Ford is recalling around 144,000 units of its Maverick compact pickup because the rearview camera image can freeze when the vehicle is reversed.
Notwithstanding the higher safety risks involved, a late-model vehicle must have a functioning rearview camera to comply with regulations.
The recall concerns models from the 2022-2024 model-years and, according to the Safety Recall Report, the vans likely to have this defect are all equipped with Ford's Connected Touch Radio system, rather than the Sync3 system fitted to the more plush versions of the model.
The Connected Touch Radio system offers essentially the same functionalities (some are less sophisticated, such as voice recognition) as the Sync3 system. This is why Ford's documentation for the model sometimes refers to an 8-inch screen multimedia system, rather than the Sync3 system.
When the company became aware of the potential problem in June 2024, it carried out stress tests on the system, which revealed a memory leak in the software that could cause the image displayed by the rearview camera to freeze, leading to a failure in image processing.
The manufacturer also discovered four other vulnerabilities that could prevent the image from being displayed or delay its appearance.
Vehicles equipped with the faulty software were produced between February 3, 2021 and November 28, 2023. It has not been possible to reproduce the problem on more recent versions of the software currently used by the company. Ford is aware of four warranty claims and 22 complaints. Two accidents have been reported. No injuries have been reported.
The manufacturer will correct the problem with a software update that owners will need to have installed at the dealership. Information will be sent to owners starting September 30.