2026 Ford Mustang problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Service Brakes (2) · Wheels (1) · Visibility/Wiper (1)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Ford Mustang model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (5)
Electrical System:wiring 2026-08-25 · campaign 26V547000 · 148,663 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2026 Mustang vehicles. The engine compartment wiring harness ground connections may fracture and result in a loss of drive power, or a loss of function in the windshield washing system, headlights, air conditioning, or engine cooling fan. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment," and 104, "Windshield Wiping and
Risk: A loss of driver power increases the risk of a crash. In addition, a loss of headlight function or windshield washing system function can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the engine compartment wiring harness ground terminals, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed September 5, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in March 2027. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26C40. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on August 28, 2026.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:hard Parts Internal/Mechanical 2026-08-25 · campaign 26V548000 · 10,001 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Explorer, Bronco, Bronco Sport, Mustang, and Ranger vehicles. The engine piston domes may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in piston dome failure and lead to a loss of drive power.
Risk: An unexpected loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the engine pistons and replace the engine long block, if necessary, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed September 3, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in December 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S61. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on August 28, 2026.
Visibility:windshield Wiper/Washer:motor 2026-06-30 · campaign 26V418000 · 67,994 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2026 Mustang and 2025-2026 Mustang GTD vehicles. During certain cold temperature conditions, the windshield wipers may function only at their high-speed setting and the washing system may fail to function properly.
Risk: Windshield wipers or a washing system that fails to function as intended can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the wiper motor as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 11, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26C32. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on July 2, 2026.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:hard Parts Internal/Mechanical 2026-03-31 · campaign 26V205000 · 278 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Explorer and Mustang vehicles. The engine piston circlips may have been incorrectly installed during manufacturing, which can result in piston failure and engine damage, leading to a loss of drive power.
Risk: An unexpected loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the engine for missing or mis-installed circlips and replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 10, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S23. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on April 2, 2026.
Engine 2025-12-01 · campaign 25V828000 · 6 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Explorer, Mustang, Lincoln Corsair, and 2025 Maverick vehicles. The cylinder head may have been improperly manufactured, which can cause the ball plugs to fail, resulting in an oil leak.
Risk: An oil leak in the presence of an ignition source such as hot engine or exhaust components increases the risk of a fire. In addition, the loss of oil can result in engine seizure and loss of motive power, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the cylinder head assembly, free of charge. All affected vehicles are still within dealership inventory and therefore no owner notification letters will be mailed. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SD3. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 24, 2025.
Service bulletins (21)
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 2026-09-16 · TCU-26.2.12.2.2 Mach E, F · Over The Air
quality improvements include: -addresses a bug that may cause updates to fail
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-09 · ECG-26.2.12.3 Bronco,Esca · Over The Air
quality improvements include: -eprivacy enhancements
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-25 · SSM 55118 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some of the following vehicles: * 2023-2025 f-super duty built on or before 02-feb-2025 * 2024-2026 ranger/bronco/mustang * 2024-2025 f-150 built on or before 15-jul-2025 * 2024-2025 nautilus built on or before 16-feb-2025 * 2025 explorer/aviator built on or before 01-feb-2025 may exhibit all of t
Vehicle Speed Control 2026-08-06 · SSM 55072 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2025-2026 mustang vehicles equipped with a 5.0l or 2.3l engine and built on 15-aug-2025 and through 01-dec-2025 may exhibit various drivability symptoms and/or have diagnostic trouble codes (dtc) stored in the powertrain control module (pcm) related to throttle/pedal position circuits. this may
Visibility/Wiper 2026-08-04 · SSM 55061 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2024-2026 mustang vehicles built on or before 23-apr-2026 may exhibit a sagging headliner appearance at the door openings which show the raw headliner edge untucked from the door glass run. an updated door glass run has been released for service (left side:pr3z-6321597-b, right side:pr3z-632159
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-23 · SSM 55031 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2021-2026 ford/lincoln vehicles may exhibit various symptoms including but not limited to the auto start/stop system not operating as intended with a "check charging system" message in the instrument panel cluster (ipc) while the charging system is operating properly with no charging related di
Showing the 6 most recent of 21 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-28 · Engine“vehicle suffered sudden, total loss of motive power while driving. no dashboard warning lights or error codes were produced. vehicle is currently grounded at anderson ford (sc) under active recall 26v547 / 26c40. manufacturer and dealer are refusing alternative safe transportation, attempting to force the consumer to drive an unremedied, unsafe veh…”
2026-09-23 · Service Brakes · 💥 crash“recalls on 2024 ford mustangs: on 09/22/2026, at approximately 11:34am, my ford mustang suffered a catastrophic malfunction. when i was braking on the offramp, the brakes did not engage and remained firm and unresponsive. the car immediately accelerated, despite my efforts on the brakes accompanied by the use of the emergency brake. the car contin…”
2026-09-14 · Vehicle Speed Control:accelerator Pedal · 2,500 mi“the contact owns a 2026 ford mustang. the contact stated that while driving 5 mph and pulling out of the driveway, the accelerator pedal was depressed and the vehicle quickly accelerated. the manufacturer was contacted by phone and opened the case. the failure mileage was 2,500.…”
2026-07-19 · Vehicle Speed Control“my mustang prevented me out of nowhere from going over 80, no warning or driver assistance system were active when the incident happened, this car is brand new only 4k miles when it happened, i pulled over to gas station and restarted it, it didnt fix the issue until i let it sit for 20 mins near the gas station their is some kind of glitch in the …”
2026-07-14 · Wheels“on xxx i purchased a new 2026 ford mustang gt from the dealership at [xxx] and [xxx] in [xxx] 40 hrs. after the purchase i was traveling on [xxx] headed west at about 78 mph the speed limit was 70 mph., when my driver side rear tire let go, i mean totally blew out. the car slammed to the ground and the rear of the car slide to the right and almost…”
2026-06-15 · Unknown Or Other“description on your vehicles engine, one or more of the clips that retain the engines pistons to their connecting rods may be mis-installed or missing. safety risk a mis-installed clip may result in an audible knocking noise that increases over time. progression of this issue can lead to piston failure and engine damage, resulting in a loss of m…”
2026-06-14 · Visibility/Wiper“9 days after i purchased this 2026 mustang gt brand new. the first rain storm. after activating the wipers. said wipers broke and went flying airborne over the vehicle into traffic. at which point i couldn’t see as it was raining heavy. this resulted in a near head on collision with oncoming traffic and the wiper arm damaged the windshield. obvio…”
2026-05-09 · Service Brakes · 💥 crash“the 2026 ford mustang was off and rolled away out of the driveway colliding with tree, the incident was caught on my ring camera, the electrical system vehicle had acting strangely and kept giving warning the trunk was open and had to go open and close it multiple times. once i parked the vehicle at my house the car rolled away, according to ford…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.