Owners have filed 20,543 complaints on the Ford Fusion, covering 2006–2020. The system named most often is Engine (817 reports). Worst years by volume: 2010, 2011, 2012; cleanest: 2020, 2019, 2018. 709 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 20,543 Fusion complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 817 Read
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…
Engine overheats. Stalls while driving. Seizes up. Coolant intrusion
Power Train 798 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…
Steering 366 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…
Electrical System 366 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…
Vehicle stopped accelerating, heard pop in vehicle behind me, all lite dash symbols flash and displayed message, stop vehicle safely now. Next morning, turn on vehicle to place into neutral to load onto tow truck to take to dealer, kept going back to park, while pulling vehicle onto tow truck, cabin filled with smoke,…
Service Brakes 324 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
This car didn't stop with in 40ft when the speed is 25 mph and happened to collide with another car which changed lanes abruptly
Engine And Engine Cooling 303 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 238 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
Vehicle Speed Control 85 Read
On october 17, 2018, I drove into a shopping center parking lot and proceeded to park in front of the shops. I had entered the parking space at a very low speed and was almost at a dead stop when my 2018 ford fusion sport lurched forward with such a powerful burst of speed, I was unable to stop before hitting a window…
My Motor vehicle shift selector bushing broken out the ford issue is also in the 2017 models
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while the dad was driving with the cruise control set at 65 MHP. While approaching a slower vehicle ahead the driver pressed both the brake pedal and the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel but the cruise control did not deactivate. As the driver…
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 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 35 | 8 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 56 | 4 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 36 | 6 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 52 | 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 | 1,725 |
| Average complaints per series | 11.9 |
| Worst single series | 211 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.4 years |
A model average of 11.9 hides a worst series at 211. 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
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 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?
20,543 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2006–2020. Of those, 709 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.