I’ve been driving my 2022 Escape SE for a while now and wanted to share some experiences with maintenance and repairs. I’ve got 61,023 miles on it so far. Here’s a rundown:
Warranty and Recalls
Got the recall for the drain tube taken care of. No noticeable difference after it was done, but no issues so far.
Had the front door mounting brackets addressed. My dealer said they weren’t cracked, so they installed support brackets. Glad I caught it early before it could cause real damage.
The crankcase cover gasket was replaced under warranty at around 38,000 miles. The dealer said it was leaking oil. It’s been fine since, but I thought that was pretty early for an issue like that.
Maintenance
Just replaced the tires and front brakes. The OEM brakes were terrible—squeaky from day one and produced insane amounts of brake dust. I swapped them for NAPA Adaptive One ceramic pads and rotors. So far, no noise and better stopping power.
The rotors were rusted onto the hubs pretty badly. Took some work with a hammer and wire wheel to get them off. I added copper anti-seize to the hubs before installing the new ones.
The stock Continental tires wore out faster than I expected and didn’t handle snow well. I’m switching to General Altimax 365 AW. I’ve had good experiences with General tires on other vehicles, so hoping for better results here.
Just thought I’d share my thoughts for anyone else with a similar car. Hope this helps someone!
Thanks for sharing this! I wish more people would write up their experiences like this. I’ve got a 2014 Escape, so it’s a bit different, but I had decent luck with the stock Continental tires. I got about 60k miles before replacing them, and they handled okay in snow. Replaced them with another set of Contis and got similar performance.
One thing that annoys me is how dealers don’t always show you what they worked on. I like to learn and verify stuff, but I always feel like I’m being a pain for asking. Some dealers are better than others, but I’ve been burned before when they claimed to replace something but didn’t.
@Oak
I hear you on the tires. For me, it’s the combo of weak traction and fast wear that makes me want to switch brands. As for the dealers, mine usually itemizes stuff well, but for warranty repairs, it’s always listed as $0, so it’s hard to track what’s really been done.
@Ira
I meant more like walking you through the car and showing what they replaced. The paperwork is usually clear, but the extra supply fees like ‘shop materials’ or ‘gloves’ always feel a bit made up.
Were the front brake pads totally worn out, or did you replace them because of the noise? On my 2017 Escape, the rear brakes needed replacing at 100,000 miles, but the front ones still had over 6mm left. Seems like your brakes wore out a lot faster.
@Eli
The pads were at 2mm, which is when I replace them. I’m guessing it’s my driving style or the conditions where I live, but I only got about 60k miles out of the stock brakes. I’ve seen others complain about noisy brakes on the newer Escapes too. For me, the front brakes always wear out first. The rears were still at 6mm.
At my shop, we don’t even machine rotors anymore. It’s just not worth it with all the rust and wear—it leaves them too thin and prone to warping. Zinc-coated rotors seem to help with rust a bit.
Smart move with the anti-seize on the hubs. That’ll save you some trouble next time.
As for tires, General is a solid brand. I had G-Max AS05s on my car, and they were awesome for the price. I’m not a fan of Continental either. Michelin Defenders are great for wet roads and have good tread life, but I’d avoid all-weather tires for year-round use. Winter tires like the Toyo Observe are a better option if you get a lot of snow.