Ford Recalls: We Analyzed Them All!

Issue #176

​Happy festive season from Four Wheel Trends! We hope you enjoy your celebrations with your loved ones.

As a Christmas gift, we’re talking about Ford’s record-breaking recall year.

Yikes, I know, but it’s very interesting.

Market News

• The latest Subaru Forester earned top safety honors. Here’s how it fared in crash tests.

• The Ford Lightning EV is dead. However, Ford says its replacement has a range of 700 miles. What are your thoughts on it?

• The Nissan Pathfinder continues to exist and battle it out with others, only to be “mid.” Here’s more.

• Tesla’s door malfunctions have already led to 15 deaths. You can read more about the critical situation here.

• Monthly new car payments hit an all-time high. Here’s the number.

Safety and Recalls

• A Stellantis recall again showcases the problems with vehicle software. Here’s more.

• Toyota recalls the Camry and Corolla Cross. 55,000 units could be at risk of a fire. Here’s why.

Car Culture

• Can Americans embrace kei cars? They will, under the perfect circumstances. This article explains.

• The World Rally Championship has just reduced power and cut costs. Here’s what the rally cars will look like in the future.

• Uganda’s only Cybertruck rolled. It’s comedy gold.

• Volkswagen kills off the ID Buzz. But, only for 2026. Is there hope for 2017? This article explains.

• Stellantis and Volkswagen are among the automakers accused of range fraud in EVs. However, it’s not because they were innocent. Here’s more.

Video Of The Week

This YouTube channel brings back the Mazda5 Sport and why it was actually a good car.

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In The Know

We Analyzed Ford’s Recall Year

2.48 days. Imagine having to look at your inventory because something is wrong every 2.48 days. The thought alone is fatiguing, and it’s what Ford has had to do in 2025 in a record-breaking year.

By the way, they already had broken the record for recalls in July! Here’s more on it.

Guess what? There’s another Ford recall because, of course, they couldn’t break with tradition. This time, Ford is recalling 273,000 vehicles because the parking function, well, malfunctions. Cars can roll away and cause a crash.

You can read more about the affected models here.

I bet the NHTSA already has Ford’s Quality Assurance Department on speed dial.

At Four Wheel Trends, we were blown away by the number of recalls, so we decided to analyze all of Ford’s recalls in 2025. Granted, the year isn’t over, but let’s say the rest that happens fall into 2026.

What we found was fascinating, and it also shows that Ford’s quality isn’t necessarily that terrible. However, we’ll get to that later.

Let’s start with the data. Here’s a summary table we put together.

You can also visit the NHTSA site here. If overly complex databases aren’t your thing, here’s a summary.

The most interesting aspect is that only three of the recalls involve a “Do not drive” warning. The overall population affected by this recall was “only” 2,350 vehicles, most of them Super Duty trucks. Here’s more on that recall.

The biggest compound recall of 2025 involved almost 3 million vehicles, in two separate dates, but with the same cause.

The rearview camera failed at critical times (basically, when drivers were backing up), being a major safety risk. This recall is one of the most complex, and Ford hasn’t reported how far along they are.

The average number of vehicles affected per recall is 87,575, which is considerably high.

The fuel pump failed in two separate recalls, causing engine stalls and fuel leaks. Neither of these earned  a “Do not drive” warning.

Here’s a chart of the dates with the most recalls. That’s right, Ford had 12 recalls in ONE DAY, but it begs the question: Does that mean Ford cars are terrible?

Well, yes and no.

There’s no denying that Ford is the leader in recalls. Second-place Chrysler has 53 recalls, “only” a third of Ford’s total. Plus, it’s no secret that the Blue Oval has had quality issues for years, as this article recalls.

However, vehicles are becoming more complex in general, and software is increasingly a critical aspect of recalls. At the same time, with more regulatory pressure, automakers are more proactive in finding faults.

This brings us to an intriguing aspect of the changing automotive industry. In 2025, we saw the current administration's rollback on several standards, including emissions and miles per gallon. Will this mean that, in 2026, regulations will also roll back when it comes to recalls?

We’ll be answering this question in December 2026.