F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E among Ford models recalled due to roll-away risk

• Ford is recalling 272,645 vehicles due to an issue that prevents them from entering park and potentially rolling away.
• The recall affects 2022–2026 F-150 Lightnings, 2025–2026 Maverick Hybrids and 2024–2026 Mustang Mach-E models.
• Ford says the issue stems from a transmission that may not stay in park, but it could be resolved with an upcoming over-the-air software update.

Ford has had a rough year when it comes to recalls, and even though 2025 is almost over, the Blue Oval brand isn’t out of the woods yet. The automaker recently ordered a recall involving 272,645 vehicles due to an issue with their transmissions that could cause them to roll away when parked, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The recall affects the following models: 2022–2026 F-150 Lightnings, 2024–2026 Mustang Mach-Es and 2025–2026 Maverick Hybrids. Ford says they may have a faulty integrated parking module (IPM), which may cause their transmissions to not stay in park in certain situations. This can happen when the IPM catch catches against the IPM sliding mechanism, preventing the transmission from fully moving into the park position. If this happens, Ford says owners won’t see an illuminated gear selection; a wrench light and a switching system error message appear in the instrument cluster.

As a result of this issue, Ford says the vehicles can roll away if the electronic parking brakes are not activated. Although the emergency brake is designed to activate automatically when the vehicles are placed in park, a malfunction in the system can prevent this. Or a user can manually disengage the parking brake, all of which could cause the Mach-E, hybrid Maverick or F-150 EV to roll away and possibly cause an accident.

Although Ford says it is not aware of any reported crashes or injuries, it has issued the recall which could be addressed with an upcoming over-the-air software update. The company says owners can also choose to take their car to a local Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the OTA update performed for free. Dealers will be notified by January 26, 2026, and owners will be notified by mail by May 12, 2026.

Eric Stafford’s car addiction started before he could walk, and it’s fueled his passion for writing news, reviews and more for Car and driver since 2016. His childhood ambition was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno-esque car collection. Apparently getting rich is harder than social media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree from Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of essentially burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and driver hired him. His garage currently has a 2010 Acura RDX, a ’97 manual Chevy Camaro Z/28 and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.