Other brake problem on the 2001 Ford Escape
4 crashes 3 fires 2 injuries 1 death 10 of the 45 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other brake problem gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Ford Escape report other brake problem at a median of 115,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 152,500 miles, from 26 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 37,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 192,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 155,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
12% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36,500 miles | 54,800 miles | 114,350 miles | 152,250 miles | 191,500 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 a crash, 3 a fire, 2 an injury and 1 a fatality are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 22 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 122,500 miles.
By volume the 2008 carries the most reports, with 63; the 2001 has 45. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
The rotors on my escape had to be replaced at 45,000 miles. There was no indication that the brakes had worn down (no squealer warning). Upon inspection it was revealed that the rotors had been worn down and had to be replaced along with new brake pads. The service manager was surprised at the rotors being in such bad shape especially since it was not due to grinding (the brake pads weren't completely worn out). He was shocked at such inferior parts being on the car. I have kept the original rotors that came on the car from ford should anyone want pictures or want to inspect them. *ak
While driving the brakes at 38000 miles were completely worn out, so were the rotors. Took the vehicle to dealer to be repaired. *ak the consumer took the vehicle in to find out why so much black an silver dust was on the front wheels. The consumer was told that it was normal wear an tear. The consumer was told that the dust was on the front tires within 200 miles after cleaning. Front brake pads and rotors were replaced at no charge to the consumer. *tc
A strange air-leaking noise has been coming out of the brake area of my ford escape. The noise started out somewhat quiet, but it has gotten louder and louder. When the brakes are applied, the sound gets much quieter, almost silent, but the hissing returns with a vengeance as soon as I press on the accelerator. This started around 46,500 miles, and now I am at 48,000. A reputable mechanic informed me that the brake vacuum booster was leaking. This seems to be a major problem for a car that is a 2001 model with such low mileage. I imagine that I am not the only person who will be complaining about this vacuum booster problem. *nm
Also reported on the 2001 Ford Escape
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Other speed control problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 45 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other brake problem happen on the 2001 Ford Escape?
Across 26 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 115,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 152,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other brake problem on the 2001 Ford Escape?
45 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed