Vehicle Data Hub

2004 Ford Escape body & structure problems

139 complaints about body & structure have been filed for the 2004 Ford Escape, which is 19% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the 2nd most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
139 19% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
120,000 miles 124 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
6 and 2
Injuries and deaths
0 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When body & structure problems show up

Body & structure complaints by mileage, 2004 Ford Escape Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 120,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 4 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 1 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 7 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 2 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 16 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 29 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 20 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 17 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 8 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 9 complaints 200k+ miles: 11 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 120,000 miles
Based on 124 complaints that include mileage. 10% 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 miles4
20k to 40k miles1
40k to 60k miles7
60k to 80k miles2
80k to 100k miles16
100k to 120k miles29
120k to 140k miles20
140k to 160k miles17
160k to 180k miles8
180k to 200k miles9
200k+ miles11

What the data shows

Of the 124 body & structure complaints that report mileage, the median is about 120,000 miles, and 10% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 6 crashes, 2 fires.

What owners wrote

Driving down the road wirht my 2 young kids and all sudden go over the train tracks and the rear strut broke from the shock mount and came right up thru the vehicle I have found thousands of complaints on this issue, ford needs to step up luck I gained control of vehicle with a 1 mont old baby and a 3 year old this is searious matter! Someone is going to die because of this it needs to be fixed!

Reported at 220,000 miles, July 2014 Crash

Catastrophic failure of the front sub-frame engine cradle assembly. It completely rusted apart on the passenger side causing the lower control arm to come loose. My daughter was driving when it came loose causing the escape to run off the road. Thankfully there was plenty of shoulder on the rural road and no one was hurt. Had this been in traffic, an accident would have been inevitable. Called ford customer service - no help, there is nothing they can do.

Reported at 70,000 miles, August 2017

Other problems reported for the 2004 Ford Escape

Body & structure problems in other years

Body & structure problems across all Ford models