2012 Ford Fusion

Family: Fusion · filed with NHTSA as FUSION, FUSION ENERGI, FUSION HYBRID

Summary

In its first three years the 2012 Fusion drew 421 complaints — 0.9× the median of its generation (2006–2012). It does not stand out from the other years of this generation.
These are complaint counts, not failure rates: they are not divided by how many cars were sold, because no public source reports U.S. sales by model year.
Of the 2,532 complaints that name a component, 60% concern Steering (1,512).
6 recalls filed for this model year, 2 with a do-not-drive or park-outside warning.
5 federal defect investigations cover this model year.

At a glance

Owner complaints: 2,617
Recalls: 6
Investigations: 5
NCAP overall: 4 of 5 stars
Combined MPG: 19–38
Annual fuel cost: $1,650–$3,300
Median mileage at complaint: 73,455 mi (n = 1,814)
Crashes / fires / injuries / deaths: 111 / 9 / 66 / 3

What owners report

Steering

1,512 complaints · 60% of complaints that name a component · median 82,503 mi (n = 1,163)

Owner report The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while entering the vehicle to start the engine, the power steering became inoperable. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering); however, the dealer refused to perform the steering gear recall repair because no Diagno…

Owner report Our 2012 Fusion suffered a sudden loss of power steering, was diagnosed with code U3000 at a Ford dealer, and that the dealer confirmed it matches the 15S18 recall symptoms despite being built two months outside the window. Our vehicle was manufactured at the Hermosillo plant in 2012, just two months outside the 15S18…

Airbags

436 complaints · 17% of complaints that name a component · median 67,000 mi (n = 122)

Owner report The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 19V001000 (Air Bags) 21V158000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted.

Owner report Driver side impact and passenger side curtain airbags deployed but not driver side that was hit.

Electrical System

177 complaints · 7% of complaints that name a component · median 61,000 mi (n = 121)

Owner report I got a 2012 ford fusion se 2.5 4l power steering gone out in it,I put in the vin number to see if mine was recalled it said 0 but my car has the part in the car that made the car recalled ,on the dash its says power steering service its dangerous and I had my child in the car vin number on my car is [XXX] I seen where…

Owner report The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the A/C unit failed to operate as needed, causing the cabin of the vehicle to become hot while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the eva…

3% of complaints name no specific component and are left out of the shares above.

Across the generation (2006–2012)

To compare years fairly, each year is counted over the same span: complaints received up to two calendar years after its model year. A year is compared only when that span is over and it holds at least 50 complaints. Median of the comparable years: 489.

Model year	All complaints	First three years	Note
2006	730	32	not compared
2007	1,064	52	fewest complaints
2008	1,353	23	not compared
2009	1,023	33	not compared
2010	5,641	559
2011	2,926	557
2012	2,617	421

Recalls

Whether a recall has been fixed on a specific car depends on its VIN; check it at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

21V158000 · AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

Filed 2021-03-10 · 2,602,668 vehicles

Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKZ, 2006-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX vehicles. The driver's side air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.

Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver-side airbag inflator or module with an alternate one, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 9, 2021 for the passenger side, and November 14, 2022 for the driver side. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S12.

21E013000 · AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

Filed 2021-02-16 · 249 vehicles

Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain air bag inflator and/or module replacement service parts that may have been used as part of a collision repair. The parts include certain driver-side air bag inflators and/or modules, designed to fit 2005-2014 Ford Mustang and Mustang GT500. It also includes certain passenger-side air bag inflators and/or modules designed to fit 2005-2014 Ford Mustang, 2010-2012 Lincoln MKZ, 2010-2012 Ford Fusion, 2010-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2011 Ford Ranger, and 2007-2010 Lincoln MKX vehicles. Please see Ford's recall report for the specific part numbers. These parts may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

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.

Remedy: Ford will notify dealers that purchased the affected parts, and dealers will provide replacement parts to purchasers, free of charge. The recall began March 18, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.

21V081000 · AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

Filed 2021-02-16 · 1,067 vehicles

Defect: 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.

Remedy: 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.

19V001000 · AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

Filed 2019-01-07 · 782,384 vehicles Do not drive

Defect: 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 Milan vehicles, 2010-2012 Ford Fusion and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, and 2010-2014 Ford Mustang vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MT, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI, and WY or "Zone C." These vehicles are equipped with air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, used as original equipment or replacement equipment (such as after a vehicle crash necessitating replacement of the original air bags), that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: 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.

17V024000 · AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

Filed 2017-01-10 · 654,695 vehicles Do not drive

Defect: 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 recalling certain 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ, 2005-2008 Ford Mustang and 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: 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.

15V340000 · STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM

Filed 2015-06-02 · 393,623 vehicles

Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Ford Fusion vehicles without a 3.5L engine and Lincoln MKZ hybrid electric vehicles, 2011 Mercury Milan vehicles, 2011-2012 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with a 3.5L GTDI engine and 2013 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with any available engine. The affected vehicles have electric power steering assist systems that may shut down as a result of a steering motor sensor fault.

Risk: If the vehicle experiences a loss of power steering assist, extra steering effort will be required at lower speeds, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will check the Power Steering Control Module (PSCM) for Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC). If dealers find any loss of steering assist DTCs, the steering gear will be replaced, free of charge. If, no codes are found during the PSCM inspection, the PSCM software will be updated, free of charge. The recall began on July 21, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S18.

Federal investigations

Action	Component	Opened	Closed	Recall
DP22005	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM	2023-01-27	2023-08-07	22V063000
EA21002	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE	2021-09-17	open
EA17004	STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM	2017-11-20	2024-02-09
PE14030	STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM	2014-10-02	2015-09-10	15V340000
PE13003	ENGINE	2013-02-21	2014-02-28

DP22005: Pedestrian alert sounds

EA21002: Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

EA17004: Power Steering Failure

PE14030: Electric power steering failure

PE13003: Electronic Throttle Body Malfunction

Engines and fuel economy

Version	Engine	Transmission	Drive	City	Hwy	Combined	Fuel cost / yr
Fusion AWD	3.5L 6cyl	Automatic (S6)	All-Wheel Drive	17	24	19	$3300
Fusion AWD FFV	3.0L 6cyl FFV	Automatic (S6)	All-Wheel Drive	18	25	20	$3100
Fusion FWD	2.5L 4cyl	Manual 6-spd	Front-Wheel Drive	22	28	24	$2600
Fusion FWD	2.5L 4cyl	Automatic 6-spd	Front-Wheel Drive	23	32	26	$2400
Fusion FWD	2.5L 4cyl	Automatic (S6)	Front-Wheel Drive	22	29	24	$2600
Fusion FWD	3.5L 6cyl	Automatic (S6)	Front-Wheel Drive	18	27	21	$2950
Fusion FWD FFV	3.0L 6cyl FFV	Automatic (S6)	Front-Wheel Drive	20	28	23	$2700
Fusion Hybrid FWD	2.5L 4cyl Hybrid	Automatic (variable gear ratios)	Front-Wheel Drive	41	35	38	$1650
Fusion S FWD	2.5L 4cyl	Manual 6-spd	Front-Wheel Drive	22	31	25	$2500

Fuel cost is EPA's estimate at the fuel prices of its last update, not today's.

Crash test ratings (NCAP)

Variant	Overall	Frontal	Side	Rollover
2012 Ford Fusion 4 DR AWD	★★★★☆	★★★☆☆	★★★★☆	★★★★★
2012 Ford Fusion 4 DR FWD	★★★★☆	★★★☆☆	★★★★☆	★★★★☆
2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid 4 DR FWD	★★★★☆	★★★☆☆	★★★★☆	★★★★☆

Service bulletins

Ford issued 62 service bulletins listed against this model year, most often about equipment.

A bulletin tells dealers how to fix a known condition. It is not a recall and not a defect finding. Most bulletins cover several model years at once, so one listed here may not be specific to this year. The number of bulletins tracks how long and how widely a model was sold, so it is not a measure of reliability.

Date	Component	Summary
2026-02-24	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	Ford and Lincoln vehicles equipped with wired keyless entry keypad systems and accessory wireless keyless entry keypad systems may or may not come with a wallet card containing the master code. Unlike the integrated wired keypad, the access…
2024-10-10	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	While performing a transmission repair on some 2012-2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, a transmission seal kit may be on backorder due to supply chain interruptions. …
2024-04-24	EQUIPMENT	All accessory stick-on keyless entry keypads come with a wallet card containing the master code. If the accessory keypad was factory installed, this card will be placed in the glove box and should be handed to the vehicles owner during ini…
2024-02-08	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	When performing any transmission fluid change or topoff involving MotorcraftÂ® Premium ATF, MERCONÂ® V has replaced all versions of MotorcraftÂ® Premium ATF and can be used going forward. Mixing MotorcraftÂ® Premium ATF and MERCONÂ® V in th…
2024-02-08	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	When performing any transmission fluid change or topoff involving MotorcraftÂ® Premium ATF, MERCONÂ® V has replaced all versions of MotorcraftÂ® Premium ATF and can be used going forward. Mixing MotorcraftÂ® Premium ATF and MERCONÂ® V in th…
2023-07-27	AIR BAGS	Certain 2005-2014 Mustang, 2005-2006 GT, 2004-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion and MKZ/Zephyr, 2006-2011 Milan, and 2007-2010 Edge & MKX Vehicles Driver & Passenger Airbag Module Quality Control Inspection REASON FOR THIS SUPPLEMENT Ã¢Â€Â¢ …
2023-05-26	STEERING	Some 2010-2012 Fusion/Milan and 2011-2012 MKZ vehicles equipped with a 2.5L or 3.0L engine and electronic power assist steering (EPAS), a remanufactured replacement steering gear (MU2Z-3V504-ARM) is available which is significantly less exp…
2023-05-26	STEERING	Some 2010-2012 Fusion/Milan and 2011-2012 MKZ vehicles equipped with a 2.5L or 3.0L engine and electronic power assist steering (EPAS), a remanufactured replacement steering gear (MU2Z-3V504-ARM) is available which is significantly less exp…
2023-04-07	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM)	Some 2010-2012 Fusion hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), 2010-2011 Milan HEV and 2011-2012 MKZ HEV vehicles may experience reduced electric vehicle operation and increased gasoline engine operation around 10 years of vehicle age and beyond. Th…
2023-04-07	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM)	Some 2010-2012 Fusion hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), 2010-2011 Milan HEV and 2011-2012 MKZ HEV vehicles may experience reduced electric vehicle operation and increased gasoline engine operation around 10 years of vehicle age and beyond. Th…

How to read this page

Complaint counts are not failure rates. A model that sells more cars draws more complaints, and owners file more often after news coverage or a recall. That is why this page compares a model year only with other years of the same generation, never with other models.

Each complaint is counted once, even when it names several components; a complaint that names several systems appears under each of them. Owner reports are quoted as filed and have not been verified by NHTSA or by us.

Every model year of this Fusion, including the ones without a page of their own, is listed on the Ford Fusion model page.

Sources

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation: complaints, recalls and investigations (bulk files, data as of 2026-10-28).
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program: crash test ratings.
U.S. EPA / DOE fueleconomy.gov: engines, transmissions and fuel economy.

MotorAlmanac is independent and not affiliated with NHTSA, EPA or any manufacturer. This page summarises public records; it is not a mechanical inspection. Before buying a used car, check its VIN for open recalls and have it inspected.