Ford Motor Company has faced a challenging year in 2025, leading the industry in vehicle recalls with a record-setting number of issues affecting millions of vehicles. By July, the Blue Oval had issued 94 recalls, impacting over 6.3 million vehicles, surpassing a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) record previously held by General Motors. This trend continued with two significant new recalls announced, highlighting ongoing concerns regarding manufacturing defects and safety standards.

One of the new recalls targets 355,656 2025 and 2026 Super Duty trucks and 2025 F-150 pickups. The issue pertains to the instrument panels, specifically the digital display located between the speedometer and tachometer. These panels may remain in a standby or blank state after certain ignition cycles. The problem occurs when the instrument panel receives a CAN bus signal to wake up during a narrow window of its sleep entry sequence, causing it to fail to turn on. This defect is critical as it prevents drivers from seeing vital information such as their speed or critical warning lights, including the check engine light or ABS warnings.

Fortunately, the resolution for the instrument panel recall is a straightforward software update. While some vehicles may be capable of over-the-air (OTA) updates, others will require a service visit to a Ford dealer. Given the severe safety risk of driving without an operational instrument panel, Ford advises affected owners not to drive their trucks to the dealership. Instead, Ford dealers are instructed to arrange for a tow truck to pick up the affected vehicles, with no charge to the owner for either the towing or the recall service. Furthermore, any owners who previously paid for repairs directly related to this blanking cluster issue should contact Ford Motor Company for reimbursement, as such repairs should have been covered under warranty.

A separate and equally serious recall affects 100,900 2024–2026 Ford Ranger pickups. This recall addresses a critical safety defect involving the curtain airbags, which are designed to protect occupants during impacts and prevent ejection. The issue was discovered during a safety audit of the 2025 Ford Ranger conducted by NHTSA. Although the Ranger marginally passed the side impact test, an investigation by Ford and NHTSA’s third-party lab revealed a small slit, approximately 15/32 of an inch long, torn in a curtain airbag by an external source. Ford's subsequent deeper investigation determined that the inner reinforcement flange for the airbags could cause similar tears and premature pressure loss, compromising the airbag's effectiveness during a severe crash.

The affected Rangers include all current-generation models built from the start of production on December 9, 2022, up to the introduction of a permanent fix on July 29, 2025. Rangers manufactured on or after this date are not affected. The permanent solution involves adding a protective shield to the curtain airbags to prevent tearing during deployment; the airbags themselves do not need to be replaced. As of this writing, the necessary parts for this fix are not yet available, but Ford anticipates notifying owners and commencing repairs in the second half of December. For the time being, owners are not being advised to park their affected Ranger vehicles.