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2012 Ford Fiesta recalls, complaints and safety ratings

There are 3 US recalls for the 2012 Ford Fiesta, and 3 in Canada. Owners filed 617 complaints with NHTSA, most often about power train. Its best NHTSA overall crash rating is 4 stars.

3US recalls
0urgent recalls
617owner complaints
4★overall crash rating

Is your car affected?

Check by VIN to confirm the exact model and see every recall for it.

Recalls are issued for a make, model and model year. Whether the repair has already been done on one specific car is known only to its manufacturer and dealers. Check your vehicle's official status at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a dealer.

US recalls (3)

Latches/locks/linkages: doors, latch

2020-06-08 · campaign 20V331000 · 2,147,323 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2014 Fiesta, 2013-2014 Fusion, 2015 Mustang, 2013-2015 Escape and C-Max, 2012-2015 Focus, 2014-2016 Transit Connect, 2013-2014 Lincoln MKZ, and 2015 MKC vehicles. These vehicles were previously recalled and repaired under recalls 15V-246, 16V-643 or 17V-210, however the repair may not have been completed properly. A component within the door latches may break making the doors difficult to latch and/or leading the driver or a passenger to believe a door is securely closed when, in fact, it is not.

Risk and remedy

Risk: A door that is not securely latched could open while the vehicle is in motion, increasing the risk of injury to a vehicle occupant.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the latch date codes to confirm if the repair was done correctly, and replace the side door latches if necessary, free of charge. Owners will also have the option to inspect their own vehicle's door latches and enter the date codes into a website to determine if the latches are correct. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 27, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S30.

Latches/locks/linkages: doors, latch

2015-04-24 · campaign 15V246000 · 456,440 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) notified the agency on April 23, 2015, that they are recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured July 1, 2012, to May 31, 2013, and 2012-2014 Fiesta vehicles manufactured February 1, 2012, to May 31, 2013. On April 30, 2015, Ford expanded the recall to cover an additional 119,567 vehicles, including certain model year 2011 Ford Fiestas manufactured from November 11, 2009, to May 31, 2013 and certain model year 2013 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured from February 1, 2012, to June 30, 2012. A component within the door latches may break making the doors difficult to latch and/or leading the driver or a passenger to believe a door is securely closed when, in fact, it is not.

Risk and remedy

Risk: A door that is not securely latched could open while the vehicle is in motion, increasing the risk of injury to a vehicle occupant.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace all four door latches with an improved part, free of charge. Interim notifications were mailed to owners on June 5, 2015. The recall began on December 18, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S16.

Air bags

2012-10-05 · campaign 12V488000 · 154,471 vehicles

Ford is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Fiesta vehicles, manufactured from November 3, 2009 through September 21, 2012. The vehicles fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, "Occupant Crash Protection." The passenger side curtain air bag will not deploy in the event of a side impact collision when the front passenger seat is empty. Although the side curtain air bag system was designed to suppress the side curtain air bag under this scenario, that information is not explained in the owner's guide for these vehicles as required by FMVSS No. 208.

Risk and remedy

Risk: An occupant in the right rear seating position will not have coverage from the side curtain air bag in a side impact collision when the front passenger seat is empty, increasing the risk of injury to the right rear occupant.

Remedy: Ford will notify owners and dealers will reprogram the vehicle's software free of charge so that it no longer suppresses the passenger side curtain air bag when the front passenger seat is empty, and consistent with the description in the owner's guide. The safety recall began on October 26, 2012. Owner's may contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332.

Canadian recalls (3)

Show 3 Canadian recalls

Electrical

2019-08-27 · campaign 2019-432

Issue: On certain cars, water and road debris can enter the battery junction box. This could result in corrosion of some electrical components. If this happens, the low beam headlights and daytime running lights could turn off while driving. This recall applies to cars originally sold or currently registered in areas of heavy road salt usage (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador). Safety Risk: A loss of low beam headlights and/or daytime running lights would reduce visibility. This could increase the risk of a crash. Corrective Actions: Ford will notify owners by mail and instruct them to take their car to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to service the battery junction box. The dealer will clean the battery junction box, install foam sealing to the cover, and replace any corroded fuses, terminals or relays.

Structure

2015-04-24 · campaign 2015-175

On certain vehicles, the door latches may have a broken pawl spring tab. This could result in the door not latching correctly. As a result, doors which appear to be latched could unlatch while driving. This could increase the risk of injury to a vehicle occupant seated next to the door, or result in damage to property. Correction: Dealers will replace all four door latches with a more robust part.

Airbag

2012-10-01 · campaign 2012-332

On certain vehicles, the Restraint Control Module will turn OFF the right side air curtain, as well as the front passenger seat-mounted side airbag, when the Occupant Classification System (OCS) senses the right front seat is not occupied. Although the vehicle meets prescribed Standards for side impact protection, failure of the right side air curtain to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of personal injury to the right rear seat occupant. Correction: Dealers will reprogram the Restraint Control Module.

Owner complaints (617)

Owners filed 617 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Ford Fiesta (12 crashes, 5 fires, 17 injuries reported). Among 14 model years of this model, it ranks #3 for the most complaints (median 105).

Most-reported problemComplaints
Power train274
Structure128
Unknown or other78
Engine68
Electrical system66
Latches/locks/linkages57
Vehicle speed control40
Exterior lighting22

Crash test ratings

NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings for the 2012 Ford Fiesta.

VersionOverallFrontalSideRollover
2012 Ford Fiesta 4 DR FWD4★4★5★4★
2012 Ford Fiesta 5 HB FWD4★4★5★4★

Fuel economy

EPA ratings for each 2012 Ford Fiesta version.

VersionCity MPGHighway MPGCombinedYearly fuel cost
Fiesta FWD 1.6 L Automatic (AM6)293732$2,100
Fiesta FWD 1.6 L Manual 5-spd293732$2,100
Fiesta SFE FWD 1.6 L Automatic (AM6)293832$2,100
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Sources: NHTSA recalls, complaints and 5-Star Safety Ratings, US EPA fuel economy and Transport Canada's Vehicle Recalls Database (contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada). Recalls updated 2026-10-30.