while to drive lyft which now I'm without being able to make some extra money for groceries and whatnot because of this car! also the one of the recalls that is on this car pertains to the transmission updates and according to Ford they don't have the tool to update it but yet this update could affect the functioning of the transmission. . I was at ris.

I have just little and over 100,000 in my car and the transmission is acting up and when I looked it up on google I see there has been other complaints about similar issues that I am having; such as hard shifting and jerking hard revving not wanting to go in gear the car also acts like it does not want to get acceleration or suddenly slows down it acts like it does not want to even take gas this has happened on the highway just up out of nowhere but the jerking and stuff I thought was actually my brakes and that is also another thing my park break wants to engage while I am in motion and has done this even on a highway. . I have seen I am not the only one who has explained about the transmission issue in the park break.

My car has the 8f24 automatic 8-speed transmission. It was a subject to a recall to a fluent league related to the transmission. My car I have experienced hard shifting that low acceleration, along with sudden deceleration not intended, with a lot of bucking and hesitation, with very hard jerking while trying to accelerate or decelerate car almost feels like something wants to fall out from underneath the car. Also wanting to go into automatic parking brake while in motion. . The car has also acted like it will not take gas when it acts like it just not wanting to shift right. . I tried to get a hold of Ford dealership and Ford corporate and was told this is not a recalled issue although it is coming up as a recall. I was told my car was built at a later date that's why it was not considered as an issue but yet I am having the same issues that many others have complained about. I had took it to autozone had them put it on their tester and it does come up with a power train issue relating to the transmission. There is no way for us to check the fluid to see if it's low and transmission fluid. Also I've experience a burning fluid smell coming from the engine. . Ford is not wanting to address this.

I've taken my car 3 times for the same recalls 1st time was to jack kisse for power train and fuel injector he told me the recall wasn't to my car I argued I can tell something was wrong with my car it keeps stalling and it's going to end up killing me in traffic from the fuel injectors so I take it too jack of norton and broken arrow they tell me after sitting there for 8 hours that the powertrain is not taking it takes 4 hours to do it and they only have 30 minutes left and all of a sudden it takes that's a bunch of crap cuz there was only 30 minutes anyway I leave still notice something then a wrench and engine light come on so I take it again were I was charged 've taken my car three different times to get my powertrain recall and fuel injector recall fixed they have failed to do so. . . And now I have a wrench and engine light showing up on my car I take again cuz my app is still tells me that I have recalls for a powertrain and fueli injector recalls all they did was charge me to get the code when I knew it was for the recalls over $200 the very next day the lights come right back on my powertrain and fuel injector never been fixed my they told me I have an open fuel line and let me drive off with it now I'm concerned that my car is going to catch on fire especially in the heat and what do I do if you just taking it back for them to not do anything to my car and now I have the ranch and the engine light coming on and off a different time one day one minute will be the ranch next will be the engine sometimes it's both and I have records of it I keep trying to report it to you guys and I'm not hearing anything back I don't know what else to do I believe that my car is a lemon and they're not going to be able to fix it since I'm taking it three times already please contact me back to let me what I should know where I should do thank you you reach me at 539-573-27 36 or at my email aliciacook103179@gmail. Com I prefer you contact me through email thank your.

I bought my car 2 years ago I heard about a recall so I had check turns back if you don't inject your powertrain and they can't fix it feel injector because they don't have the part apparently but it goes to the powertrain I've had to check three times the last time the light came on the very next day the wrench and the engine now it's saying something by my Cadillac converter and it open fuel line that won't close due to this problem they made me pay $27 just to take the codes off didn't do anything to my car let me drive this car off the lot the very next day the lights come back on I know these are recalls and they're very dangerous for me to drive I'm a mother and a wife and I am not trying to die driving his vehicle I took it if they're three times there has got to be something done they need to give me a vehicle or I've already filed a report with you guys on June 16th 2026.

I have taken my vehicle to 2 different Ford dealership one tell me that this wasn't for my car and immediately it shows up that I need a fuel injection second one jim norton charges me for the lights on my car to get a diagnostics when the recalls and I should never been charged and then the light comes on the next day for the wrench and the engine I've taken my car three times for the recalls and never had to get fixed my engine sounds like crap now it barely runs and it's because of the recall that are not getting fixed.

Transmission shuddering, slipping and or hesitating.

Our transmission is going out. We started having issues without any warning lights coming on. The car jumps heavily at stops lights when we are coming to a stop. The car then doesn't want to accelerate from a stopped position. When we hit the accelerator, the car starts skipping/jumping and the gas pedal feels like it doesn't have any grip. We had an independent mechanic ride in the vehicle and hook it up to the computers and saw that the codes reading is all transmission related. This has made the car undrivable because there have been several times that we have stalled in the middle of intersections and have to cut the car off and turn it back on to try to get it out of the road. Also, the car jumps so far forward when stopping that we are risking rear ending someone. We had the catalytic converter recall done and two days later we started having codes for the transmission pawl. We contacted Ford (who did the recall), and they wanted to charge us for diagnosing it even though it started right after they had it. Only a few weeks after that, we started having the jumping/skipping of the transmission. The pawl seems to have been a wire issue and was fixed. But we are being told we need a new transmission. The car is only 6 years old.

My low mileage 2020 Ford Escape has rear differential shuddering, grinding, and bumping during low speed turns.

The engine longblock assembly has failed. We have followed the "customer satisfaction program 23n06" instructions from Ford since receipt of the letter from Ford dated July 2024. The coverage date was extended to 150,000 miles because Ford knew that the engine in this 2020 Ford Escape titanium hybrid was very likely to fail and die on the highway, and even possibly catch fire. Our Escape's engine light and wrench light came on at 150,222 miles on Sunday, may 31st, 12:10 pm one hour from home. It reduced to low power mode. We had to have it towed to thomasville Ford where we purchased it and have had it serviced. It has been there every since. It is determined that it needs to have a long block. However, Ford is sticking to its 150k period and will not budge. The dealership drove it up to 150,566 miles to prove it out. I have called Ford and pleaded twice to no avail. Ford knows this engine is defective and will not give any grace due to being a few miles over their limit. Help, please!.

Power train fault, awd off, colision assist off.

The transmission on my 2020 Ford Escape has an internal fault code and is not shifting into 6th gear. It is an unsafe issue due to it cannot be driven on highways because it throws the vehicle into limp mode. It was diagnosed at a Ford dealership and Ford is refusing to cover the cost to repair their issue since the vehicle is out of warranty. There is a class action suit against Ford for this issue already. I’ve only had this car for a year and a half. I can’t sell the car and I can’t drive the car, but I have to continue to pay on the loan. This is absolutely unacceptable for Ford to have so many Escapes having the same issue but they are doing nothing to make their faulty transmission right.

Complete transmission failure under normal driving at about 50,000 miles. Cost about $7500 to completely rebuild the transmission since Ford has none available within the next 6 months, probably because so many of them are failing early.

When I was crossing the road to turn around in a u-turn style, the rear end of the car locked up and I slid across several lanes of traffic. This happened only one time but was terrifying! a few times since then, the emergency brake will apply on its own causing the back end to freeze up. It's very random.

Powertrain malfunction/ reduced power hill start assist warning pre- collision assist not available.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The contact stated that after shifting to reverse(r), the vehicle failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was inoperable and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 81,000.

System failures with lights and warnings include: hill start assist, all wheel drive fault, precollision assist, advanctrac. Rear differential and awd module had to be replaced. Car has 57,000 miles on it and is a 2020. Safety is put at risk with a failing rear differential. There were minor vibrations that could've turned into wheel lock. All of the different drive modes were unavailable, and with heavy snow and ice in the area where I live, it made driving more difficult. The car was diagnosed and 2 dealers and one independent service center and the work was ultimately done at a dealer because the all wheel drive module has to be programmed.

There has been a safety recall for this vehicle for the same issue for far too long. Fords temporary remedy has made my vehicle be even more unsafe to drive causing faults with awd, traction control, hill assist, power steering, alternator producing to high voltage, etc. The vehicle was not legal to drive from ‘at to February do to this issues. Fords temporary remedy issued a new recall 25s76 replacing recall 22s73. Supposedly this was going to fix problems with first recall update but the vehicle still experiencing the same faults. And is not legal or safe to drive in NY. When will Ford have to make right in these issues?.

Shuddering transmission, vehicle struggles to change gears smoothly resulting in loss of acceleration. Rough gear changes from 1-3 gears transmission fluid changed. Same issues. Issues go in hand with the current class action lawsuit of Ford Escape and Ford focus over transmission issues. Failure of transmission and exorbitant repair cost over a safety critical issue should automatically require a NHTSA investigation.

Turbo failed due to oil lines clogged. Failed again after repair two weeks later on highway almost causing a collision.

The vehicle is subject to an open federal safety recall involving a fuel injector that may crack and leak fuel onto the top of the engine. According to NHTSA, liquid fuel or fuel vapor may accumulate near hot engine or exhaust components, creating a risk of an under-hood fire and injury. I purchased this vehicle after the recall had already been issued. The recall was not disclosed to me at the time of sale, and the vehicle was presented for service multiple times after purchase without any disclosure of the recall or safety warnings. When I contacted an authorized dealer to ask whether there were any open recalls, I was initially told there were none. After I specifically referenced the recall, I was told that parts were not available and that no repair had been completed. The safety risk is that the vehicle may leak fuel near hot components without warning, creating a fire hazard while driving or after the engine is shut off. I have not been provided interim safety guidance or a timeline for repair. Nhtsa records currently show the recall remains open, unrepaired, and without an available remedy.

The transmission shifting got increasingly rough over time, and then suddenly refused to shift into gear/reverse. The Ford shop told us it was the reverse solenoid, but it ended up requiring a full transmission rebuild. Safety of the car refusing to shift gears led to loss of power several times, unable to accelerate in traffic, until total failure occurred. Problem was inspected by Ford dealership, then repaired by independent service center due to cost. Not inspected by insurance, as it did not result in a collision. Warning lamps did not turn on until total failure occurred. Then lights on gear shift dial blinked, refused to allow us to put the car in gear. Dash lights also indicated "check engine" at that time, but no earlier.

Thumb was deeply cut using gear shift selector knob due to peeling chrome on the knob.

Multiple warning lights 4wd, advance track, power train, hill start coming up on in my 2020 Ford Escape titanium. Some go off for a few days and then come back on, some go on and off while driving. Also purge valve evap codes come up.

I completed my 70,000 maintenance on my vehicle on Monday. Friday when I got in my car after shopping, the dash light for parking brake kept coming on. When I put it in drive, the engine light, park assist light, collision assist light, and multiple warning lights kept cycling on my car’s screen. I drove back to the dealership and they kept the car from Friday morning until Monday afternoon before a diagnosis was handed to me. The write up states that the vehicle is “is slipping in every gear” due to “internal mechanical failure. ” I am at 70,000 miles and I purchased that car on Jan 4, 2021. Therefore I am out of warranty. I have only had the dealer work on my car except for purchasing tires from an outside source. This is a catastrophic failure of a part that should not be failing. The tech is not even guaranteeing that this will fix the problem.

My vehicle was taking to a Ford dealership Dec 8 2020. Diagnosed with transmission problems was told there is no eta on parts and had to get it delivered to me to avoid them charging storage fees. The car has an unsafe transmission issue and no parts to fix it. My vehicle has 71k miles should not have transmission issues. Ford refuses to help, with a buy back or even the parts or helping in any way.

The awd module failed with less than 60,000 miles on the vehicle. I live in the northeast and we get some brutal weather, especially snowstorms. I believe this part should be under a broader recall as it was the same grounding issue as reported in the other current recall for a certain production date Escape for its awd module this year. I have always owned a four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicle, and we love to take scenic trips especially in winter for something to do. The only inspection of the module was the tunkhannock Ford dealer that replaced it. The system did warn me after filling up with gas that there was an issue. I feel that this could have gone really bad if we had been in lake seneca, killington or driving up to bangor. It is the whole idea of it not working because of a single bad grounding wield that shuts all the traction control off to get stuck out in very little snow. . . I don't even know if the abs would react the same under this condition.

At about 95,000 miles, I began experiencing transmission issues. On several occasions, the transmission would not go into second gear and left the vehicle unable to move forward unless I let off the accelerator and it shifted back into first gear. At about 96,000 miles, when placing the vehicle into park, the park light would flash and a growling/grinding noise is present for about 5-10 seconds. In my experience, the park light flashing is an indication that the vehicle has not shifted into the park gear yet. On 11/25/2025, my local Ford dealer confirmed these issues, stating the vehicle had “harsh engage, shift flare 1-2 shift”. The fluid sample was dark and contained metal shavings. The Ford dealer has recommended a complete transmission replacement. The dealer stated they have seen numerous Ford Escapes/broncos/mavericks with my model years and mileage experience similar failures. Because the transmission lags between 1st and 2nd gear, the vehicle could be at low speeds during a lag, and may roll back during a lag, causing a collision. Additionally, it is possible that the vehicle may not be properly engaging its parking gear due to these issues, which may leave the vehicle in an unsafe condition.