Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Ford Escape owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2005 Ford Escape on November 25, 2025. The contact discovered a mileage and VIN discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 199,500. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for a routine inspection, and the dealer informed the contact that during the diagnostic test there was another VIN was associated with the vehicle, and the mileage listed on the diagnostic test was 199,345. The other VIN linked in the diagnostic test for the vehicle was associated with a 2006 Ford Escape, and the mileage was 199,345. It was later discovered that the dealer who had sold the vehicle to the contact had purchased the vehicle in 2018, and the mileage was 199,876. The contact stated that the mileage on the reverse side of the Title was 199,876. The Police were notified; however, no assistance was provided.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated while his son was driving 30 MPH, the vehicle turned off inadvertently. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's son shifted into neutral(N) and veered to the side of the road. The contact's son was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The contact's son then drove to his residence. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
Drove vehicle to drop off dog at sitters, started vehicle began to make u-turn and vehicle stalled. Attempted to restart, cranks but won't run. Recently purchased from used car dealer, new battery was installed, no trouble up to this point. Began checking usual problems, fuel delivery, crank pos.sensor, cam pos sensor, have no spark. Upon further research this appears to be faulty coils, spark plugs and pcm from factory but no recall has been employed. Possibility of collision during u-turn very likely. Loss of power to all systems could cause extreme risk to life at higher speeds. Ford Motor Company is aware of this problem, with the high number of similar problems in the NHTSA data base it is impossible for them not to know. The NHTSA should force Ford to fix this. If you make a product that can be dangerous if faulty, you are responsible to the public to do the right thing. …
Ongoing problem with coils. I was driving my car and smoke started to billow out of the front hood. I then pulled over and call the berkeley township police and they arrived with the pinewald fire company. My husband and son arrived at scene and we had the vehicle towed to our home. The engine control module melted the coils. When my son examined the car the upper intake manifold exploded in his face. I have contacted the Ford motor company and they refused to do anything about it. Also, we noted that there where many other complaints online regarding the same exact problem.
First occurrence of problem: 48800 miles, 5/2012. Engine light on and engine misfiring. Ford dealership determined faulty ignition coil in # 6 cylinder. Replaced ignition coil and spark plug. $295 second occurrence of problem: 74,400 miles, 11/2013. Engine light on and engine misfiring. Mechanic replaced sparkplugs in cylinders # 1-3 all at once since it is difficult to access those. $276 additional occurrences of same problem: upon misfiring in 2014 I bought a code reader which indicated cylinder #5 misfire - replaced ignition coil and spark plug. More misfiring indicated cylinder #4 misfire - replaced ignition foil and spark plug. Major problem update. 2/2/2015 - travelling 55 MPH car shuts off, all warning lights come on, coast to shoulder. Restart car, seems fine, no warning lights. Again cylinder # 4 misfiring - replaced spark plug. …
Ford customer care case #cac-4150994-b2g8c6 & #4151017-n07b9 this was the 2nd major incident; the first occurred in 1/2009. The second major occurrence was 2/2014, when the check engine light came on and the vehicle very quickly lost all power and engine shut off, the power steering and power brakes also did not respond. The vehicle would not restart and had to be towed a Ford dealership. The dealer stated the PCM had failed causing the coils and spark plugs to also fail. The vehicle was at the dealership for 2 weeks waiting for a replacement PCM; dealer stated there was a shortage of PCM availability due to an extremely high nationwide demand for the part. Dealer replaced the PCM, as well as all coils and spark plugs in mid March 2014; the total cost of was, $2,875.70. The PCM, coils and plugs had also been replaced in 1/2009 for the same failures. …
Our daughter was driving her 2005 Ford Escape. She had just gotten on the turnpike - as she was driving the dash board lights started flashing and the car started slowing down - the steering wheel locked up and the car died. She luckily was able to get to the side of the highway and was not hurt. It was about 99 degrees outside at 2:00 in the afternoon. We had to have a tow truck take the vehicle to a car repair shop. It was determined that the spark plugs and coil had burned up and it would be $2,200 to repair the car. After looking online, this is s common problem with 2005 Ford escapes. There are no recalls. Ford has said to keep the receipt in case there are recalls in the future. That is little relief from the fact that we are out $2200 now and don't feel safe having our daughter driving this vehicle any longer. She has had regular maintenance on her car. …
Entering and accelerating from a main street that turns into a freeway the engine lost all power very suddenly, ABS light engaged, then died as exiting the freeway. Extremely dangerous with children in car and no warning which would have caused a mechanic to look into previously. Exiting the freeway the engine died but restarted with ability to drive at 10 MPH (in a bad area) with engine loss and noise. At shop, I was told the spark plugs, coils and PCM would need to be replaced in that order ($795), then the coils ($600), then the PCM ($1400) not including labor. A ex-Ford master technician said Ford new of problem and replaced those components when the cars came into the shop. Ford has a separate software checking program only designed for Ford escapes to test the PCM for damage caused by faulty plugs. …
While driving the car on the freeway the car jolted. After 3-5 more miles the car kepped jolting as if it wanted to die then lost all power, even the emergency lights wouldnt come on. Once I turned the car off it turned back on fine then continued the process. The car for no apparent reason died on the freeway and I could have been in an accident to where my life was almost lost. I made it to my mechanic shop they ran the care for codes and no codes came up at all. My mechanic has done research and found that some 2005-2008 fored escapes have recalls. He feels as my car is one because my car has the exact same symptoms as the recall. In this article I have had all of these issues.the 2005 Escape has problems where the engine shuts down while driving. Ford finally issued a September 2014 recall. Time will tell if the recall fix really solves the problem. …
The driver's front door began causing problems. Occasionally, it does not open, period. Additionally, the lock mechanism is inoperable. I removed both driver's and passenger's front door panels to inspect, compare and finally determine the issue. There seems to be a problem, which a friend temporarily fixed. It--the exterior door handle--after tweeking, worked for a while. Fast forward, 2015, I cannot open nearly 3 of my doors. One will not open at all (rear pass.) the driver's front door is doing the same thing the rear door handle--it lost tension and won't open at all. After looking it up on youtube, I determined the locking system is the culprit. In order to repair this inoperable door handle situation, apparently I need to pull the interior panels, remove the exterior handles and replace them entirely. …
Electrical complaints in other Escape years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2005 Ford Escape?
NHTSA has 153 complaints about the electrical system of the 2005 Ford Escape, 11% of the model year's 1,394 complaints. The component named most often is ignition › anti-theft › control module (3 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Ford Escape electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2005 Ford Escape, though it has 4 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2005 Ford Escape electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 104,000 miles, and 7% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 6 fires and 0 injuries to electrical system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.