Audited US model-year file

1990 FORD Escort

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

2 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 1990 FORD Escort. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 1996-04-25

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION

Campaign 96V071000
Summary

THE IGNITION SWITCH COULD EXPERIENCE AN INTERNAL SHORT CIRCUIT.

Consequence

THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE OVERHEATING, SMOKE, AND POSSIBLY FIRE IN THE STEERING COLUMN AREA OF THE VEHICLE.

Remedy

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE IGNITION SWITCH.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 1989-10-13

VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD

Campaign 89V174000
Summary

SPECIAL PRIMER THAT PROMOTES THE BONDING OF A URETHANE ADHESIVE TO THE GLASS WAS NOT APPLIED TO THE WINDSHIELDS BEFORE INSTALLATION.

Consequence

OMISSION OF THE PRIMER COULD CAUSE THE WINDSHIELD NOT TOBE PROPERLY ADHERED TO BODY, AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT COMPLY WITH FMVSS 212.

Remedy

REMOVE AND PROPERLY INSTALL WINDSHIELD USING SPECIAL PRIMER.

02 · Owner allegations

130 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
5
Fire mentions
51
Injuries reported
10
Most-reported component labels
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM58
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING15
FUEL SYSTEM11
GASOLINE11
SEAT BELTS11
POWER TRAIN7
Complaints across nearby Ford Escort model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 1431988
  2. 1521989
  3. 1301990
  4. 3271991
  5. 1621992
  6. 3791993

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Escort years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

3 NHTSA ODI investigations

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

EA95002
Closed 1996-09-30 · opened 1995-02-24

FIRES IN STEERING COLUMN

NHTSA source ↗

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · Associated recall campaign 96V071000.

PE94089
Closed 1995-03-24 · opened 1994-11-25

FRONT BRAKE FIRES

NHTSA source ↗

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

PE94078
Closed 1995-02-24 · opened 1994-11-04

FIRES IN STEERING COLUMN

NHTSA source ↗

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
6
Combined economy
24–32 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
21–28 / 28–38 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
1.9 L
Cylinders
4
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
Front-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Compact Cars · Small Station Wagons
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$2050–2700

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

2 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

130 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

exact match

ODI investigations

3 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/1990/ford/escort
NHTSA make ID
460
NHTSA model ID
5181
Match key
1990 · FORD · Escort · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · exact match

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.