The quietest fourth-gen year — but the hybrid engine-fire recall means a free long-block, so verify it.

A 2023-specific engine recall, 25V-372 (Ford 25S61), covers 2023-2025 Escapes whose cylinder head may have been improperly manufactured, allowing the ball plugs to fail and cause an oil leak — which can mean a loss of drive power or, near hot components, a fire. The remedy is a free cylinder-head assembly replacement. This is a newer campaign, so on a 2023 confirm whether the VIN is affected and, if so, that it was completed.

Two more free 2023 recalls. 24V-440 (Ford 24S39) covers 2WD cars with adaptive cruise control whose radar module was misaligned in production — it can misread an overhead object as being in your path and slow or stop the car unexpectedly, and can degrade automatic emergency braking; the fix re-aims the radar. 23V-506 (23C25) covers a digital instrument cluster that was improperly soldered and may fail to illuminate — a free module or panel replacement. Test the adaptive cruise on the drive and confirm the cluster lights fully at startup.

The rest of the 2023 list is standard verification. 24V-634 (Ford 24S54) covers fuel injectors assembled without O-ring support discs that can leak fuel (free O-ring/disc install); 22V-859 is the broader 1.5L fuel-injector fire recall; 24V-954 is the high-voltage-battery cell-defect recall on hybrid/plug-in cars; and 25V-343 covers a 1.5L/2.0L engine block heater that can overheat and cause a fire. All free — confirm each by VIN.