2019 Ford Escape · symptom sheet
Transmission shudders, slips or shifts hard
- 27owner reports
- 59,000median miles
- 0involved a crash
Newest report Sep 10, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
125 of the 588 complaints on this car are about the transmission and drivetrain. 27 of those describe transmission shudder.
Tick what matches of 27 reports
Transmission shudder on other Escape years
Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
What this problem usually is
This is the biggest drivetrain group on the site: a transmission that shudders, slips, hesitates or bangs into gear. It's the everyday version of transmission trouble, where the car still drives but doesn't drive right, and it has three narrower sheets of its own for jerking, hesitation and slipping.
What got replaced
Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the torque converter (4 reports).
Recalls and investigations
One recall on the transmission and drivetrain covers the 2019 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.
The bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach.
All 3 recalls on the 2019 Ford Escape, with the owner complaints on each recalled system
When it happens
The middle half of failures fell between 30,810 and 76,000 miles, from the 17 reports that gave a mileage.
Is this a known problem?
The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 1 service bulletin or notice for the 2019 Ford Escape that deal with this problem. Newest first.
Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.
Some 2017-2019 Escape vehicles equipped with a 1.5L EcoBoost engine and all-wheel drive (AWD) may exhibit a bump or clunk from the rear drive unit (RDU) when turning at low speeds and parking lot maneuvers.
What owners wrote
“The vehicle had a transmission shutter and shakes the car. It also had a hard shift at 38mph. It happens daily, was not a one time Incentent”
Filed Sep 10, 2026
“Clunking/wobble from Rear differential unit, also roaring like a bad wheel bearing loss of acceleration intermittently/power intermittently”
Filed Sep 2, 2025
Should you keep driving it?
This page can't tell you that. 0 of 27 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.
File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.
Guide Paid for this repair before a recall covered it? How recall reimbursement works
Other problems on this car
- Engine overheats or leaks coolant 293 reports
- Check engine light or misfire 256 reports
- Engine failure, knocking or rod bearing 126 reports
- Engine stalls or loses power while driving 66 reports