Problems · NHTSA complaints

2008 Ford Escape problems

Owners filed 2,417 complaints about the 2008 Ford Escape with NHTSA between Jun 2007 and Sep 2026. The most-cited component is steering (1,237).

Complaints
2,417
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
72
Reported by owners
Fires
7
Reported by owners
Injuries
45
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Steering1,237
  2. Power train372
  3. Service brakes249
  4. Electrical system200
  5. Vehicle speed control200
  6. Engine157
  7. Engine and engine cooling75
  8. Fuel/propulsion system57
  9. Electronic stability control (esc)45
  10. Structure44
  11. Service brakes, hydraulic39
  12. Suspension35
  13. Air bags34
  14. Tires28

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
200711
200830
200974
2010112
2011125
2012146
2013230
2014372
2015207
2016230
2017198
2018244
2019146
202094
202146
202254
202331
202423
202530
202614

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Steering

1,237 reports30 crashes1 related recall
“Was driving on highway at 55 when the wrench warning light came on drove car to residence and turned it off, when car was cranked again it had no power steering. Vin number was not included in recall on same issue. Has not been fixed.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 12, 2026SteeringODI 11756566

Power train

372 reports2 crashes1 fire1 related recall
“The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle and driving from a parking lot at 5 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle, and the transmission skipped second and forth gear, and remained in third gear. The vehicle hesitated and stalled. An Independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed a bolt failure and that the transmission bands needed to be replaced. The transmission band was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 116,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 22, 2026Power trainODI 11745583

Service brakes

249 reports15 crashes
“In rainy conditions, executed a hard stop activating the ABS. After successfully activating, the brakes go almost to the floor, and ABS function has stopped. No air in brake system, and master cylinder checks out good. Seems dangerous that the one time you really need ABS, it goes out. No warning lights on dash, mechanic has confirmed issue.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 21, 2025Service brakesODI 11649792

Electrical system

200 reports4 crashes5 fires
“driving down the road and out of nowhere all the dash light come on, the speedometer and rpm all go to zero. I am able to still control the car and drive down, the only thing that won’t work besides the dash cluster is the air conditioning. Hitting a bump or smacking the dash normally turns off the dash light and I can see my speed and rpm’s again. I took it to ford for them to diagnose and they said the dash cluster is what’s bad. It’s very scary to drive because the lights come on so often and I’m fearful I’m going to lose more control of the vehicle.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 11, 2025Electrical systemODI 11686741

Vehicle speed control

200 reports8 crashes
“When driving, the gas pedal will get stuck down and you will not be able to apply more pressure to the pedal to accelerate. This often happens when I go to change gear and then go back to the gas pedal to accelerate again. This typically will only happen from time to time but today it occurred every time I went to change gears. I had to pull over on the highway because I was unable to keep up with traffic and the weather was quite snowy and it was unsafe for me to try to drive without keeping speed with traffic.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 5, 2024Vehicle speed controlODI 11563859

Engine

157 reports3 crashes
“While driving over 60 MPH the car will begin to say the engine is hot and sometimes without warning going to stop safely now however when you open the hood nothing is hot to touch and there's an extreme amount of coolant gone from the engine coolant tank have replaced coolant tank itself still having issue begin happening in March and is still continuing”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 13, 2026EngineODI 11750029
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.