Ford is already over 50 recalls this year, which is putting it on track to take the crown again this year across the industry. Last year, company boss Jim Farley acknowledged that the company had a quality problem and said that efforts would be made to prevent too many vehicles from leaving the factories with glitches that end up leading to recalls.

Clearly, there’s still some way to go. This week alone, the automaker has announced four campaigns; the latest two concern the Bronco SUV and the Ranger pickup.

The latest recalls are calling into the shop a total of 2,048 vehicles for issues that are usually related to - that’s right – build quality at the factory. The recalls look to fix missing improperly tightened bolts in one case, an ineffective child safety lock in the other.

The American NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), the equivalent of Transport Canada, indicates that the left rear doors of 2,002 2024 Bronco SUVs could be opened from the inside even if the child safety lock is engaged.

The problem is due to an adjustment in the manufacturing process aimed at improving door sag. The desire to improve something “inadvertently caused a displacement of the reinforcement bracket location for the left rear door lock.”

“As a result, when the child safety lock is activated, the interior unlocking lever may come into contact with the child safety lock lever when the interior door handle is pulled, allowing the door to open,” according to published documents.

A recall was initially launched in 2024 to repair 9,847 vehicles, but thousands of others were mistakenly excluded by a Ford employee. Dealers will inspect the child safety locks and replace the rear door latch if necessary.
 

The second campaign is much smaller in scale, affecting 46 2025 model-year Broncos and Rangers. In those units, bolts that secure the driver's seat frame to the body may be loose or missing, which can increase the risk of injury in the event of an accident.

This problem has been attributed to workers at the Michigan assembly plant who “did not follow the correct parts replacement procedures and did not ensure that these seats included both rear bolts with torque validation.”

Mistakes are inevitable. But they have been frequent at Ford, and it is hard not to conclude there is a lack of rigour in certain manufacturing routines and processes, and has been for years.

Vehicles that do not have the correct number of bolts or in which bolts have come loose will have seats that oscillate or sway while driving. Fortunately, the repair is simple here; dealers will inspect the seat attachments and tighten them or install new ones if necessary.

Ford is not aware of any injuries or accidents related to these problems, but the company was informed by a dealer who noted the absence of two bolts on a 2025 Ranger.