Ford Escape Added To CR’s Recommended Vehicle List

It was a mere few months ago when Consumer Reports named the Ford Escape as one of its “vehicles to avoid,” based on a variety of factors including poor reliability, laggy infotainment, plus front seats that are flat and lack adjustability. On top of that, the Lincoln Corsair and Ford Escape Hybrid lost their “recommended” status recently based on reliability issues experienced by Consumer Reports members and owners as well. However, that didn’t apply to the entire Escape lineup, it seems.

Rather, Consumer Reports has added the non-hybrid version of the Ford Escape to its list of recommended vehicles, which was also the case with the Ford Explorer , Genesis GV80, Hyundai Kona Electric, Volkswagen Tiguan, Volvo XC60 PHEV, and the Ford Bronco Sport. The ICE Escape has improved its reliability score over the past few years, moving up to a 68 out of 100 possible points, which is above average – the main driving factor behind this move. It’s a big turnaround from the 2021 model year, when the Ford Escape received the worst reliability score possible, too.

The same can’t be said for the Ford Escape Hybrid, which wound up on Consumer Reports‘ most recent list of the least reliable vehicles on sale – the fifth worst, in fact, with a score of 21 out of 100 possible points, which is what caused it to be dropped from the latest recommended vehicles list – joining the Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW iX, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Kia EV6, Lincoln Corsair, Mazda CX-90, and CX-90 PHEV.

Consumer Reports collects its reliability data via the aforementioned questionnaires, which ask members to identify any problems they’ve experienced within the last 12 months across 20 different categories ranging from things like paint and trim to mechanicals. From there, CR averages each vehicle’s reliability score across three model years – so long as it didn’t experience any significant changes during that timeframe.