Recall · 26V451000
Ford Motor recalled 2 models over seats
387,911
Vehicles covered
2
Models
15
Model years
July 14, 2026
Filed with NHTSA
SEATS:MID/REAR ASSEMBLY
- The defect
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2027 Aviator and 2020-2026 Explorer vehicles. The switch for the easy-entry second-row outer seats may bind or stick, resulting in the seats unlatching, tipping, or sliding unexpectedly.
- What it can cause
- A seat that moves unexpectedly may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
- What the dealer does
- Dealers will inspect and replace the bezel around the switch as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters explaining the safety risk are expected to be mailed July 27, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in January 2027. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S52. This recall expands Recall 25V393. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on July 16, 2026.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 387,911 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 97% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2020 to 2027, so the oldest vehicles on it were 6 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Ford vehicles have been recalled over the seats 49 times before this, most recently in April 2026 as 26V268000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for 13 of the 15 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 2,348 complaints with NHTSA, 2,205 of them before this campaign was filed. 78 of those name the seats, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in November 2019, 6 years before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 77 other recalls published here, the newest being: 26V581000 (air bags), 26V548000 (engine and engine cooling), 26V532000 (engine and engine cooling), 26V470000 (seats).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Ford Motor Company with NHTSA on July 14, 2026 as campaign 26V451000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-07-14.
Independent developer and analyst