2016 Ford Fusion · symptom sheet
Airbag warning light or recall
- 50owner reports
- 58,425median miles
- 15involved a crash
Newest report Mar 11, 2025 · checked Oct 2, 2026
50 of the 1,629 complaints on this car describe airbag.
Tick what matches of 50 reports
Airbag on other Fusion years
Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2018, 2019, 2020.
What this problem usually is
Airbag complaints split into a few kinds. The most common is an airbag warning light that won't go out. Others involve the passenger seat sensor switching the passenger bag off with an adult sitting there, an airbag that didn't deploy in a crash, or one that went off without a crash at all. A large share also come from owners waiting on a recall part.
What got replaced
Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the occupant sensor (16 reports).
Recalls and investigations
No recall on the airbags covers the 2016 model year as of Oct 2, 2026.
NHTSA investigations into the airbags on the Fusion
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture. Open.
When it happens
The middle half of failures fell between 29,373 and 94,000 miles, from the 29 reports that gave a mileage.
What owners wrote
“I went to pick my daughter up from school as usual and the brakes would not work when I tried to stop in the turn loop. It caused me to crash the side of the car into a cement light post.”
Filed Feb 6, 2024
“When I got into my car today, the âairbagâ symbol near the speedometer as well as the dash kept flickering off and on. My trip was 20 minutes and the illumination flickered off/ on the entire time. My car is steadily becoming increasingly unsafe to drive”
Filed Jun 26, 2023
“After a rear-end collision, my passenger front air bag light comes on intermittently. Because of this, I don't know if the air bag was compromised or if the collision caused a faulty sensor. I can't get an answer from Ford.”
Filed Apr 19, 2023
“The airbag sensor keeps popping on and off in the car⦠Also, the car is not shifting properly between gears⦠There is supreme hesitation involved.. there is so much noise coming from the steering column and/or the airbag system.. just out of the blue”
Filed Jan 25, 2023
Should you keep driving it?
This page can't tell you that. 15 of 50 reports involved a crash and 12 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.
File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.
Guide Taking it to a shop? How to describe this problem so it gets found
Other problems on this car
- Engine overheats or leaks coolant 364 reports
- Check engine light or misfire 335 reports
- Infotainment, screen or backup camera fails 186 reports
- Engine stalls or loses power while driving 161 reports
- Brakes grind, pulse or wear early 133 reports
- Engine failure, knocking or rod bearing 123 reports
- Power steering cuts out or goes heavy 100 reports
- Rolls away in Park or will not shift out of Park 63 reports
- Wheel bearing, tires or wheels 47 reports
- Doors, latches or locks fail 46 reports
- Transmission shudders, slips or shifts hard 40 reports
- Traction control or StabiliTrak light comes on 29 reports