Owners have filed 20,635 complaints on the Ford Fusion, covering 2006–2020. The system named most often is Engine (827 reports). Worst years by volume: 2010, 2011, 2012; cleanest: 2020, 2019, 2018. 714 reports describe a crash, 158 a fire, 6 a death. On average the car was 6.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Fusion
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 20,635 Fusion complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 827 Read
Engine overheats. Stalls while driving. Seizes up. Coolant intrusion
Engine overheated and started on fire completely destroyed . Vehicle was not involved in any accident and was recently 22 days prior completely checked out by the dealership for a engine coolant recall
I / the owner of my 2017 ford fusion se 1.5l had a seized engine occur on my commute home from work. White smoke billowed and brewed out my exhaust as I was in the right lane. I immediately pulled over to see what was going wrong and almost caused a collision for the person behind me.. After getting it towed the next…
Power Train 797 Read
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would hesitate upon the depression of the accelerator pedal without warning. The contact also stated that while the vehicle was in park(P) on an inclined driveway, the vehicle rolled forward without warning and…
Terrible car, after long thinking about it the last accident in this car I think was caused from the transmission literally as soon as I put it in reverse it acted as if I was accelerating and proceeded out of the parking spot a little bit, another scary thing I pulled out of a parking lot and almost got hit because…
Back in 2018, 1.3 million ford focus vehicles were recalled due to a fuel purge valve. Who's to say the same issue is starting to occur again, but to the ford fusions? My 2017 ford fusion that I purchased 6 months ago has this issue. It is a major safety concern! On my way to work in the middle of the highway, during…
Electrical System 364 Read
"The incident occurred immediately after shifting the vehicle into reverse and starting to move. The engine suddenly shut down with a 'System Performance' alert, and cooling fans engaged at maximum speed. Moments later, a thermal runaway event began in the high-voltage Li-ion battery pack, leading to a catastrophic…
I am reporting a life-threatening incident involving my 2020 Ford Fusion PHEV. On December 5, 2025, while my wife was driving on a public street, the vehicle suffered a sudden, complete engine failure followed by smoke and fire originating from the high-voltage battery pack in the trunk. There were no prior warning…
1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Answer: The Hybrid system/battery caught fire. The vehicle is with the Insurance company Allstate, I believe should be available for inspection upon request. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk?…
Steering 354 Read
I was in a car accident with my 2013 ford fusion. There was a witness at the scene saying that there were sparks shooting from my car before the accident happened. He says it looked like a tire came off my car taking a right curve on a main road in the city the car did not turn I just went straight across 2 lanes of…
The contact owned a 2013 ford fusion. While driving 5 mph, another vehicle slightly struck the driver side bumper of the contact's vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. Twenty minutes later, a popping sound emitted from inside the steering wheel and smoke appeared from the dashboard. The vehicle shut off…
2012 ford fusion. Attorney representing consumer writes in regards to vehicle defect associated with recall notice. *smd the driver of the vehicle was involved in a single car accident. Consequently, the driver was burned to death. The lawyer on behalf of the driver, believed the accident was due to a defect…
Service Brakes 314 Read
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that their husband was coming to a stop light at approximately 5 mph, he attempted to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal but the vehicle failed to respond. In order to avoid a crash, the driver veered to the right where they went over a curb, into a…
I was backing out of my driveway and my brake pedal went to the floor. I could not stop and hit a vehicle brhind me
I had a bad car accident October 2019 going 45 mph, I push the breaks the car didn’t stop and I crashed not after a month from getting the car from drivetime on a special discount
Engine And Engine Cooling 304 Read
The contact owns a 2017 ford fusion. The contact stated while driving 70 mph, the temperature gauge increased with no warning lights illuminating. The contact stated that temperature gauge remained high as she felt heat on her feet. The contact stated that the heater core malfunctioned and coolant was leaked into the…
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at 75 MPH, the temperature gauge began to indicate that the vehicle was overheating. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the road, and after a visual inspection of the engine compartment, it was observed that the coolant overflow…
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at 55-60 MPH, the vehicle was sluggish and hesitated to respond when depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times while driving. The contact stated that while…
Air Bags 237 Read
The contact owned a 2015 ford fusion. While driving 35 mph, the contact crashed into the front of another vehicle. The driver's air bag deployed, the vehicle filled up with smoke, and flames were noticed under the hood. The contact sustained injuries to the head and neck, which required medical attention. A police…
I was stopped at a red light on a city street and was hit in the rear by a car going very fast. I hit a car in front of me and my air bag deployed. A few seconds later my air bag burst into flames. I used my water bottle to put out the fire. I was dazed and hurt and if I was unconscious results would have been extreme
Automobile impacted telephone pole on right front quadrant. The continued travel of the vehicle up small embankment caused the vehicle to roll and flip. The driver's side impact airbag did not deploy resulting in head injury to driver
Back Over Prevention 100 Read
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while in reverse in a parking lot, the rearview camera malfunctioned and displayed a black screen. The vehicle's rear bumper collided with an unknown parking barrier. There were no injuries or damages. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The vehicle was…
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the…
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera displayed a black image with the message “Please See Dealer…
Fusion years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Air Bags | 8 | 3 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 9 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 35 | 8 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 58 | 4 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 37 | 6 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 53 | 11 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 54 | 87 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 94 | 6 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 69 | 7 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 106 | 7 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 56 | 4 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 47 | 6 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 50 | 5 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 34 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,728 |
| Average complaints per series | 11.9 |
| Worst single series | 212 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.4 years |
A model average of 11.9 hides a worst series at 212. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,109,349 of them, covering 2,013 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Fusion?
By complaint volume, 2010, 2011, 2012 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Fusion years are the cleanest?
2020, 2019, 2018 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Ford Fusion have?
20,635 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2006–2020. Of those, 714 describe a crash and 158 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.
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