Ford Escape vs Subaru Forester: which is more reliable?
The Subaru Forester is clearly ahead of the Ford Escape on the federal record: 71/100 against 56/100 across every model year we score.
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)
Subaru Forester
- 15 model years scored
- 4,756 owner complaints on record
- about 52 complaints per year on the road
- 58 recall campaigns, 44 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (90/100) · worst 2019 (41/100)
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 Forester
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 | Forester | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76 BUY | 56 CAUTION | +20 |
| 2024 | 74 BUY | 90 BUY | -16 |
| 2023 | 69 CAUTION | 90 BUY | -21 |
| 2022 | 65 CAUTION | 90 BUY | -25 |
| 2021 | 66 CAUTION | 83 BUY | -17 |
| 2020 | 26 AVOID | 46 AVOID | -20 |
| 2019 | 80 BUY | 41 AVOID | +39 |
| 2018 | 36 AVOID | 63 CAUTION | -27 |
| 2017 | 40 AVOID | 65 CAUTION | -25 |
| 2016 | 69 CAUTION | 76 BUY | -7 |
| 2015 | 63 CAUTION | 66 CAUTION | -3 |
| 2014 | 35 AVOID | 84 BUY | -49 |
| 2013 | 23 AVOID | 76 BUY | -53 |
| 2012 | 86 BUY | 75 BUY | +11 |
| 2011 | 76 BUY | 75 BUY | +1 |
What owners actually complain about
Ford Escape
- Engine — 5,926 complaints
- Power Train — 2,927 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,566 complaints
Subaru Forester
- Visibility/Wiper — 986 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 747 complaints
- Electrical System — 707 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Escape's complaints concentrate in Engine, the Forester's in Visibility/Wiper. 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
Ford Escape — avoid: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020.
Subaru Forester — avoid: 2019, 2020.
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 Subaru Forester at about $32,900 — the Ford Escape is roughly $2,400 less, and they return 26.0 against 29.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Escape or the Subaru Forester more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Forester scores 71/100 against the Ford Escape's 56/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Subaru Forester carries about 52 complaints per year on the road against 126 for the Ford Escape.
Which Ford Escape and Subaru Forester years should I avoid?
Ford Escape: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020. Subaru Forester: 2019, 2020. 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 Subaru Forester?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Escape is Engine (5,926 complaints); on the Subaru Forester it is Visibility/Wiper (986).
Is the Ford Escape or the Subaru Forester cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Escape prices at about $30,500 and a Subaru Forester at about $32,900, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.