KnownCarProblems2012 Ford Mustang Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 469 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Ford Mustang, most often about the transmission (38% of complaints, typically around 12,500 miles). It is the 3rd most complained-about Mustang model year since 2000 and has 6 recalls.
⚠ Safety advisory3 recalls for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Most common 2012 Ford Mustang problems
Transmission
177 complaints · 38%Half of these problems showed up before 12,500 miles. Parts named most often: manual transmission, automatic transmission.
6 spd manual transmission, unable to upshift to 3rd gear around 4000 RPM. Had to wait until the rpms came down below 2000 before it would go into 3rd. Was accelerating from an on ramp and trying to merge with the 65 MPH+ traffic. Had to ride the shoulder for a bit until the transmission would let me shift. Not safe at…
My manual transmission 2012 Ford Mustang was initially at a standstill at the stop light at a four way intersection. As I prepared to make a left hand turn, I experienced difficulty shifting into first gear--the transmission did, however, shift into first. I accelerated to make the turn, and halfway through the turn I…
Air bags
158 complaints · 34%Half of these problems showed up before 39,000 miles.
I got a letter on an important safety recall, this was in july I came down an spoke with michael at the Ford company on sage rd. In memphis tn. I have been waiting for him to cal me back once he order the part #15s21/ NHTSA recall 15v-319, it"s been a month now
Takata my car has different manufacturing issues including the convertible roofing it does openly by itself, I got scared and chocked the first time it happened, also the transmission seemed to sent a lower speed to the motor. Airbag didn't explode in a crash. Driving is when it happens.
Speed control
35 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 31,000 miles.
At approximately 60 MPH on I-295 in moderately heavy traffic, there was an audible "clunk" and vehicle immediately began decelerating. Pressing on the gas pedal did not power the vehicle. Driver was already in the far right lane preparing to exit, so safely made it to the shoulder. Had driver been in another lane…
While driving the car lost power and would not respond to pushing the accelerator pedal. The wrench light illuminated and the panel and the engine dropped to a rough idle. I had to activate my flashers and coast into a parking lot. Turned off the motor and restarted the car. Operated normally until I accelerated out…
Engine
33 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 30,000 miles.
My car has approximately 31000 miles on it. I"m the second owner of this vehicle. 18 days ago antifreeze was on my garage floor. My mechanic come over and explained to me that my water pump had gone bad. So I took my car to the dealership and they told me that it was still was under power train warranty. They…
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician diagnosed the electronic throttle body needed to be replaced. The repair was made to the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure…
Body and structure
23 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 36,500 miles. Parts named most often: body.
There is no reason for Ford not to cover this repair/replacement of my hood. The paint is lifting off of the hood due to corrosion under the paint by manufacturer defect on the assembly line.
Paint is bubbling under hood caused by corrosion of the aluminum. Ford is aware but will not repair under the 60 month unlimited corrosion warranty.
Fuel system
22 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 57,000 miles.
Fuel system problem: evaporative emissions system related failure, fuel fill neck failure (possibly at connection to fuel tank) and unknown other leak. Dealer claims not covered by california or federal emissions required warranty. Dealer reports seeing fuel filler neck problems on Mustang and other Ford vehicles.…
My vehicle constantly goes into limp home mode while driving. Turns off all cylinders except 1 which let's you drive about 5mph. Also while my vehicle is at idle it begins to loose proper idle RPM and nearly stalls until revs back to a higher RPM. After some research I found that the issue is thought to be the…
Electrical
21 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 56,000 miles.
I was driving in the expressway at 60 MPH when suddenly my car lost power on the acceleration. A wrench tool appear and the dashboard on the RPM clock ... At that moment the car desaccelerate almost to 30 MPH and I was unable to gain speed. I went to a side of the road, turn it off and restarted the car. Everything…
While driving on freeway (60mph - 65mph) car suddenly stalls. No power to engine, need to limp to side of freeway (very dangerous). Car sits, then you can re-start. Sounds like electronic thottle body (etb) issue that you are well aware of. Why are you not investigating this issue??? Ford (westway Ford, irving, tx)…
Suspension
16 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 15,000 miles.
The vehicle began to emit an audible squeaking/clunking noise from the rear end when traversing bumps or pot ridden roads. I took the vehicle to the dealer on 1/4/13 and they denied the existence of the noise and I was told that there was nothing wrong. Picked up the vehicle and identified that the noise was in fact…
While driving over rough or uneven pavement, a very audible rattle can be heard coming from the front end of the vehicle, most noticeably with the steering centered. The car also has some unstable characteristics, tending to pull much more strongly towards any lines or crowns than normal. Vehicle was taken to local…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2012 Ford Mustang recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain 2005-2014 mustang, 2004-2011 ranger, 2009-2011 mercury milan, 2006 ford gt, 2008-2012 fusion, 2007-2010 edge and lincoln mkx, and 2009-2010 lincoln mkz vehicles. These vehicles may be equipped with a driver or passenger frontal air bag inflator used as a replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain 2014 ford mustang vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands or "zone a." additionally, ford is recalling certain 2011 ford ranger and mercury milan vehicles, 2011-2012 ford fusion and lincoln zephyr/mkz vehicles and 2011-2014 ford mustang vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia, and west virginia or "zone b." ford is also recalling certain 2010 ford edge and lincoln mkx vehicles, 2010-2011 ford ranger and mercury mi
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain 2012 ford fusion and mustang and lincoln zephyr and mkz vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, unless included in "zone a" above, ford is recalling certain 2009 ford ranger, edge, fusion and mustang, lincoln mkx, mkz and zephyr and mercury milan vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia and west virginia, or "zone b." additionally, unless included in "zone a" or "zone b" above, ford is recalli
Transmission: automatic transmission
Risk: An unexpected downshift into first gear can cause the vehicle to slow down suddenly without warning and the rear tires may slide or lock, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module with updated software, free of charge. The recall began on september 19, 2016. Owners may contact ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16s19.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 ford f-150 trucks, 2012 ford expedition, lincoln navigator, and ford mustang vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with an automatic transmission that may unexpectedly downshift to first gear, regardless of vehicle speed.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front driver side air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on june 10, 2016. Even if interim repairs were performed under safety recall 14v-802, owners must bring their vehicles in for the final remedy. Owners may contact ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15s21. Note: this recall supersedes safety recall 14v-802.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain model year 2005-2014 mustang vehicles manufactured april 6, 2004, to june 21, 2014, and 2005-2006 gt vehicles manufactured february 20, 2004, to september 22, 2006. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Lights: back up lights
Risk: If this condition exists, the transmission may not go into reverse or when the driver pushes the shift lever in the reverse ârâ position and the vehicleâs transmission does go in reverse, the ârâ may not illuminate on the dashboard of the f-150, expedition, or navigator models and/or the backup lamp on the rear of the f-150, expedition, navigator, or mustang vehicles may not illuminate. These conditions increase the risk of a crash or a pedestrian being struck due to the vehicleâs not signaling it is in reverse.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the trs as necessary, free of charge. The safety recall began on june 11, 2012. Owners may contact ford motor company customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
Ford is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 ford f-150, 2012 expedition and lincoln navigator, and 2012-2013 mustang vehicles, for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard nos. 102, "transmission shift lever sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect" and 108 âlamps, reflective devices and associated equipment.â these vehicles may have a transmission range sensor (trs) that was calibrated out of specification for reverse gear.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Inability to shift gears on acceleration
Summary
The office of defects investigations (odi) analyzed complaint data provided by ford as well as complaints submitted to odi from consumers.in total, there were 364 unique reports indicating various shift quality issues while driving.ford identified several factors that may contribute to shift quality concerns in the subject vehicles, including cold transmission, clutch stay-out at high engine speeds, gear clash or grinding, and gradual loosening of clutch plate bolts in some early production vehicles.the largest percentage of complaints indicated higher than expected shift efforts in cold ambient temperatures.these complaints were related to transmission fluid viscosity and the higher shift e
Questions about the 2012 Ford Mustang
- What are the most common problems with the 2012 Ford Mustang?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: transmission (177 complaints, typically around 12,500 miles); air bags (158 complaints, typically around 39,000 miles); speed control (35 complaints, typically around 31,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2012 Ford Mustang have?
- 6 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from February 16, 2021 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2012 a bad year for the Ford Mustang?
- It is the 3rd most complained-about Mustang model year since 2000, with 469 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.