Should I Keep My Escape After an Engine Replacement?

Engine: 1.5L SE
Miles: 90k

Took my car to the dealership because I kept having to top off coolant regularly. Since it’s deep winter up north, I never had any overheating or misfires, but turns out the engine needs to be replaced.

Luckily, it’s covered under my extended warranty.

Now I’m debating—should I keep it after the replacement or trade it in? I kind of want a Corolla, but my Escape is paid off.

My biggest concern is whether the engine swap could lead to future issues since they’ll be taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together.

What would you do?

I had my engine replaced at under 50k miles, and like you, I didn’t want to ditch a nearly paid-off car.

Had zero issues after the replacement and drove it for another 4 years before trading it in—not because of problems, just because I wanted something newer.

If you trade for a Corolla at the same price point, it’s going to be slower, noisier, have a worse interior, and if you’re up north, it’s going to be worse in the winter.

The 2017-2019 Escapes get a bad rap because of reliability concerns, but if you’re getting a brand-new engine for free, that’s a huge win. Even if it fails again, you’ve got another 100k miles ahead. :joy:

Also, an engine swap just means dropping the front subframe with the engine and trans attached—any decent shop can handle it no problem.

I’d get rid of it ASAP. The coolant intrusion issue WILL happen again. I’m just waiting for my girlfriend’s 2017 Escape 1.5L to have the same fate.

Talon said:
I’d get rid of it ASAP. The coolant intrusion issue WILL happen again. I’m just waiting for my girlfriend’s 2017 Escape 1.5L to have the same fate.

Our dealer has probably done 100+ of these short block replacements, and only one came back with the same issue—and that was installer error.

@Quincy
I doubt it. The coolant intrusion issue is a manufacturer defect.

There was (or still is) a lawsuit against Ford over it.

Talon said:
@Quincy
I doubt it. The coolant intrusion issue is a manufacturer defect.

There was (or still is) a lawsuit against Ford over it.

Yeah, but the new blocks have been redesigned to eliminate the defect.

@Quincy
I still wouldn’t trust it. :joy: That issue shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Ford knew about it since 2010 and did nothing until they got sued.

At least that’s what I’ve heard.

Talon said:
@Quincy
I doubt it. The coolant intrusion issue is a manufacturer defect.

There was (or still is) a lawsuit against Ford over it.

Ford redesigned the engine in 2019 to fix the issue, and that’s the version they’re using for replacements now.