Ford · NHTSA safety record

2013 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Complaints

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Owners of the 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan have filed 28 safety complaints with NHTSA between September 2012 and May 2018. The most complained-about system is the seat belts, named in 8 of them (29%). The typical failure was reported at 29,634 miles, the median across the 26 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 2 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (2)

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

15V812000 · December 2, 2015

The defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013 Explorer, Explorer Police Utility, Taurus, Taurus Police Interceptor, Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the fuel delivery module may crack, allowing fuel to leak.
The risk: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
The remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel delivery module, free of charge. The recall began on December 21, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 13S04-S1.

Ford Motor Company · up to 868 vehicles across all model years covered

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

13V227000 · May 31, 2013

The defect: Ford is recalling certain model year 2013 Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Police Interceptor Sedan and Police Interceptor Utility vehicles; and certain model year 2013 Lincoln MKS, MKT, and MKZ vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the fuel delivery module may develop a crack, allowing fuel to leak.
The risk: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
The remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel delivery module, free of charge. The recall began on July 20, 2013. Owners may contact Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's recall campaign number is 13S04.

Ford Motor Company · up to 390,783 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 28.

SEAT BELTS 8 29%

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 21%

POWER TRAIN 6 21%

EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 18%

ENGINE 4 14%

SERVICE BRAKES 2 7%

STRUCTURE 2 7%

AIR BAGS 1 4%

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 4%

SEATS 1 4%

STEERING 1 4%

SUSPENSION 1 4%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2013 at 12.

2012 to 2018

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Filed April 25, 2014

1 injured · fire · 34,000 miles

WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE, CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM LIGHT CAME ON DASHBOARD, THEN THE BRAKES WENT OUT AND WOULD NOT HELP SLOW VEHICLE. THEN SMOKE BEGAN TO FLOW FROM UNDER THE HOOD OF VEHICLE. WAS ABLE TO SLOW VEHICLE WITH EMERGENCY BRAKE AND CAME TO A STOP. OPENED THE HOOD AND SAW ENTIRE TOP HALF OF ENGINE NEAR FIREWALL ON FIRE. *TR

NHTSA complaint 10584935. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEAT BELTS Filed July 26, 2013

1 injured · 8,363 miles

DRIVER'S SEAT-BELT BUCKLE RECEIVER COVER BROKE OFF UNDER NORMAL POLICE USE, EXPOSING THE INTERNAL COMPONENTS OF THE BUCKLE RECEIVER AND PREVENTING LATCHING OF THE MALE END OF THE BUCKLE INTO THE RECEIVER. DRIVER DID NOT REALIZE RECEIVER WAS NOT SECURELY HOLDING THE SEAT BELT AND WHEN INVOLVED IN A COLLISION RESULTING FROM POLICE WORK WAS NOT SECURED AND HEAD HIT THE WINDSHIELD, REQUIRING STITCHES. *TR

NHTSA complaint 10531942. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN Filed November 19, 2013

crash · 54,000 miles

THE VEHICLE HIT A COYOTE SAUSING DAMAGE TO THE FRONT BUMPER AND TRANSMISSION COOLER ALL PARTS WERE REPLACED USING FORD PARTS THE VEHICLE WAS SERVICED BY FORD THEN THE TRANSMISSION ACCORDING TO FORD WAS DAMAGE AFTER THEY SERVICED IT AND REFILLED THE TRANSMISSION THEY STATED THAT IT WAS DRIVEN AND BURNED UP THE TRANSMISSION THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO FORD AND RETURNED BY THE LOCAL TOWING COMPANY ON A ROLL BACK WRECKER. *TR

NHTSA complaint 10552871. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES Filed May 14, 2018

66,000 miles

RIGHT FRONT BRAKE LINE RUPTURED CAUSING IMMEDIATE LOSS OF BRAKE FLUID AND LITTLE TO NO BRAKE OPERATION. VEHICLE WAS SLOWING FROM 25 MPH TO A STOP SLOWLY. AS SOON AS THE VEHICLE CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP THERE WAS A POP AND THE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR.

NHTSA complaint 11093690. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SUSPENSION Filed October 25, 2016

NHTSA RECALL NUMBER: 15V172 DISPLAYS OWNER AND DEALER NOTICES FOR A DIFFERENT RECALL ON THIS WEBSITE. PLEASE FIX THIS NOW.

NHTSA complaint 10918770. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Filed April 22, 2016

35,294 miles

THIS IS THE THIRD TIME FOR THIS ISSUE ON THIS SAME VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS EQUIPPED FROM THE FACTORY WITH THE 'READY FOR THE ROAD PACKAGE.' THE FRONT COMBINATION WIG-WAG LED/PARKING LAMP LED/TURN SIGNAL LED (MADE BY WHELEN) BEGAN TO FLASH ERRATICALLY. MOST OF THE TIME, THE TURN SIGNAL WOULD NOT FUNCTION AT ALL. SOMETIMES, NEITHER THE PARKING LAMP NOR THE TURN SIGNAL WOULD FUNCTION. WHEN THE TURN SIGNAL WAS NOT WORKING, THE FLASH RATE OF THE TURN SIGNAL DID NOT CHANGE TO MAKE THE DRIVER AWARE THAT THE FRONT LAMP WAS NOT FUNCTIONING. BOTH DRIVER SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE WERE DEFECTIVE AND REPLACED. LOCAL FORD DEALER REPLACED BOTH UNDER ESP WARRANTY. ONCE WARRANTY IS OUT, THIS PART WILL COST $486

NHTSA complaint 10860974, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY Filed February 18, 2016

66,862 miles

WHERE THE FRONT BUMPER REINFORCEMENT BOLTS TO THE FRAME HAS CRACKED AT THE FOR OUTWARD POINTS. ONLY TWO SMALL WELDS ARE HOLDING THE BUMPER IN PLACE. CAR WAS NEVER INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT.

NHTSA complaint 10837009. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Filed February 15, 2016

26,534 miles

VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH THE READY FOR THE ROAD PACKAGE. THE WHELEN ION LIGHTS IN THE REAR WINDOW KEPT BLOWING THE FUSE. FORD INVESTIGATED AND FOUND A WIRE ON THE PASSENGER LIGHT TO BE WORN THROUGH AND TOUCHING THE BARE METAL. INSULATION AROUND THE WIRE WAS MELTED FROM THE HEAT. FORD REPLACED THOUGH FACTORY WARRANTY.

NHTSA complaint 10826113. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE Filed February 15, 2016

32,734 miles

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED' WAS DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN WRENCH WARNING LAMP AND CHECK ENGINE LAMP ILLUMINATED. VEHICLE LOST ALL POWER, WENT INTO LIMP MODE, AND HAD TO BE PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. VEHICLE COULD NOT BE DRIVEN. VEHICLE WOULD NOT GO OVER 1 MPH. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP WHO REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY UNDER ESP WARRANTY.

NHTSA complaint 10826114. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other 2013 Ford models

F-150 2,972 Escape 2,744 Edge 2,439 Explorer 2,229 Focus 2,105 Fusion 1,784 Fiesta 667 Taurus 581

Every Ford on this site — 348 vehicles, 1210 recall campaigns and 10 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

Complaints: NHTSA's ODI complaint file , published August 20, 2026. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
Recalls: NHTSA's recall campaign API , most recent campaign filed August 12, 2026.
Investigations: NHTSA's ODI investigation file , published 2026-08-19.

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst