The 2014 Ford Escape has a lot of problems. Under the hood you’ll find oil leaks, antifreeze leaks, and frayed shift cables. In the body, you’ve got loose door latches and exploding sunroofs, and in the cabin you have seat adjusters that might just chew up the seats.
- The 2014 Ford Escape earned mostly Good ratings in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crash test, excepting a couple of Poor ratings for driver and passenger side front impact. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported similar findings with with a four-star overall rating.
- Oil leaks and cylinder misfires are among the leading engine issues for 2014 Escape owners.
- Structural issues include loose door latches and bad welds in the seats.
- The 2014 Escape has been recalled twice for rollaway, but this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to transmission problems.
- With so many reliable used SUVs on the market, there’s no good reason to buy a 2014 Ford Escape.
Engine Problems Include Oil Leaks, Overheating, Stalling
A small recall was issued in 2014 for just over 300 units with cracked fuel delivery modules. In early 2015, there was a recall for improper plating on the fuel pump which could result in engine stall in over 54,000 units. In 2017, a recall covering over 208,000 units addressed an oil leak in the engine cylinder head.
Any one of these issues can be disastrous, and collectively they spell out a pattern of structural issues throughout the whole engine. There are nearly 500 engine complaints on file, making up over a third of the 1,455 total. Many of these complaints have been registered after the latest engine recall.
Several complaints, both recent and not-so-recent, report antifreeze leaking into the cylinder and causing misfires. Early signs of the problem usually include overheating, burning odors, and smoke coming from the engine.
Failure mileage is typically reported at somewhere past the 100,000 mark, and most 2014 Escapes already cleared that number years ago. It may be difficult to drive a 2014 Escape with confidence knowing just how many things can go wrong under the hood.
Loose Door Latches Lead a Long List of Structural Issues
There was a recall for loose door latches in 2016, and another in 2020, covering millions of Ford units in total. There have been several complaints of doors popping open since then. There have also been recalls for bad welds and loose bolts in the seat assemblies, and loose sunroofs.
In addition to the structural problems that have already been acknowledged by Ford, there are reports of seats burning hot as a result of bad wiring. Also, seats being shredded by the adjustment mechanisms, and door panels coming loose.
Based on the complaints you’ll find listed with the NHTSA, you should count yourself lucky if you can find a 2014 Ford Escape that’s still in one piece. There are simply a lot of issues with doors, panels, latches, sunroofs, and seats in this vehicle.
Some of these issues have been recalled and others haven’t, so there’s not much that you can do about this but to run a thorough inspection along with the test-drive. Adjust the seats, check every door, mirror, and window, and make sure nothing feels like it was attached with Elmer’s glue.
Unintentional Rollaway Leads to Two Recalls
A pair of recalls issued in 2018 and 2022 resulted in nearly three and a half million notices being sent out for a potential rollaway. In affected vehicles, the cable bushing used to shift into park could degrade or detach. This could result in your Escape failing to shift into park, and rolling down inclines.
Unfortunately, this might not be all there is to the car’s powertrain problems. There are 372 powertrain complaints on file in total, with the most recent coming from a driver whose VIN was not included in the recall, and who is seeing their transmission jump between gears seemingly at random.
Another driver reports the transmission slipping while driving, and that the vehicle would need to warm up for a full half hour every morning before even shifting into gear. Some drivers report that they were included in the powertrain recalls, but are still waiting on replacement parts.
If you’re shopping for a 2014 Ford Escape, the best way to avoid being stuck with a bad transmission is to check the VIN and see if the vehicle was included in any powertrain recalls. Check to see if the repairs were already completed. You don’t want to get stuck on a waiting list.
Don’t Buy a 2014 Ford Escape
If someone gives you a 2014 Ford Escape for free, great. If they’re willing to trade you one for your old bicycle, cool. But these things start out in the $15,000 range and go well past twenty grand in the Blue Book. You don’t want to spend that much money on an SUV with this many engine and powertrain problems.
Something like a 2015 Hyundai Tucson will cost about the same, but has only generated a single recall and fewer than 200 user complaints as of the time of this writing. If you want to go a little newer, the 2019 Ford Escape comes with far fewer problems under the hood than the 2014 edition.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it, the 2014 Ford Escape simply hasn’t aged well.
