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What the official records show
For the 2018 Ford Escape, the NHTSA complaint API returned 1,766 unique owner complaint records across the catalog variants ESCAPE when Car Trouble Lab captured this dataset. Those records included 25 reports marked as involving a crash and 5 marked as involving a fire. Injury and death fields summed to 30 injuries and 0 deaths. The NHTSA recalls API returned 4 distinct safety campaigns, including 17V803000, 18V104000, 22V413000, and 26V011000. The captured component evidence profile was ENGINE: 1,126 tags (64% of unique complaint records), 4 crash-marked, 4 fire-marked, and 7 reported injuries; ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING: 340 tags (19% of unique complaint records), 0 crash-marked, 0 fire-marked, and 0 reported injuries; POWER TRAIN: 269 tags (15% of unique complaint records), 4 crash-marked, 0 fire-marked, and 6 reported injuries; ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 53 tags (3% of unique complaint records), 2 crash-marked, 0 fire-marked, and 2 reported injuries; FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM: 42 tags (2% of unique complaint records), 1 crash-marked, 1 fire-marked, and 4 reported injuries. The campaign evidence profile was 17V803000 (AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW; received 18/12/2017); 18V104000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS; received 12/02/2018); 22V413000 (POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL); received 10/06/2022); 26V011000 (EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:ENGINE BLOCK HEATER; received 15/01/2026). These are reported-record counts, not a measured failure rate and not a diagnosis of any individual vehicle.
SOURCES
- NHTSA complaint and recall aggregateNHTSA Consumer Complaints · primary source
- NHTSA complaint and recall aggregateNHTSA Recalls · primary source
custom
How to interpret the pattern
The most frequently assigned complaint component categories in this captured query were ENGINE (1,126), ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING (340), POWER TRAIN (269), ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (53), and FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM (42). Adjacent captured model years reported 2017: 2,660 complaints and 4 campaigns; 2019: 575 complaints and 3 campaigns. These comparisons are raw record totals, not exposure-adjusted rates. One complaint can carry more than one component tag, so category counts should not be added to reproduce the total complaint count. Too few usable positive mileage values were present to publish a median. NHTSA complaint records are owner-submitted and may be incomplete, duplicated before ODI-number deduplication, or unverified. A high count can also reflect how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road. Use this page to choose inspection questions, not to label every 2018 Ford Escape defective.
methodology
What to check next
Start with the categories that repeat most often, then compare the complaint description and warning symptoms with the actual vehicle rather than ordering a part from a category label. Check the full 17-character VIN in NHTSA's official recall lookup because a model-year campaign list cannot tell whether a particular vehicle is included or whether its remedy was completed. Preserve diagnostic trouble codes and freeze-frame data before clearing them, ask for repair invoices, and obtain a qualified inspection when a symptom affects braking, steering, restraint systems, fire risk, or drivability. Car Trouble Lab does not determine whether a vehicle is safe to drive.