Posted on 12/26/2025 6:39:03 AM PST by V_TWIN
Ford Motor Company logged far more recalls in 2025 than any other automaker, according to federal safety data, eclipsing a decade-old industry record and underscoring ongoing quality issues affecting millions of vehicles across multiple model lines.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford logged 152 recalls in 2025. The manufacturer with the second-most recalls was Honda, with 53, followed by Forest River with 32, General Motors with 27 and International Motors with 26.
Last week, Ford filed a recall with the NHTSA over a software error that may cause a loss of drive power in certain 2020 Escape Hybrid and 2022 to 2024 Maverick Hybrid vehicles, though only 87 units were potentially affected.
Four other recalls were issued by the automaker the same day, including one involving an instrument panel cover that could detach in an estimated 6,897 2025–26 Maverick pickups. Another recall addressed headlights that may fail in 2025 to 2026 Mustang Mach-E vehicles, affecting more than 45,000 units.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
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Well, if I have to I can move stuff around and get one car in there. It’s true, though, about all I do on my own cars now is change the oil, and I’d rather do that out in the dirt anyway because of the inevitable drips.
I’m thinking about getting a shipping container for storage and building a canopy alongside to park under. The sun doesn’t do a car’s paint much good after a few years, plus we can get some fair-sized hail from summer thunderstorms. Better if I could park under some sort of cover.
“Those pennies per car saved in manufacturing are costing big bucks. That’s becoming more true with all manufacturers.”
This represents a business model change. The dealership sales department is no longer the profit center part of the business. It’s only job is to get the customer behind the wheel.
In Detroit (or where ever) they build vehicles with cheaper materials and designed to not be serviceable by the owner. The higher rate of failure then requires the vehicle to be repaired by the dealer’s service department where the profit margins are hundred of percentage points over what is reasonable.
Until Toyota got good, everyone was turning the ignition key with one hand and crossing their fingers with the other every time they really needed to go somewhere. My sister’s brand new 1968 Chevelle 350 SS had a starter problem that continued until she got rid of it after 2 years. The Chevy dealer’s mechanic couldn’t figure it out. The best they could do was a put a piece of asbestos between the starter and engine block. Now they rebuild with an LS engine in them and call them Classic... Unless you’re afraid of your car not starting, it’s not really a classic.
Early on I noticed some 'flaws' in the customer design - notably electronic components such as resistors and capacitors, occasionally undersized board traces that were sufficient for the job, but offered no longevity.
When I approached my EE and the manufacturing team I received a lesson in "Planned Obsolescence": The idea is to make product XXX so that the end user gets familiar with it, is comfortable with it and will recommend it and when product XXX fails they will want to replace it with the newer, improved version of XXX - the one with more bells, lights and whistles and more opportunity for PO.
Later on I moved to writing software and learned all about time bombs and programmed longevity based on cycles.
Nowadays I focus on repairing 'old' mechanical bits of automobiles from the 60s and early 70s - a world I am more comfortable with.
Holy crap. I don’t think I will ever own a Ford ever again. It is not worth the risk.
We have a 2002 MR2 that starts and runs reliably, but the uncertainty is always which plastic underbody panel is going to come loose and drag on the road or on a tire.
Ah yes... the Agile methodology of project management has come to vehicle manufacturing: exactly where it DOES NOT belong.
Anywhere that human safety is a factor, Agile does not belong, yet organizational leaders seem to think “fail fast” should be a mantra in every business.
It works in software development, because the time to repair is low in modern computing. It works for SpaceX, because they’re not putting human-rated capsules to the test until they’ve perfected propulsion and on-orbit systems. It doesn’t belong in an industry where buyers of an arguably essential daily living product have to take the product back to a central dealer and possibly go without for several hours or days.
LOVE MY 4 SPEED TRUCK
NO COMPUTER NEEDED AT ALL===OVER 348,000 MILES
Even when I was in high school it stood for Fix Or Repair Daily in my neck of the woods. Lol
That’s most of my neighborhood but I got tired of that life.
Over the past couple of years I’ve made the garage useable again and plenty of space for the two vehicles.
They are out of the weather, locked in overnight and if out of town.
Once in a while, one of the neighbor’s cars will get hit since they park on the street.
Turd and ‘tard both work for TRD.
Actually part of it...yes.
Ford has been sued “bigly” in the past. So they are getting ahead of it via recalls. They probably did the math and now figure it’s cheaper and better to do this as opposed to ignoring it and fixing it after the fact.
I could (and eventually will) clear out a lot of stuff, but the garage is at least as much wood shop as garage now. Short of building a whole new shop building, it’ll likely stay that way. Maybe some day...
The US auto industry will never learn. They have given up on the Sedan market to foreign manufacturers. They refuse to produce vehicles at fair market value. In other words they advertise a good product and sell you crap. Both management and unions agree on their scheme of ripping off customers with garbage products.
If buyers decide they don’t want SUVs and pickups any more the US companies are completely screwed.
Fix Or Repair Daily.
Lol. Aluminum is more expensive than steel. WTF would they change it for?
> WTF would they change it for? <
I suspect it was a weight thing. Save an ounce here, save an ounce there. Then gas mileage improves. That impresses prospective customers. And it makes it easier for the company to meet federal gas mileage standards.
After owning one 1996 Ford Explorer I went back to Toyota, Lexus and Honda ONLY.
The paint on that Explorer all started splitting at 38K miles. Actually it was the primer underneath. Which means they had to take it down to bare metal to fix the problem.
The dealership I bought it from did it for cost. Which the owner of the dealership who called me personally did for me.
After
Ford corporation told me the warranty was up and to pound sand. I decided after that conversation I would NEVER buy another Ford product.
My son had a Subaru that got to 100K and turned into a money pit.
At least Subaru has initial good quality.
I have owned three Tacoma trucks. My wife has had two Hondas since the Explorer. The Civic we had prior to the Explorer we sold for less than $1000 from what we paid for it.
After that my wife is on her second Honda.
I just bought a 2011 Lexus convertible so I could put less miles on the Tacoma.
I am considering buying another 2015 Tacoma double cab V6 long bed if I can find one with low miles
IMHO this is the best Tacoma that Toyota ever made.
I am not a fan of the 4 cylinder turbo engines.
The two Toyota’s I’ve owned are the best overall vehicles I’ve ever had.
One being a 2009 2.0 V-6 Tacoma.
Toyota and Honda are regularly at the top of dependable vehicles year in and year out.
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