1997 Ford Escort problems
NHTSA has received 729 complaints about the 1997 Ford Escort, and 21% of them involve air bags. After that come electrical system (21%) and suspension (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 729 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 78 and 133
- Injuries and deaths
- 74 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 128 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 4 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 13 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 17 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 28 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 24 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 27 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 7 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 128 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 80,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 90,000 miles (26 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 78 complaints mention a crash; 133 complaints mention a fire; 74 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 95% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Ford Escort with enough data (390 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My wife was involved in a head on collision. She and my two children were choppered to a trauma unit. My 10 week old son was in the evenflo on my way system and the base broke apart upon impact. The system held him in place, but my concern is with the base breaking apart. Model#4921b7p2 manufactured 14 jan98.
While driving to the store, vehicle caught on fire due to a loose wire, one person was injured, claim 40-2555-468. *slc
1997 ford escort LX wagon component: structure:hatchback hydraulic cylinder:trunk cylinder manufacturer: ford motor company the clips that hold the hydraulic cylinder to the frame have come off the passenger side liftgate assist. How this was determined was I opened the hatchback and leaned in and the hydraulic arm came off and the hatchback fell on me. Both scary and painful I contacted ford attempting to obtain replacement clips, but they are requiring me to purchase an entire assembly.
Consumer was proceeding through a green light when another car traveling about 40 MPH hit the consumers vehicle. The consumers car went into a spin. None of the airbags deployed. *nlm