2012 Ford Mustang problems
Owners have filed 573 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Ford Mustang. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 28% of complaints. Next are drivetrain & axles (27%) and cruise control (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 573 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 28% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 34 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 17 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 24,000 miles 390 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 169 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 72 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 60 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 52 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 19 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 10 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 390 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 24,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 39,000 miles (26 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 34 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 17 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 36 model years of the Ford Mustang with enough data (478 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My nephew lost control of his six speed 2012 mustang while driving on mountain road and was killed. He was downshifting into left corner or road then road turns right uphill (like an "s" shape). Perhaps the power train had an issue.?
Vehicle turned right from a stop, onto a texas state highway. Shifting manually from first gear to second gear, the vehicle went out of control (apparently due to loss of traction because there was a coating of fine sand on the tires). The vehicle crossed 3 lanes of traffic, and in doing so, went into a roll-over, reports stating the vehicle rolled 4 times, and striking a utility poll that stopped the roll.
I am having frequent issues with shifting on my 2012 mustang gt 6-spd. It has been difficult to shift into 5th gear at times. Shifting from 1st to 2nd is now producing a brief grinding sound with every shift. At times, the transmission will not allow shifting into 4th on the first try, and this also occurs from 4th to 5th at times. A second shift attempt usually works but there is the loss of getting up to speed in each case.
I was driving a county back road with nobody in front or behind me. The vehicle is an automatic and it was in overdrive as my speed was approx. 60 MPH. Without warning and without me touching the shifter, the vehicle suddenly downshifted into 1st gear locking the rear wheels until my speed was reduced and they began to roll again. I never lost control of the vehicle but it scared me to death! There was light up wrench symbol error warning. The dash turned red and all speed, fuel level and mileage was blank.