In an ideal world, safety recalls don’t lead to subsequent recalls to fix what wasn’t properly fixed the first time around. We don’t live in an ideal world. Ford is having to recall over 125,000 vehicles in the U.S. to address mechanical or software issues that had been previously addressed. All told, we’re talking about four distinct new recalls.
The core issue driving these campaigns is that previous dealership fixes were completed incorrectly or could not be properly verified in official records.
There’s no word yet on whether any Canadian vehicles might be affected by the new batch of recalls.
The problems
The new corrective action stems directly from an internal audit Ford launched in late 2024. The audit revealed that thousands of vehicles were prematurely marked as repaired when the required software updates or physical remedies were never properly validated. This administrative and mechanical gap has forced the Detroit automaker to call the vehicles back to service bays to ensure the work is done right.
F-150s
The largest campaign impacts 91,198 units of the 2018-2020 Ford F-150. In these pickups, a daytime running lamp (DRL) software glitch means that when a driver manually rotates the lighting master switch from “Autolamps” to “Headlamps On,” the DRLs remain at full brightness instead of dimming to parking lamps. This violates U.S. federal motor vehicle safety lighting standards and risks blinding oncoming traffic.
Another recall targets 10,742 model-year 2018 F-150 trucks equipped with the 3.3L engine, a 6-speed transmission, and a column-mounted shifter. If a driver rapidly pulls the lever from Park to Drive, a transmission control malfunction can cause a momentary, unintended selection of Reverse or Neutral while dropping the gear readout from the instrument cluster. This defect presents a serious risk of unexpected vehicle rollaway.
Escapes
A total of 18,124 2017 Ford Escape SUVs are being recalled because the power-operated windows fail to meet federal auto-reverse safety thresholds. If an object or limb is caught in the path of the glass, the window mechanism exerts excessive force before reversing, posing an injury risk.
Focuses and Fusions
This recall affects 2015–2018 Ford Focus and 2013–2016 Ford Fusion cars (5,252 vehicles total). These cars suffer from a severe mechanical flaw where the transmission clutch assembly can fracture. A fracture can cause severe housing damage and trigger a transmission fluid leak; if the highly flammable fluid contacts hot engine or exhaust components, it could ignite a fire.
The solution
Dealership networks will perform all necessary inspections, component replacements and control module updates completely free of charge. Official owner notification letters are scheduled to be mailed out between July 6 and July 10, 2026.
While these cascading campaigns raise valid questions about the quality control of dealership repairs, it also underscores Ford’s aggressive, data-driven approach to tracking safety non-compliance. The company has explicitly attributed its elevated recall frequency to an expanded tech and safety audit task force explicitly built to catch lingering vehicle defects early.