2012 Ford Fusion Problems: Steering (2,610 Complaints)
The most-reported problem on the 2012 Ford Fusion is Steering (54% of 2,610 owner reports). There are 6 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Steering — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-10-15 2,610 complaints · 6 recalls
What problems show up on the 2012 Ford Fusion?
1,398 of 2,610 filings named Steering (54% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.
Second is Airbags (383 reports).
There are 6 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Steering and Airbags. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.
The 2011 has 2,916 reports on file; this year has 2,610. A smaller lifetime total is not a clean bill of health. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.
What owners reported
System named most often: Steering 1,398 complaints · 53.6% of the file
Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:
- Crashes 111
- Fires 9
- Injuries 66
- Deaths 3
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-10-14 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
Which systems owners named
Share of owner complaints filed against each vehicle system. These shares are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold.
“Unclassified NHTSA leftover” is not a car part. It is a filing bucket and always sits last.
View component data as a table
| System / Component | Complaints | Share of Reports | Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering (STEERING) | 1,398 | 53.6% | 36 crashes · 2 fires |
| Airbags (AIR BAGS) | 383 | 14.7% | 24 crashes · 0 fires |
| Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) | 114 | 4.4% | 2 crashes · 0 fires |
| Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES) | 94 | 3.6% | 10 crashes · 0 fires |
| Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) | 79 | 3.0% | 3 crashes · 3 fires |
| Body / frame (STRUCTURE) | 77 | 3.0% | 4 crashes · 0 fires |
| Cruise / speed control (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) | 69 | 2.6% | 14 crashes · 0 fires |
| Engine (ENGINE) | 61 | 2.3% | 1 crashes · 3 fires |
| Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) | 46 | 1.8% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Unclassified NHTSA leftover | 335 | 12.8% | 13 crashes · 0 fires |
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-10-15 Open source record
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
When reports and recalls showed up
When owners filed reports, and when recall campaigns showed up.
- Campaign 15V340000 was reported 1,371 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 17V024000 was reported 1,617 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 19V001000 was reported 2,344 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 21E013000 was reported 3,115 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 21V081000 was reported 3,115 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 21V158000 was reported 3,137 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
| Date | Record type | Count | Record identifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2011-Q4 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2012-Q1 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2012-Q2 | Owner reports | 9 | |
| 2012-Q3 | Owner reports | 17 | |
| 2012-Q4 | Owner reports | 6 | |
| 2013-Q1 | Owner reports | 12 | |
| 2013-Q2 | Owner reports | 32 | |
| 2013-Q3 | Owner reports | 57 | |
| 2013-Q4 | Owner reports | 27 | |
| 2014-Q1 | Owner reports | 19 | |
| 2014-Q2 | Owner reports | 46 | |
| 2014-Q3 | Owner reports | 78 | |
| 2014-Q4 | Owner reports | 105 | |
| 2015-Q1 | Owner reports | 58 | |
| 2015-Q2 | Owner reports | 62 | |
| 2015-Q3 | Owner reports | 64 | |
| 2015-Q4 | Owner reports | 39 | |
| 2016-Q1 | Owner reports | 35 | |
| 2016-Q2 | Owner reports | 43 | |
| 2016-Q3 | Owner reports | 52 | |
| 2016-Q4 | Owner reports | 47 | |
| 2017-Q1 | Owner reports | 44 | |
| 2017-Q2 | Owner reports | 38 | |
| 2017-Q3 | Owner reports | 59 | |
| 2017-Q4 | Owner reports | 151 | |
| 2018-Q1 | Owner reports | 84 | |
| 2018-Q2 | Owner reports | 78 | |
| 2018-Q3 | Owner reports | 79 | |
| 2018-Q4 | Owner reports | 149 | |
| 2019-Q1 | Owner reports | 93 | |
| 2019-Q2 | Owner reports | 82 | |
| 2019-Q3 | Owner reports | 67 | |
| 2019-Q4 | Owner reports | 46 | |
| 2020-Q1 | Owner reports | 52 | |
| 2020-Q2 | Owner reports | 31 | |
| 2020-Q3 | Owner reports | 39 | |
| 2020-Q4 | Owner reports | 37 | |
| 2021-Q1 | Owner reports | 27 | |
| 2021-Q2 | Owner reports | 48 | |
| 2021-Q3 | Owner reports | 20 | |
| 2021-Q4 | Owner reports | 39 | |
| 2022-Q1 | Owner reports | 36 | |
| 2022-Q2 | Owner reports | 31 | |
| 2022-Q3 | Owner reports | 53 | |
| 2022-Q4 | Owner reports | 41 | |
| 2023-Q1 | Owner reports | 43 | |
| 2023-Q2 | Owner reports | 27 | |
| 2023-Q3 | Owner reports | 41 | |
| 2023-Q4 | Owner reports | 32 | |
| 2024-Q1 | Owner reports | 17 | |
| 2024-Q2 | Owner reports | 26 | |
| 2024-Q3 | Owner reports | 38 | |
| 2024-Q4 | Owner reports | 27 | |
| 2025-Q1 | Owner reports | 29 | |
| 2025-Q2 | Owner reports | 20 | |
| 2025-Q3 | Owner reports | 21 | |
| 2025-Q4 | Owner reports | 14 | |
| 2026-Q1 | Owner reports | 9 | |
| 2026-Q2 | Owner reports | 12 | |
| 2026-Q3 | Owner reports | 12 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 15V340000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 17V024000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 19V001000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 21E013000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 21V081000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 21V158000 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | PE13003 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | PE14030 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | PE14030 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA17004 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA17004 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA21002 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA21002 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA21002 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | DP22005 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | DP22005 |
Safety Recalls (6)
Official campaigns. Each one says what could go wrong and what the dealer was told to fix.
In short, these campaigns were filed about Steering and Airbags.
-
Recall campaign 15V340000
Steering
- Report date
- Component:
- Steering (STEERING)
- Consequence:
- If the vehicle experiences a loss of power steering assist, extra steering effort will be required at lower speeds, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy:
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will check the Power Steering Control Module (PSCM) for Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC). If dealers find any loss of steering assist DTCs, the steering gear will be replaced, free of charge. If, no codes are found during the PSCM inspection, the PSCM software will be updated, free of charge. The recall began on July 21, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S18.
-
Recall campaign 17V024000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Interim letters informing owners of the recall and that parts are not yet available began mailing March 1, 2017. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.
-
Recall campaign 19V001000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall 19S01.
-
Recall campaign 21E013000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the frontal air bag, an inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Ford will notify dealers that purchased the affected parts, and dealers will provide replacement parts to purchasers, free of charge. The recall began March 18, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.
-
Recall campaign 21V081000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the frontal air bag, an inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the driver and passenger air bag module, and replace either the module or the inflator, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 17, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.
-
Recall campaign 21V158000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver-side airbag inflator or module with an alternate one, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 9, 2021 for the passenger side, and November 14, 2022 for the driver side. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S12.
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
What owners actually wrote
Short excerpts from the public NHTSA file. Look for the same symptom repeating.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-10-14
Showing 6 of 2,610 complaints · page 1 of 105
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Our 2012 Fusion suffered a sudden loss of power steering, was diagnosed with code U3000 at a Ford dealer, and that the dealer confirmed it matches the 15S18 recall symptoms despite being built two months outside the window. Our vehicle was manufactured at the Hermosillo plant in 2012, just two months outside the 15S18 recall window. It suffered an identical, sudden loss of power steering assist while driving, indicating Ford's recall parameters failed to capture all vehicles fitted with the defective component.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering assist, causing the steering wheel to be significantly difficult to turn. The contact was able to drive to the nearby residence and parked in the driveway. The message "Service Power Steering Assist" was displayed after the failure. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering). The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
While driving my 2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid (VIN: [XXX]), the braking system suddenly failed. When applying the brake pedal, there was completely zero brake resistance, and the vehicle failed to engage proper braking power, creating an extremely hazardous driving condition. The vehicle was inspected by a certified Ford dealership (Lithia), which officially documented that the vehicle is "UNSAFE TO DRIVE due to having no brake resistance." The diagnostics confirmed that the ABS Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU), the ABS module, and the Brake Master Cylinder have failed and require total replacement. The dealership also noted that the necessary braking parts are currently completely unavailable (backordered/no parts available). This is the exact same safety defect covered under Ford's previous Safety Recall 19S54 (NHTSA Campaign 19V904) for older Fusion models. However, the recall was never expanded to include the 2012 models, despite them using the same problematic braking infrastructure and experiencing identical catastrophic failures. NHTSA needs to investigate and force Ford to expand the recall to 2011-2012 models before this braking defect causes fatal accidents. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
CrashFireInjuryDeath
I got a 2012 ford fusion se 2.5 4l power steering gone out in it,I put in the vin number to see if mine was recalled it said 0 but my car has the part in the car that made the car recalled ,on the dash its says power steering service its dangerous and I had my child in the car vin number on my car is [XXX] I seen where other 2012 ford fusion se 2.5 4l was recalled for the power steering going out INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
CrashFireInjuryDeath
While I was driving my 2012 Ford Fusion on August 3rd the steering cut out. I parked the car and re-started it and it worked again. It went to the shop (Extra Mile Automotive) on XXX where they informed me of the 2015 recall on the steering. Recall number 15S18 and program 15N01 When I spoke with [XXX] Ford in [XXX], they said they replaced the electrical piece of the recall on December 7th 2015, but not the steering shaft. [XXX] (the westlie ford employee) said because the electrical was completed, the recall procedure was marked as completed, even though [XXX] said that this is very much tied to the original recall. I asked him to submit a Special Service Support Center request to get this fixed and he did submit that on XXX. On XXX it was denied. On XXX I also requested to speak to [XXX] supervisor and was connected to [XXX] (id # XXX) who also said there was nothing she could do because this was already "solved" in 2015. This is not a new or unrelated repair request, it is the unresolved second half of a federally mandated safety recall. Ford's own dealership confirmed that my steering gear failure is directly connected to the original defect covered under Recall 15S18, and Ford's own extended coverage program, 15N01, exists specifically to remedy this exact scenario. Despite this documented connection, Ford has now denied a remedy twice, once through the dealer's SSSC request, and once directly through Ford Customer Service, without providing any technical explanation for why a known, recall-covered defect is being treated as ineligible for repair. My vehicle experienced a complete loss of steering assist while in motion. This is an active, unresolved safety hazard on a vehicle currently in use on public roads, and I am filing this formal complaint because Ford has failed to meet its obligation under federal law to remedy a safety defect without charge to the owner. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Vehicle experienced loss of power steering so it was hard to steer.When I called a ford dealership I was told my vehicle didn’t qualify for any power steering recalls so I would have to pay full price which is unaffordable
Ford Fusion Complaints and Recalls by Year
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems on the 2012 Ford Fusion?
Owners named Steering most often — 1,398 of 2,610 reports (54%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.
Are there recalls for the 2012 Ford Fusion?
NHTSA lists 6 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Steering and Airbags. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov; a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific vehicle.
What should I inspect before buying a 2012 Ford Fusion?
Look up the VIN for open recalls. Check for play in the wheel, noises on lock and whether it tracks straight. Then skim owner filings for the same symptom and take that list to a mechanic.
Does a high complaint count mean I should skip this year?
No. Counts are reports people chose to file and they are not adjusted for sales volume. YearTell does not publish scores or a list of years to skip. Inspect the vehicle.
Estimated Ownership Cost
EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates
Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-10-04
Adjacent Model Years
Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
Methodology & Data Integrity
Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-10-14. YearTell is not a government agency.