The top brass at Ford Motor Co. has been saying the same thing for over a year: The company is well on its way to fixing its quality issues.

In 2023, Ford spent $4.8 billion fixing customer vehicles, a 15% increase from the previous year. It set aside $1,203 for warranty repairs on each car it sold that year, according to Warranty Week.

Ford’s total U.S. sales by year:

  • 2024: 2.08 million vehicles sold, +4.2%
  • 2023: 1.99 million vehicles sold, +7.1%
  • 2022: 1.77 million vehicles sold, -2.2%
  • 2021: 1.9 million vehicles sold, -6.8%

A recent study by iSeeCars.com analyzing 31 years of recall history found that Ford is the least proactive car brand when it comes to issuing a recall. Fewer than 30% of the cars recalled over the last three decades resulted from a problem Ford found on its own.

To remedy this problem, in 2024, Ford initiated a new quality assurance program that incorporates “testing vehicles to failure,” running them “at extremely high mileage” in order to find potential problems before customers do.

At the time, CEO Jim Farley said the new approach would “reduce warranty (costs) over time,” but over a year later, time may be running out for the company to get the issue under control.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has promised to reduce warranty and recall costs, which are costing the company billions of dollars annually.

Image source: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Ford issues another pair of recalls, despite focus on quality

Between January 2024 and mid-2025, Ford initiated 94 recalls affecting nearly 6 million vehicles. By July, Ford hadissued its 89th recall of 2025, easily surpassing GM’s 2014 record of 78 recalls for the entire year.

Ford has now issued over 100 recalls in 2025, with more than two months left in the year.

Now it has added two more recalls to the tally.

Ford is recalling 79,781 vehicles in the U.S. that are at risk of having their interior panels near the front door detach and their rear lights stop working.

Related: Veteran analyst revisits Ford stock price after earnings

NHTSA said on Oct. 31 that the recall includes 14,843 F-150 Lightning BEV pickup trucks for the rear lightbar issue and 64,938 Ford Flex vehicles for the door panel defect.

Separately, the Blue Oval is also recalling 34,481 units of its remanufactured 10R80 automatic transmissions, which were used as service repair parts for some Ford and Lincoln vehicles.

Ford also recalled 227,006 vehicles in the U.S. for different issues.

Related: Ford CEO Jim Farley targets major problem with its cars

The recalls cover 163,256 Bronco SUVs for front seats that may have loose bolts, and 56,841 Lincoln and Explorer vehicles due to windshields with visible air bubbles.

On Oct. 29, it recalled 175,000 vehicles, including moonroofs and wind deflectors on its Expedition and Navigator, as well as F-series pickups, that could detach.

Ford says it’s fixing recall and quality issues

Ford is aware of its quality-control issues, and CFO Kumar Galhotra opened his comments on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, addressing the issue.

“Improving quality is the single biggest driver to close our cost gap. Better quality
lowers warranty expense and reduces recalls,” Galhotra said.

He identified four areas of focus for the company:

  • Seamless launch execution
  • Minimal defects
  • Greater reliability
  • Time

Ford says it is already making progress and is “on track” for best-in-class performance across six of its nameplates, with three other nameplates in the top quartile, according to J.D. Power warranty analytics data.

The company also reported lower year-over-year third-quarter warranty costs, down $450 million.

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