2012 Ford Fusion problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Steering (1373) · Air Bags (352) · Power Train (108)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Ford Fusion model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
1,735 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (6)
Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module 2021-03-10 · campaign 21V158000 · 2,602,668 vehicles
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 humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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. Ford's number for this recall is 21S12.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-16 · campaign 21E013000 · 249 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain air bag inflator and/or module replacement service parts that may have been used as part of a collision repair. The parts include certain driver-side air bag inflators and/or modules, designed to fit 2005-2014 Ford Mustang and Mustang GT500. It also includes certain passenger-side air bag inflators and/or modules designed to fit 2005-2014 Ford Mustang, 2010-2012 Lincoln MKZ, 2010-2012 Ford Fusion, 2010-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2011 Ford Ranger, an
Risk: 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.
Fix: Ford will notify dealers that purchased the affected parts, and dealers will provide replacement parts to purchasers, free of charge. The recall began March 18, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-16 · campaign 21V081000 · 1,067 vehicles
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 service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2019-01-07 · campaign 19V001000 · 782,384 vehicles ⚠ DO NOT DRIVE
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 "Zone A." Additionally, Ford is recalling certain 2011 Ford Ranger and Mercury Milan vehicles, 2011-2012 Ford Fusion and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles and 2011-2014 Ford Mustang ve
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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 recall 19S01.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2017-01-10 · campaign 17V024000 · 654,695 vehicles ⚠ DO NOT DRIVE
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 (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain 2009 Ford Ranger, Edge, Fusion and Mustang, Lincoln MKX, MKZ
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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 receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.
Steering:electric Power Assist System 2015-06-02 · campaign 15V340000 · 393,623 vehicles
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 Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with any available engine. The affected vehicles have electric power steering assist systems that may shut down as a result of a ste
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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, free of charge. The recall began on July 21, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S18.
Service bulletins (51)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-02-24 · SSM 54601 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
ford and lincoln vehicles equipped with wired keyless entry keypad systems and accessory wireless keyless entry keypad systems may or may not come with a wallet card containing the master code. unlike the integrated wired keypad, the accessory wireless keypad master code cannot be retrieved from the
Unknown Or Other 2024-10-10 · SSM 53040 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
while performing a transmission repair on some 2012-2024 ford and lincoln vehicles, a transmission seal kit may be on backorder due to supply chain interruptions.
Equipment 2024-04-24 · SSM 52476 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
all accessory stick-on keyless entry keypads come with a wallet card containing the master code. if the accessory keypad was factory installed, this card will be placed in the glove box and should be handed to the vehicle s owner during initial delivery. unlike the integrated (wired) factory keypad,
Engine And Engine Cooling 2024-02-08 · SSM 52243 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
when performing any transmission fluid change or topoff involving motorcraftâ® premium atf, merconâ® v has replaced all versions of motorcraftâ® premium atf and can be used going forward. mixing motorcraftâ® premium atf and merconâ® v in the same transmission is acceptable. after 31-jan-2024, motorc
Air Bags 2023-07-27 · 22B05 S1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certain 2005-2014 mustang, 2005-2006 gt, 2004-2011 ranger, 2006-2012 fusion and mkz/zephyr, 2006-2011 milan, and 2007-2010 edge & mkx vehicles driver & passenger airbag module quality control inspection reason for this supplement ã¢â⢠updated ranger technical information to include images of a
Steering 2023-05-26 · SSM 51666 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2010-2012 fusion/milan and 2011-2012 mkz vehicles equipped with a 2.5l or 3.0l engine and electronic power assist steering (epas), a remanufactured replacement steering gear (mu2z-3v504-arm) is available which is significantly less expensive than a new replacement gear. when conducting repairs
Showing the 6 most recent of 51 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-16 · Steering · 120,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. the contact stated that while entering the vehicle to start the engine, the power steering became inoperable. the contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 15v340000 (steering); however, the dealer refused to perform the steering gear recall repair because no diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) were…”
2026-09-24 · Steering“our 2012 fusion suffered a sudden loss of power steering, was diagnosed with code u3000 at a ford dealer, and that the dealer confirmed it matches the 15s18 recall symptoms despite being built two months outside the window. our vehicle was manufactured at the hermosillo plant in 2012, just two months outside the 15s18 recall window. it suffered an…”
2026-09-23 · Steering · 98,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. the contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the vehicle lost power steering assist, causing the steering wheel to be significantly difficult to turn. the contact was able to drive to the nearby residence and parked in the driveway. the message "service power steering assist" was displayed after the failure. th…”
2026-09-06 · Electrical System“i got a 2012 ford fusion se 2.5 4l power steering gone out in it,i put in the vin number to see if mine was recalled it said 0 but my car has the part in the car that made the car recalled ,on the dash its says power steering service its dangerous and i had my child in the car vin number on my car is [xxx] i seen where other 2012 ford fusion se 2.5…”
2026-08-20 · Steering“while i was driving my 2012 ford fusion on august 3rd the steering cut out. i parked the car and re-started it and it worked again. it went to the shop (extra mile automotive) on xxx where they informed me of the 2015 recall on the steering. recall number 15s18 and program 15n01 when i spoke with [xxx] ford in [xxx], they said they replaced the e…”
2026-08-17 · Steering“vehicle experienced loss of power steering so it was hard to steer.when i called a ford dealership i was told my vehicle didn’t qualify for any power steering recalls so i would have to pay full price which is unaffordable …”
2026-08-06 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · 149,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. the contact stated that the brake pedal was soft and spongy. the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard before the vehicle stopped. no warning lights were illuminate…”
2026-08-05 · Steering“i am submitting this formal complaint against ford motor company and its authorized dealership network for falsely reporting a safety recall repair as "resolved" while applying an unauthorized, temporary workaround that left the primary safety defect active. in 2023, i brought my vehicle to an authorized ford dealership to perform mandatory safety …”
2026-07-30 · Tires“i had purchased these tires p225/50r17 for my son‘s car in 2022. they have an 85,000 mile tread life warranty in april of this year. he had a blowout on the left rear tire where the tread separated from the tire and in late july this year is preparing for a 3500 mile trip as i was inspecting his car before his trip. i noticed the tire on the right …”
2026-07-27 · Steering · 138,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 ford fusion. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. the message "power steering assist fault" was displayed. the failure was a recurring failure. the first failure was serviced by the dealer under nhtsa campaign number: 15v340000 (steering); however, a year…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.