Jake
“Most recalls issued in a year” is a dubious honor no automaker wants. Luckily for most car manufacturers, the whopping 153 recalls issued by Ford Motor Company (Ford) in 2025 sets a record that is unlikely to be broken any time soon. Prior to 2025, the highest number of recalls recorded in a single year was 77. Ford surpassed that figure by July of 2025 and nearly doubled it by the end of the calendar year.
What Are Vehicle Recalls?
If you’re a licensed driver in the United States, you’ve likely heard of or experienced an auto recall firsthand. When a vehicle, tire, car seat, or other type of equipment does not meet federal safety standards or creates an unreasonable safety risk, it will be recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). When a vehicle is recalled, its manufacturer must remedy the problem by offering repairs, replacement parts, or a refund.
While recalls are frequently issued because of significant defects or safety concerns, almost all affected vehicles can be repaired and made road-worthy again. In very rare cases, a defect may be too challenging or dangerous to repair. For example, a vehicle may have a weakened frame or unsafe seats due to a manufacturing defect. If a recalled vehicle cannot be safely repaired, the manufacturer may offer a buyback.
How Concerned Should I Be if My Vehicle is Recalled?
Recalls vary significantly in severity. The most serious types of auto recalls include a “Do Not Drive” or “Park Outside” advisory. A “Do Not Drive” recall is issued when driving a vehicle under normal operating conditions would put the car’s occupants at risk of serious injury or death. “Do Not Drive” recalls are generally issued when a vehicle may experience a sudden loss of engine power, braking capacity, or steering. Any of those conditions could result in a serious crash.
A “Park Outside” recall is generally issued when a vehicle is affected by a defect resulting in the risk of a spontaneous fire. If your vehicle catches fire while parked near another vehicle or in a garage, significant damages or loss of life could occur. Vehicle fires can be caused by defective batteries, engine problems, unsafe electrical vehicle charging components, or other problems.
In 2025, Ford only issued 3 “Do Not Drive” and 2 “Park Outside” advisories. Most recalls are for issues that pose significantly lower risks to vehicle occupants. In some cases, recalls can even be created for something as trivial as excessively small font on a vehicle touchscreen or periodic glitches with a backup camera. While these issues can still theoretically result in a collision, they present far less of a risk than defective parts, engine failure, or vehicle fires.
To find out if your family’s vehicle has an outstanding repair order, you can enter your vehicle identification number (VIN) or license plate number into the NHTSA recall checker.
Has Ford Always Had a High Number of Annual Recalls?
In recent years, Ford has indeed issued a considerable number of recalls. From 2021 to 2025, Ford sent out 400 individual recall orders. In 2022, 2023, and 2025, Ford had more annual recall orders than any other automaker. Tesla and Stellantis briefly surpassed Ford in annual recalls issued in 2024, before Ford skyrocketed back to the top in 2025. While every major automaker will inevitably issue at least a few recall orders every year, Ford’s sky-high recall totals indicate significant quality control woes.
How Has Ford Acted to Improve the Safety of Their Vehicles?
Ford has received their fair share of criticism over their struggles with quality control in recent years. The manufacturer was even fined $165 million in 2024 for a perceived lack of urgency in recalling vehicles with malfunctioning backup cameras. This was one of the largest fines ever issued by the NHTSA. Part of the NHTSA’s actions against Ford included additional third-party oversight of the manufacturer’s adherence to safety standards for a period of at least three years.
Following the NHTSA’s actions, Ford has taken steps to improve the build quality of their vehicles. The company underwent leadership restructuring near the end of 2024 to effectively address quality concerns. Ford has also implemented the Mobile Artificial Intelligence Vision System (MAIVS) into many of their plants. MAIVS uses machine learning and computer vision to detect defects in real-time as vehicles are built. By catching and repairing problems as they arise, there is a significantly lower risk of defective vehicles ever leaving the factory floor.
Ford’s track record of recalls over the past five years leaves much to be desired. When buyers pick out a new car, they reasonably expect it to function safely and as intended. Instead, many Ford buyers have found themselves dealing with a seemingly never-ending series of recall orders and repairs. Hopefully, the actions Ford has taken to improve their build quality pay off and the quantity of recalled units drops in the very near future.
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