Having a vehicle does typically mean you need to pay attention to recall notices and make sure you take care of the issue right away. Recently Ford announced a recall that affects over 285,000 vehicles across five different campaigns. There is a wide variety of reasons these recalls are taking place and if you own a Ford you should check to see if your vehicle falls under these recalls and take the appropriate action before you have an accident that can cause damage to your vehicle or others or result in injury and possibly death.

The largest part of this recall affects 202,000 vehicles which include the 2011-2012 Ford F-150, 2012 Ford Expedition, 2012 Mustang and 2012 Lincoln Navigator. The problem we see with these vehicles is the transmission can unexpectedly shift into first gear and cause immediate speed reductions and the rear tires to lock up. There have been three accidents reported that are related to this issue, but thankfully no injuries have been part of these accidents. If you have an affected vehicle you need to see your dealer and have the powertrain control module software updated along with the lead frame that will need to be replaced before the vehicle reaches ten years of age or 150,000 miles.

The next recall is present in 81,000 vehicles and affects the 2014-2015 Ford Explorer and Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicle. This problem in these vehicles is the rear right suspension toe links can become fractured because of the poor quality of the welds used which can result in loss of control of the vehicle. So far there has been one injury and one accident associated with this recall and dealers are instructed to replace both the left and right rear suspension toe links and align the suspension to ensure the problem is fixed.

The next recall is one that is more recent and affects only 2600 vehicles. The F-Series Super Duty pickup for the 2016 model year has tires that may be damaged. How these tires became damaged is unknown, but Ford will inspect the tires and replace any that are found to be causing issues. The problem is these tires could rupture during use which would cause and accident which hasn’t happened as of yet, but Ford needs to prevent a problem with these heavy duty vehicles and if you own one you need to bring it to your dealer to have the tires checked out.

Next up we see a safety compliance issue with an airbag. In 200 models of the Ford Flex, Ford Taurus, Lincoln MKS and Mercury Sable from 2007 to 2012 the airbags may be missing the chemical needed for the second stage deployment to take place. This defect has not yet caused any injuries but dealers will replace the driver side airbag module in the 200 affected vehicles to ensure no issues take place and you can remain safe in a vehicle that needs to have the airbags deploy properly if in a collision.

Lastly the Ford Fusion from 2016 has only 40 models that have to be recalled. This small number on a vehicle that sells in high volumes is a sign that Ford found one error on a small batch of the model. The problem is the seat mounting bracket may have been improperly welded which leads to a reduced strength in the bracket. The dealerships will replace the entire assembly if you have a car that is affected by this recall. As you can see these five recalls haven’t resulted in a great deal of damage as of yet, and Ford is taking the necessary steps to ensure these vehicles are once again right for driving on the road.