Ford Escape vs Honda CR-V: which is more reliable?
The Ford Escape and the Honda CR-V are level on the federal record — 56/100 against 58/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Ford Escape
- 15 model years scored
- 16,194 owner complaints on record
- about 126 complaints per year on the road
- 117 recall campaigns, 57 safety-critical
- best year 2012 (86/100) · worst 2013 (23/100)
Honda CR-V
- 15 model years scored
- 10,020 owner complaints on record
- about 122 complaints per year on the road
- 64 recall campaigns, 48 safety-critical
- best year 2012 (88/100) · worst 2019 (26/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Escape against CR-V
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.
| Year | Escape | CR-V | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76 BUY | 43 AVOID | +33 |
| 2024 | 74 BUY | 42 AVOID | +32 |
| 2023 | 69 CAUTION | 39 AVOID | +30 |
| 2022 | 65 CAUTION | 75 BUY | -10 |
| 2021 | 66 CAUTION | 70 BUY | -4 |
| 2020 | 26 AVOID | 67 CAUTION | -41 |
| 2019 | 80 BUY | 26 AVOID | +54 |
| 2018 | 36 AVOID | 31 AVOID | +5 |
| 2017 | 40 AVOID | 29 AVOID | +11 |
| 2016 | 69 CAUTION | 83 BUY | -14 |
| 2015 | 63 CAUTION | 78 BUY | -15 |
| 2014 | 35 AVOID | 85 BUY | -50 |
| 2013 | 23 AVOID | 86 BUY | -63 |
| 2012 | 86 BUY | 88 BUY | -2 |
| 2011 | 76 BUY | 72 BUY | +4 |
What owners actually complain about
Ford Escape
- Engine — 5,926 complaints
- Power Train — 2,927 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,566 complaints
Honda CR-V
- Engine — 1,923 complaints
- Electrical System — 1,369 complaints
- Steering — 1,366 complaints
Both nameplates have Engine as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
Ford Escape — avoid: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020.
Honda CR-V — avoid: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025.
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 Ford Escape prices at about $30,500 and a Honda CR-V at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 26.0 against 28.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Escape or the Honda CR-V more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Honda CR-V scores 58/100 against the Ford Escape's 56/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Ford Escape and Honda CR-V years should I avoid?
Ford Escape: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020. Honda CR-V: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Ford Escape and the Honda CR-V?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Escape is Engine (5,926 complaints); on the Honda CR-V it is Engine (1,923).
Is the Ford Escape or the Honda CR-V cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Escape prices at about $30,500 and a Honda CR-V at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.