This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was just driving along on a city street going about 40 mph, and all of a sudden all the dashboard lights lit up, and I couldn't break very easily. I was in the middle of traffic, and I was worried someone was going to hit me, or I wasn't going to be able to break if someone cut me off. My car had been so reliable until that moment. My car didn't break the way it always did. It took a lot more pressure to break than normal, and the breaking was very delayed. I had a few very close calls, before I could pull over. It was scary! the dealership had to replace my ABS module and my hydraulic control unit, which was very expensive. I know the NHTSA is looking into many complaints of the same issue for 2010 Ford Fusion. If other vehicles are having the same issue, this should be a recall!
The brakes totally failed. The pedal went to the floor. The system did not fail over to the purely mechanical mode. The car simply had to coast to a stop. After the car was turned off and restarted the brakes worked but blogs are saying this can happen again without warning. Three mechanics say there is nothing wrong with the master cylinder, brake lines, calipers, etc. One says it might be the ABS unit, another says it might be the software. The dealership seems to not know what is wrong. Two mechanics have disagreed on what the problem is, you have an open investigation on 2008-9 models but this appears to be happening on 2010S and newer models as well. We do not know if our car is safe to drive and Ford appears to not have a fix for the problem. Indeed, they appear to not even be acknowledging the problem as far as I can tell. The car has been in the shop since this happened. It is now at home sitting...it would be good to have a fix so we can drive it.
Catastrophic brake failure at 50 mph while decelerating. Received brake light followed by complete brake failure. Pedal went to floor and was subsequently unresponsive. Attempted to pump, no luck. Car required emergency brake to stop narrowly avoiding collision. Car is currently residing at moyer Ford dealership in foley, al. Dealer states to me that this was a "brake pedal assembly failure." Awaiting troubleshooting codes from dealer.
Brake failure occurred with no warning on city street while car was traveling striaght. Fortunately, there was no traffic present and the emergency brake was used to slow the car yo a stop. After restarting, the dash "ABS" and "brake problem" lights illuminated. The car from this point had virutually zero braking and the brake pedal went almost to the floor. The car was towed to a Ford dealer for inspection, it was determined that the ABS module had gone bad and needed replacement. Although the part can be replaced, it won't fix the problem. It appears the ABS module design and brake system logic for the Fusion is flawed. Examination of the braking system schematics indicates there is no override for the system if the ABS module fails. When this occurs, as it did for us, the car's brakes compete with the ABS system causing an almost complete loss of braking. Our family was fortunate that we were not traveling on a busy street or highway. The potential for damage and injury was significantly high, not just to my family but to others as well. Given the age of this vehicle (2010), it is highly likely that the frequency of these events will increase. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
I was driving home from work in houston, tx and suddenly the brakes failed for the 2nd time in a week. The car was on, drove and steered fine, but there were no power brakes. It was as if a manual transmission car had stalled, but even worse. An error light came on the left panel saying "check brake system" and the parking brake light was on. I was able to quickly pull over. I put it in park, turned the car off, and then immediately started it up. All was fine with no lights or bells. I called Ford and explain the problem and they advised me to take to the Ford dealer for servicing. They've, of course, never heard of this problem and can't believe it happened. It sounds to me like a computer / electronic problem. Ford kept the car for 2 days in their garage and they drove it around and run they diagnostics and they said they couldn't find out any code or problem and they cannot help. I took the car out and drove for 3 days and it was fine but on the 4th day the same problem again. Break failed to work and come up with 'an error light came on the left panel saying "check brake system" and the parking brake light was on'. Ford are not willing to help and their garage cannot help either but there is known issue with this model. Please read not from automotive Ford: www.automotiveworld.com/analysis/80719-us-Ford-to-fix-faulty-brake-software-on-hybrids/
- Katy, TX, USA
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This is the third time our car will be going to the dealership for a serious brake issue. The first time it occurred was in September of 2015. The vehicle was in motion on a residential street when the car brakes stopped functioning as usual. The driver had to slam on the brakes to get the car to stop. The check brake and service lights came on. The brakes no longer functioned properly. The dealer was unable to replicate the issue. It happened again in may of 2016 when the car started in the driveway. An independent mechanic was able to replicate the problem, which was printed out and taken to the Ford dealership. The dealership was able to isolate the problem this time and fix it. The car was functional again. Today, the issue happened yet again. As the car started while stationary, the car dinged and the check brake and system lights came on. Fearing a user error, the driver restarted the car and it seemed fine. As the driver drove down the residential block, the brakes became unresponsive and the system lights came back on. The driver had to press very hard on the brakes to avoid running a stop sign and into oncoming traffic on a neighboring street. The car was towed to the dealer.
I was driving at about 45mph on a city street and a bicyclist pulled in front of my car. I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him. I was able to avoid an accident, but the ABS light came on and the brakes were not responding as usual. I had to push down all the way on the brake pedal for the car to slow at all. I was told that because I slammed on the brakes it caused an internal fault with the ABS module. The service department did not seem concerned that the brakes had failed and I was told that slamming on the brakes could typically cause this type of failure with the computer system.
I was driving to work, which does not require for me to take the highway, and at a four-way stop I tried to stop my 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid car by using the brake pedal and it did not stop the car at all, but its pump-action was still there. Luckily there were no cars at the four-way stop. If there were cars there, I could have gotten into a car accident, even worse if I was on the highway. When the brake issue occurred, the following two system error codes appeared on my dashboard: 1.) "(!) brake check brake system" and (2) "service advancetrac". at the same time that these two system error codes appeared, there were five warning lights that appeared: 1.) advancetrac/traction control off light (aka orange-yellow car w/ tire marks off) 2.) advancetrac/traction control (aka orange-yellow car w/ tire marks symbol) 3.) brake system warning light (aka red !(P) brake) 4.) anti-lock brake system (aka "ABS" symbol) warning light 5.) on the upper left-hand corner to the left of the system error code "(!) brake check brake system" a little (!) brake symbol appeared. I have a picture of all of these system error codes and lights. So, then I used the emergency brake handle stick to stop the car and that helped only to slow the car down by 20%, but not enough to stop the car. I left the emergency brake on and did not use the accelerator pedal to slow down the car. The car slowed down to a slow stop after 1-2 minutes after driving over some speed bumps driving at 30-35 mph. When it stopped, I restarted the car to see if that would fix the issue and it did not. So I pressed the accelerator pedal very lightly without using the emergency brake and got to a speed of less than 10 mph to get to work because I was almost there. When I slowly drifted into my work's parking lot, I immediately used the emergency brake again to get the car to stop.
While driving on a busy street (with 2 small children) we lost all power steering, on a busy street causing unsafe driving conditions. The service advancetrac (avs) and service power steering errors came on as this happened.
When traveling down a hill at about 30 mph, the dash brake warning began to flash and the brake pedal lost all resistance and totally failed. The vehicle could not be stopped with the brake pedal. The emergency brake was used to stop the vehicle before reaching a busy intersection. The driver was also able to turn the vehicle onto a side street. The vehicle had to be towed to the dealer. The dealer replaced the "ABS module due to no communication".
Was on highway driving 60 mph when various brake warning started flashing on dashboard. Warning said I needed to stop immediately. I slowed down but brakes were not responsive. I managed to find an uphill exit and got the car to stop safely. I turned the car off, restarted it, and the problem disappeared. I have owned this car since Feb. 2010 and have never had this problem before. The car has about 80,000 miles on it.
Our Ford Fusion hybrid experienced a total brake failure as I was driving out of our canyon. I had just stopped to let a couple of cars pass on the narrow road and as I proceeded into a 90 degree downhill turn, the brakes failed, causing a crash. There was no braking whatsoever. I had only 2 or 3 seconds before the turn and managed to avoid going off of a cliff only narrowly, by running up a earthen bank and over a large boulder, which stopped the car. The consumer reports test driver had the same experience when test driving the car in 2010.
After switching the gear shift from the park position, I immediately noticed my brakes failed and my vehicle began rolling forward. The vehicle stopped after placing a substantial amount of pressure on the brakes. After turning the vehicle on and off the two symptoms went away. Later that day the same issue happened for the second time while my vehicle was stationary. The third time that this issue occurred I was driving on a highway and almost went into opposing traffic. The service light turns off after restarting the car but returns later that day. Updated 9/28/15 the consumer stated in addition to the brakes, there was an issue with the advanced track system. Updated 10/13/15
Driving 15mph in residential area. Come to a T intersection 3 way stop. Press the brake pedal to slow, and the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. There was no brake pressure or response. The brake pedal was fully pressed. Emergency brake was pulled to stop the vehicle. Conventional hydraulic system did not apply the brakes as it should have. Dashboard indicated brake check brake system error, service advancetrac error, traction control light was illuminated, parking brake light illuminated, and ABS light was illuminated. Turned the vehicle off and back on. Vehicle returned to normal operation. Had vehicle towed to Ford dealership. Dealership states ABS module shows many internal faults. Replacement module ordered; to be installed. Similar symptoms reported by plethora of other 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid owners. Ford issued customer satisfaction program 10B13 for similar problems in the past. Ford corporate was called, and a case number provided. After providing VIN number it was stated my vehicle did not fall within the guidelines of the customer satisfaction program even though I experienced the symptoms of those who did. I was directed to further address the issue with the service manager at the Ford dealership where my vehicle was being repaired.
I was rounding a corner at approximately 10 mph, pulling out from the street where I live, and two trouble codes popped up: (1) "brake! check brake system"; and (2) "service advancetrac". the car immediately became incredibly difficult to steer and the brakes provided little (if any) stopping power (I am unsure if it was jamming on the brakes that provided extremely minimal stopping power or just the inertia of the car slowing over approximately 30-50 feet). The dealership ultimately provided excellent service replacing the "asb module", but I feel that it is unsafe for a car's brakes and power steering to fail suddenly, even at low speeds, and unexpected that a 4 year old car with less than 40,000 miles would have such a failure. I live near a park. If someone had decided to suddenly cross the street with a stroller, a kid had run into the street after a ball, or someone else had darted in front of the car, I would have been unable to make the necessary adjustments to avoid an auto on person crash.
Brake system completely malfunctioned. I was exiting the freeway off ramp and all of a sudden I had no brakes. I was not able to stop. I had to pull the emergency brake in order to avoid crashing. The brakes completely went out. There was no warning at all. I literally almost died.
I was leaving work after the vehicle was parked outside all day in below zero weather. When I put the car in reverse I had no brakes. Had to depress brake extremely hard to get car to stop. The brakes started working properly after driving a short distance. This happened a second time under the same conditions a couple of days later. I had it checked out and the mechanic could not find anything wrong. Then a month later after driving approximately 5 blocks the brake warning light came on and then the advance trac warning light came on and I had no brakes again. I stopped the car by depressing the brakes extremely hard and shut it off and then they worked fine again. I took it to the Ford dealer. They found several codes but could not duplicate the problem and charged me $150 and fixed nothing. They said they could change several different parts but would be costly and might not be the correct part. Very dangerous situation.
Approaching stop sign at 25 mph, applied brakes, and the brakes completely failed, had to stop car with emergency brake. The ABS and tcs lights came on. Everything else worked fine. Turned car off and restarted and all appears fine.
I was making a right turn from a side street, about 100 yards from my home. As I got on road, lights went on the dash about brakes advance service and the brakes lost power. Caused me to have to use significant pressure to make brakes work. I went about 1 mile and into a parking lot. I stopped and restarted the car and things went back to normal. This could have caused an accident since it was sudden and there was a loss of control in traffic. I called dealership and they said that it may have been from car sitting for a week and that unless the problem can be repeated at the dealership, they cannot fix something that isn't broken. The car did the exact thing again turning out of my driveway on 1-5-15. Stopped and restarted car and it went back to normal. This is not safe and should be recalled. Intermittant problems can still kill.
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. While driving 5 mph, the check brake system light illuminated on the instrument panel. The brakes failed and forced the contact to apply excessive force to the brake pedal to successfully stop the vehicle. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the road and replenished the brake fluid. The vehicle resumed normal operation, but the failure recurred the following day. The dealer stated that the brake simulator senor failed and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 106,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Oklahoma City, OK, USA