Chevrolet Trax vs Ford Escape Hev: which is more reliable?
The Chevrolet Trax and the Ford Escape Hev are level on the federal record — 74/100 against 75/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Chevrolet Trax
- 10 model years scored
- 932 owner complaints on record
- about 25 complaints per year on the road
- 20 recall campaigns, 12 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (94/100) · worst 2024 (44/100)
Ford Escape Hev
- 6 model years scored
- 716 owner complaints on record
- about 24 complaints per year on the road
- 0 recall campaigns, 0 safety-critical
- best year 2025 (92/100) · worst 2021 (47/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Trax against Escape Hev
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Chevrolet Trax
- Engine — 261 complaints
- Electrical System — 239 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 151 complaints
Ford Escape Hev
- Structure — 203 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 133 complaints
- Engine — 100 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Trax's complaints concentrate in Engine, the Escape Hev's in Structure. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Chevrolet Trax — avoid: 2024, 2025.
Ford Escape Hev — avoid: 2020, 2021.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Chevrolet Trax prices at about $30,500 and a Ford Escape Hev at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 30.0 against 39.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Chevrolet Trax or the Ford Escape Hev more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Ford Escape Hev scores 75/100 against the Chevrolet Trax's 74/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Chevrolet Trax and Ford Escape Hev years should I avoid?
Chevrolet Trax: 2024, 2025. Ford Escape Hev: 2020, 2021. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Chevrolet Trax and the Ford Escape Hev?
The largest complaint group on the Chevrolet Trax is Engine (261 complaints); on the Ford Escape Hev it is Structure (203).
Is the Chevrolet Trax or the Ford Escape Hev cheaper to own?
A recent used Chevrolet Trax prices at about $30,500 and a Ford Escape Hev at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.