RecallRepo

2012 Ford Fusion Recalls

Recalls on record Updated July 2026

The 2012 Ford Fusion has 5 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 4,434,437 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 3,048 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the steering. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Recall campaigns

AIR BAGS 21V158000 2021-03-10 2,602,668 affected
Defect

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKZ, 2006-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX vehicles. The driver's side air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute…

Consequence

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver-side airbag inflator or module with an alternate one, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 9, 2021 for the passenger side, and November 14, 2022 for the driver side. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. …

AIR BAGS 21V081000 2021-02-16 1,067 affected
Defect

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2005-2014 Mustang, 2004-2011 Ranger, 2009-2011 Mercury Milan, 2006 Ford GT, 2008-2012 Fusion, 2007-2010 Edge and Lincoln MKX, and 2009-2010 Lincoln MKZ vehicles. These vehicles may be equipped with a driver or passenger frontal air bag inflator used as a replacement…

Consequence

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the frontal air bag, an inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the driver and passenger air bag module, and replace either the module or the inflator, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 17, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.

AIR BAGS 19V001000 2019-01-07 782,384 affected
Defect

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2014 Ford Mustang vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or…

Consequence

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this…

AIR BAGS 17V024000 2017-01-10 654,695 affected
Defect

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012 Ford Fusion and Mustang and Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands…

Consequence

An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Interim letters informing owners of the recall and that parts are not yet available began mailing March 1, 2017. Owners will…

STEERING 15V340000 2015-06-02 393,623 affected
Defect

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Ford Fusion vehicles without a 3.5L engine and Lincoln MKZ hybrid electric vehicles, 2011 Mercury Milan vehicles, 2011-2012 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with a 3.5L GTDI engine and 2013 Ford Taurus, Ford…

Consequence

If the vehicle experiences a loss of power steering assist, extra steering effort will be required at lower speeds, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will check the Power Steering Control Module (PSCM) for Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC). If dealers find any loss of steering assist DTCs, the steering gear will be replaced, free of charge. If, no codes are found during the PSCM inspection, the PSCM software will be updated,…

Complaints by component

STEERING
1,433
46crashes2fires13injuries1deaths
AIR BAGS
404
36crashes35injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
158
8crashes4fires7injuries2deaths
POWER TRAIN
156
3crashes
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
119
6crashes2injuries
ENGINE
111
1crashes2fires5injuries
SERVICE BRAKES
104
15crashes6injuries
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
85
17crashes12injuries2deaths
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
80
7crashes1injuries
STRUCTURE:BODY
75
12crashes7injuries
Total complaints3,048

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“The contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the vehicle lost power steering functionality and almost caused a crash. The message "service power steering now" was displayed. The contact was able to drive to the destination. The contact stated that the vehicle…”

STEERING · reported 2026-06-28

“My car does not always respond when the brakes are tapped. They are soft/squishy at times and I have to push the pedal all the way to the floor for the car to stop. This issue has been occuring off & on for approximately 3 years though it's been more frequent since june of 2026. I have never seen…”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2026-06-22

“Unknown. Just bought this car”

STEERING · reported 2026-06-18

“Brake system. Pedal is soft and braking force to stop is reduced. Yes, at first they thought it was the brake booster, and know thinking it is the master cylinder, now they aren't even sure what it might be. Ford dealership techs. No, pedal was "squishy" when braking”

SERVICE BRAKES · reported 2026-05-30

“The contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. The contact stated that while driving at 40 mph, the steering wheel was hard to turn. The low tire pressure message was displayed. There was another unknown system message being displayed. The contact indicated the failure was related to nhtsa campaign number:…”

STEERING · reported 2026-05-11

“The contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. The contact stated that while driving at 40 mph, the steering wheel was hard to turn. The low tire pressure message was displayed. There was another unknown system message being displayed. The contact indicated the failure was related to nhtsa campaign number:…”

TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS · reported 2026-05-11

“The contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering became inoperable with the electronic power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion…”

STEERING · reported 2026-05-06

“Our 2012 ford fusion had a sudden and complete loss of power steering & “power steering assist fault’ flashed on dash. The steering immediately became extremely difficult to operate, requiring both hands and excessive physical force just to turn the wheel. It felt less like driving a passenger…”

STEERING · reported 2026-04-27

Defect investigations

Investigation EA17004 Opened 2017-11-20 · closed 2024-02-09

Power Steering Failure

On September 28, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE16-011) to investigate claims of power steering assist loss on model year (MY) 2010 Ford Fusion vehicles.  During the PE, ODI received 718 unique claims related to the alleged problem with 598 reports indicating the…

Investigation EA17004 Opened 2017-11-20 · closed 2024-02-09

Power Steering Failure

On September 28, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE16-011) to investigate claims of power steering assist loss on model year (MY) 2010 Ford Fusion vehicles.  During the PE, ODI received 718 unique claims related to the alleged problem with 598 reports indicating the…

Investigation EA17004 Opened 2017-11-20 · closed 2024-02-09

Power Steering Failure

On September 28, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE16-011) to investigate claims of power steering assist loss on model year (MY) 2010 Ford Fusion vehicles.  During the PE, ODI received 718 unique claims related to the alleged problem with 598 reports indicating the…

Investigation EA17004 Opened 2017-11-20 · closed 2024-02-09

Power Steering Failure

On September 28, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE16-011) to investigate claims of power steering assist loss on model year (MY) 2010 Ford Fusion vehicles.  During the PE, ODI received 718 unique claims related to the alleged problem with 598 reports indicating the…

Investigation EA21002 Opened 2021-09-17 · open

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant…

Investigation EA21002 Opened 2021-09-17 · open

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant…

Investigation PE13003 Opened 2013-02-21 · closed 2014-02-28

Electronic Throttle Body Malfunction

On February 21, 2013, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE13-003 to investigate allegations of electronic throttle body (ETB) failures resulting in sudden reduction of engine power in model year (MY) 2009-2013 Ford Escape, Fusion, Mariner and Milan vehicles. During this…

Investigation PE14030 Opened 2014-10-02 · closed 2015-09-10

Electric power steering failure

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a preliminary evaluation to investigate complaints of the loss of power steering while driving. The subject vehicles are equipped with a rack mounted Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) unit.Some of the complaints alleged that the steering assist failed and…

Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2012 Ford Fusion as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.