1999 Ford Escort problems
NHTSA has received 413 complaints about the 1999 Ford Escort, and 17% of them involve air bags. After that come engine (15%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 413 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 99 and 14
- Injuries and deaths
- 80 and 5
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 115 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 | 17 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 18 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 24 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 18 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 14 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 115 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 70,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 99,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 99 complaints mention a crash; 14 complaints mention a fire; 80 injuries reported; 5 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 96% 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 1999 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Ford Escort with enough data (264 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.
Vehicle was hit on the driver's side while traveling at 20MPH by another vehicle traveling over 60MPH. Both driver's and passenger's seat belts faile d to operate properly, and they were thrown to the backseat of vehicle .vehicle was totaled. There was one fatality, and one injury.
With wiring I could smell burning and did not know what it was. With tire it was under warranty . Had tire replaced, I have receipt. (DOT number: 7jjk7u17p9 tiresize: p185/65r14)
Car idled at 4-5 RPM but was not accelerating. Felt tremendous pulling when trying to accelerate. Upon deceleration all service lights came on and car shut down.
Defective vehicle back springs. Both back springs were broken and I paid to have them replaced. Ford knew they were defective since they had re-designed the springs. The new springs were put on and now the whole vehicle bounces on the road. Handling is bad and if I have to travel on a bumpy road I have to take a draminine. I have paid to have installed 6 new springs and 8 struts but I still get seasick driving my car. It is so bumpy my neck hurts riding in my car.