- Ford is recalling the F-250, F-150, Expedition, Maverick and more
- The company was first notified of the problem in October 2025
- An over-the-air software update will be released to fix the bug
Ford Motor Company is recalling nearly 4.4 million vehicles in the United States because of a software bug that can cause taillights, turn signals and brakes on trailers to lose communication with the towing vehicle and stop working.
Drivers who may have affected vehicles may see a pop-up message indicating a “trailer brake module failure” or a “blind spot assist system failure,” according to Ford, which also said it was not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem to date.
The recall, which potentially affects the F-250, F-150, Expedition, Maverick, Ranger, E-Transit and Lincoln Navigator models, is due to an integrated trailer module not communicating as intended with the company’s SYNC 4 infotainment system.
Forbes reports that Ford issued 153 recalls in 2025, the most ever by a single manufacturer in a single year in the United States, involving about 12.9 million vehicles.
In addition to this, recalls affecting more than two million vehicles are rare and have only occurred a number of times over the past decade.
Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles in December 2023 due to a flaw in its Autopilot system after an investigation found it did not adequately detect whether the driver was paying attention while the system was engaged.
Ford under fire
The fix for this particular software bug seems relatively simple, with Ford stating that it will issue an over-the-air software update to the trailer control modules in the affected vehicles starting in March. Drivers can also bring their vehicles to dealers for repairs at no cost.
The recall affects the Ford F-150 (model years 2021-2026), Ford F-250 Super Duty (2022-2026), Ford Ranger (2024-2026), Ford Maverick (2022-2026), Ford Expedition (2022-2026), Ford F-025-Transit (SD25) (2022-2026) and Ford Lincoln Navigator (2022-2026). Nearly 2.3 million of the recalls affect the F-150, followed by over 1.1 million of the F-250 Super Duty truck.
It hasn’t been a good week for Ford. This news comes off the back of the revelation that the company will charge 2026 Mustang Mach-E customers for a feature that was once free.
The front stowage area, or ‘frunk’, has come under fire from certain internet critics after Ford decided to stop offering it as a free option because it felt customers weren’t really using it.
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