Vehicle Data Hub

2003 Ford Escape electrical system problems

39 complaints about electrical system have been filed for the 2003 Ford Escape, which is 5% of all its NHTSA complaints.

At a glance

Complaints
39 5% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
90,000 miles 31 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
2 and 5
Injuries and deaths
1 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When electrical system problems show up

Electrical system complaints by mileage, 2003 Ford Escape Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 90,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 6 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 3 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 5 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 0 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 2 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 4 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 2 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 1 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 6 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 1 complaints 200k+ miles: 1 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 90,000 miles
Based on 31 complaints that include mileage. 45% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles6
20k to 40k miles3
40k to 60k miles5
60k to 80k miles0
80k to 100k miles2
100k to 120k miles4
120k to 140k miles2
140k to 160k miles1
160k to 180k miles6
180k to 200k miles1
200k+ miles1

What the data shows

Of the 31 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 90,000 miles, and 45% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 2 crashes, 5 fires, 1 injury.

What owners wrote

2003 ford escape parked in garage located at 7755 sunset drive, elmwood park illinois. Vehicle spontaneously burned. The garage was a lofted structure with storage containing 30 years of possessions. The car, garage and personal items were destroyed by the fire. This occurred at 5:00am on a sunday morning after the car had been parked in the garage from the saturday afternoon before.

Reported at 30,000 miles, May 2006 Fire

I have a 03 ford escape, and the trouble is endless. The car will not start at times and it is a strong smell of gas when this happens. I have had it in and out of the shop about 6 times and has had the car for only 2 years. The failure to start is scary because you don't know if the car is going to explode or what. The dealership tells me that it is a sensor that goes out and tells the car it doesn't have to start. Been replaced 6 times and the other day it did it again.

Reported at 100,321 miles, February 2009

Other problems reported for the 2003 Ford Escape

Electrical system problems in other years

Electrical system problems across all Ford models