2013 Ford Escape issue: I have a Ford Escape with 27,000 miles. Last week the engine blew. Ford claims that it is related to the unresolved recall. Under the warranty they are putting a 2014 engine in the 2013 model. I have lost all confidence in the vehicle as it has had a slew of minor issues leading to this major issue. Ford is going to let me know in a week if they are going to buy it back. If they don’t I will be looking at trading it in. But how will the new engine affect my ability to trade it in and will the replaced engine show up on CARFAX?
Ignore CARFAX. ANYTHING can show up on carfax. Your new engine probably will not.
People are finally waking up to the fact that Carfax is a miscellaneous collection of unvalidated and incomplete data. It’s a farce. It’s where people go whose information handling is too unreliable to work in credit reporting agencies…
You’re getting a brand new engine, installed by a qualified dealer, for free. Enjoy the car, and if you find the new engine to be unreliable, or you otherwise choose to trade it, say nothing. It’s up to the buyer to do discovery. It ain’t your problem.
Ford’s database will show the information. If you trade it in for another Ford, they may run the VIN number and discover that it has a new engine, but I cannot believe they’d be so ignorant as to claim that devalues the tradein value. Man, would I have fun with THAT comment! Chances are that they’d say nothing.
I had an engine replaced on a 1990 Ford Aerostar when it was under warranty by the Ford dealer. In my case, the engine had a hairline crack in a cylinder head. Ford claimed that the coolant and scored the cylinder wall and hence I got a new engine at 30,000. The van was fine after that and nothing was said when I traded the Aerostar for a Windstar at a different Ford dealer some years later.
Ignore CARFAX. ANYTHING can show up on carfax.
I completely agree. The carfax for mine says that it was in an accident and has been titled to 3 separate owners before me. I know this to be untrue, I bought the car from my mom and she bought it new.
If Carfax says the car has a new engine; that’s good thing isn’t it ? If my car rolls around to near 30k and the manufacturer puts in a new motor…which by the way, Honda was going to do with my wife’s car some years ago, I was disappointed when they found out it didn’t need it. But, I have always said that, loosing confidence in a car is a worthwhile reason to get rid of it. A buy back would be a good thing both for your mental health and your pocket book then trading or selling it. But, the new motor is a good thing.
Thanks everyone. I am still very torn. I have twin 2 year olds and live in Cleveland. When I think of some of the horrific winter driving conditions we have had and that the engine could have gone during a storm or frigid conditions with them stranded with me it really upsets me. I am hoping for a buy back also.
If you lack confidence in the car after the work is done, trade it.
A good nights sleep every night is far more valuable than the amount you’ll lose in depreciation. And you can’t get a good nights sleep if you’re worried about the car breaking down with your wife and 2 year olds in it.
Some Ford products in the past 2 to 3 years have gotten poor reliability grades by Consumer Reports, but I was under the impression the problem was mostly between problems w/the user interface for the vehicle’s electronics systems, and that some customers couldn’t get used to how the Ford automatic transmission shifts, a sort manual transmission with an automatic clutch design.
If you can live with the electronics user interface problem and the way the transmission shifts, if that’s pretty much the only other problems you’ve encountered up 'til now, me, I’d tend to think getting a new engine installed for free is like found money, and want to keep the car. My reasoning would be that if I changed to a different car, that one being right off the ass’y line, it might have similar sample defects and prove to be even less reliable.
Is this an Ecoboost engine? All recent problems from Ford are reportedly related to these engines and the “My Ford Touch” system. My Focus has neither, I like the Sync system, but after 5K miles I am a bit concerned over the build quality. Things have started making noises earlier than I would like.
I say, get the new engine, drive it for a month and see how you feel. Trading it in is relatively easy.
I was going to ask that question. I have a built in aversion to whole sale use of turbos across the line that buyers seem to be forced into by Ford if they want to upgrade to different trim lines.
The new engine probably would show up on Carfax (just like oil changes or other services) but as along as it’s a factory replacement installed by the dealer it shouldn’t affect your ability to trade the vehicle in.
Nobody knows what will or will not show up on carfax. Someday perhaps I’ll look up my own car just out of curiosity to see what fabrications are there.
Yes it is an ECOBOOST 1.6L.
best option is you’ll get the “buy back” you are hoping for. If you get the buy back that car will get a new motor and go up for sale. If you don’t get the buy back then take the new motor and see if things shake out. If you still don’t like the car after driving it 2 months with the new motor then sell it or trade it. 2 more months of driving won’t change the cars value much and gives you a chance to see how much money you will lose in a trade in and what your next car would be.
Every car maker has a few motors that go bad, but they are rare events. The new motor should be OK, but it take some time before your confidence in the car is restored - if it can be.
I don’t think you’re wrong to be worried, though the new engine will likely be fine and it shouldn’t set off alarms for most potential buyers. You have little kids and the idea of getting stranded with them somewhere would be on my mind, too. It’s not a nice thought in a place with bad winter weather. If you don’t want that bugging you it really isn’t worth continuing to drive this. How much that peace of mind is worth to you is something only you can decide.
There are lots of other vehicles in this class with very good reliability. Consumer Reports will give you the rundown, though they sometimes get things wrong on newer vehicles that don’t prove reliable in the long run. If a make and model has a long history of reliability chances are the new ones are also good. Like the Honda CR-V, a model that has always been well made.
A new engine is often a red flag for poor maintenance, and if the engine was not maintained, then the rest of the vehicle was probably abused as well. BUT, if you have and keep the documentation that the engine was replaced under warrantee for a factory defect, then it becomes a reasonable justification and won’t hurt the value.
We had the transmission replaced under warranty at 58,000 miles. Since that time, we’ve put about 90,000 more miles on it without problems. I expect that the engine replacement will work and you won’t have any major issues as long as you take care it it by using the recommended maintenance schedule.
I generally see “big ticket” items bragged about in the selling description. “160K…but only 20K on engine!” being better than 160 on everything, right? (Though the guy who brags “brand new brakes, ball joints, clutch…” makes me wonder what really big issue he ran into that made him abandon his refurb…)