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2,580 owners have filed defect reports on this one. That's not a small number. 1 active recall campaign on file.
Average for the segment. Some recurring trouble spots worth knowing about.
Repair exposure runs above average — only with money set aside and eyes open.
Our read of the federal NHTSA complaint and recall record for this exact year and model — not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection. How we score.
After the 1.6L EcoBoost fires of 2013-2016, Ford swapped to a 1.5L EcoBoost on the 2017 Escape. Same problem. Different displacement. The 1.5L cracks coolant into the cylinders the same way the 1.6L did.
The 1.5L EcoBoost (engine code GTDI 1.5L, internal Sigma family) was Ford’s response to the 1.6L’s reputation. Smaller bore, same architecture, same coolant-routing problem in the cylinder head. Coolant ends up in the cylinder, the engine misfires, the long block needs replacement. Ford issued NHTSA campaign 22V-866 in 2022 covering 1.5L EcoBoost coolant intrusion — five years after the engines started failing. The fix is replacement of the short block or full engine under campaign.
On a 2017 Escape today, the first thing to check is whether the 22V-866 campaign work is documented complete. No paper = walk. Same rule as the 1.6L.
The 2.0L EcoBoost option is also still on the menu in 2017 with its own wet-belt-in-oil failure mode (typically 80k-120k miles, $1,800-2,800 if caught before bottom-end damage). The wet belt is not a recall — just inherited bad engineering. See the 2014 Escape story for the wet-belt deep-dive.
Same six-speed automatic. Same shudder, hard shifts, delayed engagement. Same reflash TSBs from Ford. Same lack of a redesigned valve body. See the 6F35 PowerShift research piece and the transmission pillar for the broader picture.
A redesigned center stack with Sync 3 replaces the disastrous MyFord Touch from the 2013-2016 cars. That’s the one positive change. Sync 3 isn’t perfect but it’s not the system that pushed the 2013 Edge to #3 on the complaint leaderboard.
Almost identical to the 2013-2016 buying logic: 1.5L EcoBoost is buyable only with 22V-866 campaign work documented complete. 2.0L is buyable with the wet belt costed in. 2.5L four-cylinder is the most boring option and the safest mechanical bet. All three pair with the same 6F35.
On any out-of-warranty 2017 Escape, run the warranty math — the combination of EcoBoost engine risk + 6F35 risk makes this exactly the buy-the-coverage case the calculator is built for.
Two different things are happening with my car. 1) the paint is chipping and has caused corrosion on the body. Apparently this is a known issue but the peeling/chipping has gotten worse and will keep doing so until it is fixed. 2) car keep running hot and losing coolant but no…
While driving vehicle at night on [XXX] to Richmond, VA my headlights both stopped working completely. The only way I could see was by turning on my high beam headlights. The high beam headlights worked fine. There was no warning lights, no sounds, the interior lights and…
Vehicle is slowly losing collant, and when I park I get a strong smell of collant. I took vehicle to have collant flushed and was took system was ok. From what I have researched is that there is a history of coolant entering engine cylinder because of defective engine and…
Engine failure due to multiple coolant failures, due to poor design of the long engine block. Ford removed and replaced the long block in full, but it was out of warranty. There are multiple class action lawsuits against Ford for the defecting engine block design. There was…
Drag to your current mileage. Numbers are derived from this vehicle's complaint history.
If a window closes on a body part, it can increase the risk of injury.
It's got known weak points. With a reliability score of 6.0 out of 10 based on 2,580 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2017 Ford Escape has a higher-than-average rate of reported issues. The areas to watch are listed above. Whether it's worth owning depends on price, condition, and how much repair exposure you can absorb.
The 2017 Ford Escape is a higher-risk ownership prospect. Repair exposure runs above average — only with money set aside and eyes open. The record behind that call: Body: 55 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 20,000–60,000 mi; Steering: 48 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 24,000–59,555 mi; Reliability score 6.0/10 — around the segment average; 1 recall campaign on file. This is our read of the federal complaint and recall data — not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection.
Based on NHTSA records, the most-reported issue is engine, with 1,627 complaints filed. Typical failure occurs around 81,280 miles. Average repair cost runs about $3,100 at an independent shop.
The engine is one of the costlier repair items. Average repair cost runs about $3,100 at an independent shop. Typical failure occurs around 81,280 miles. Catching early warning signs can sometimes extend life by 20–30,000 miles.
Paste your VIN into the decoder at the top of this page. We pull live from NHTSA, so you'll see exactly which campaigns apply to your vehicle and whether the dealer has logged the fix. Recall repairs are always free regardless of mileage or warranty status.
Math is straightforward: a quality service contract runs $1,800–3,500 over 3 years. With 2,580 complaints on file and the costliest repair averaging $3,100, one major failure more than pays for it. The catch is reading the contract — many providers exclude wear items and require pre-authorization, so cheaper plans are not always better value.