Owners filed 4,656 complaints about the 2015–2025 Ford Fusion with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 17th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2016 model year drew the most (1,621), and the single most-reported problem area is engine, named in 33% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2016, with 1,621 complaints, led by engine (441).
- Spike years: 2016 (1.6× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: electrical system complaints came at a median of 43k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 23 complaints mention a fire and 154 mention a crash; owners reported 95 injuries.
Ford Fusion complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 992 | Engine (271), Steering (163), Transmission / powertrain (143) | 74k mi | 34 | 5 |
| 2016 | 1,621 | Engine (441), Transmission / powertrain (310), Steering (176) | 78k mi | 59 | 6 |
| 2017 | 1,109 | Engine (394), Transmission / powertrain (310), Engine and cooling (134) | 71k mi | 37 | 8 |
| 2018 | 439 | Engine (202), Transmission / powertrain (106), Engine and cooling (88) | 90k mi | 9 | 1 |
| 2019 | 314 | Engine (153), Transmission / powertrain (68), Engine and cooling (54) | 79k mi | 5 | 0 |
| 2020 | 181 | Transmission / powertrain (67), Engine (50), Electrical system (38) | 71k mi | 10 | 3 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Ford Fusion problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 1,511 | 33% | 79k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 1,004 | 22% | 80k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Electrical system | 473 | 10% | 43k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Engine and cooling | 442 | 10% | 97k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Steering | 428 | 9% | 65k mi | Power steering repair cost |
| Brakes | 234 | 5% | 61k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Fuel system | 217 | 5% | 61k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Backup camera / rear sensors | 150 | 3% | 88k mi | — |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other Ford models in the index
- Ford F-150 (11,842)
- Ford Escape (9,632)
- Ford Explorer (9,079)
- Ford Edge (5,190)
- Ford F-250 Sd (3,942)
- Ford Focus (3,929)
- Ford Expedition (2,537)
- Ford F-350 Sd (2,147)
- Ford Ecosport (1,850)
- Ford Mustang (1,750)
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.