Owners filed 1,750 complaints about the 2015–2025 Ford Mustang with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 60th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2015 model year drew the most (435), and the single most-reported problem area is electrical system, named in 18% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2015, with 435 complaints, led by electrical system (66).
- Spike years: 2015 (3.6× the typical year), 2016 (3.1× the typical year), 2017 (2.2× the typical year), 2018 (1.6× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: transmission / powertrain complaints came at a median of 10k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 29 complaints mention a fire and 95 mention a crash; owners reported 63 injuries and 2 deaths.
Ford Mustang complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 435 | Electrical system (66), Engine (51), Brakes (46) | 35k mi | 26 | 7 |
| 2016 | 376 | Engine (75), Electrical system (72), Backup camera / rear sensors (52) | 36k mi | 13 | 6 |
| 2017 | 265 | Backup camera / rear sensors (64), Body structure (39), Electrical system (34) | 40k mi | 14 | 8 |
| 2018 | 191 | Engine (56), Transmission / powertrain (45), Electrical system (30) | 29k mi | 8 | 1 |
| 2019 | 148 | Engine (50), Electrical system (32), Transmission / powertrain (28) | 20k mi | 3 | 1 |
| 2020 | 120 | Transmission / powertrain (25), Electrical system (25), Engine (25) | 24k mi | 13 | 5 |
| 2021 | 55 | Fuel System, Gasoline (10), Transmission / powertrain (9), Engine (8) | 6k mi | 4 | 0 |
| 2022 | 49 | Fuel System, Gasoline (8), Electrical system (7), Steering (7) | 10k mi | 3 | 1 |
| 2023 | 15 | Steering (5), Electrical system (5), Brakes (4) | 14k mi | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | 79 | Electrical system (36), Engine (9), Exterior lights (8) | 5k mi | 5 | 0 |
| 2025 | 17 | Exterior lights (5), Visibility (windows, mirrors, wipers) (3), Electrical system (3) | 14k mi | 1 | 0 |
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 Mustang problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical system | 316 | 18% | 30k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Engine | 310 | 18% | 27k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Transmission / powertrain | 213 | 12% | 10k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Backup camera / rear sensors | 195 | 11% | 50k mi | — |
| Body structure | 153 | 9% | 43k mi | — |
| Brakes | 106 | 6% | 10k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Latches and locks | 96 | 6% | 60k mi | — |
| Fuel system | 81 | 5% | 36k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
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 Fusion (4,656)
- Ford F-250 Sd (3,942)
- Ford Focus (3,929)
- Ford Expedition (2,537)
- Ford F-350 Sd (2,147)
- Ford Ecosport (1,850)
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.