U.S. public vehicle records

2013 Ford MUSTANG problems and owner complaints

Explore the records behind recurring owner reports.

Key facts

271 owner complaints analyzed

5 distinct recall campaigns

40,000 mi median reported failure mileage

Scope: 2013 model year. Data snapshot: 2026-09-12 (September 12, 2026). 120 complaints include usable failure mileage.

Owner-reported patterns

Most common problems

Air Bags is the most frequently named component, appearing in 145 of 271 complaints (53.5%). A complaint can name multiple components.

Recurring terms in complaint narratives
Topic	Matching reports	Share of complaints
Transmission and shifting	37	13.7%
Braking behavior	17	6.3%
Steering behavior	14	5.2%
Engine operation	12	4.4%
Electrical and battery issues	6	2.2%
Fuel system concerns	4	1.5%

Topic matches use published keyword rules. They describe mentions, including negations or comparisons, and do not confirm a diagnosis. Read the matching rules.

Component breakdown

Number of unique complaints naming each component. Top eight shown.

Air Bags

145

Power Train

Engine

Vehicle Speed Control

Electrical System

Unknown Or Other

Fuel/Propulsion System

Steering

Air Bags: 145; Power Train: 46; Engine: 22; Vehicle Speed Control: 19; Electrical System: 17; Unknown Or Other: 14; Fuel/Propulsion System: 10; Steering: 10

Reported problems by failure mileage

Complaint counts in mileage bands. These are not failure rates per vehicle or mile.

Under 25,000

25,000 to 49,999

50,000 to 74,999

75,000 to 99,999

100,000 to 149,999

150,000 and above

Under 25,000: 44; 25,000 to 49,999: 24; 50,000 to 74,999: 23; 75,000 to 99,999: 17; 100,000 to 149,999: 9; 150,000 and above: 3

Under 25,000 miles has the most reports with usable mileage (44). 151 complaints have missing, zero or invalid mileage.

Complaints over time

Year the complaint was filed, not the vehicle model year or incident year. The snapshot year is partial.

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

103

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2012: 2; 2013: 13; 2014: 14; 2015: 26; 2016: 103; 2017: 31; 2018: 19; 2019: 21; 2020: 9; 2021: 6; 2022: 5; 2023: 11; 2024: 5; 2025: 4; 2026: 2

Pattern summary

Air Bags leads the component reports. Transmission and shifting appears in 37 complaint narratives. Braking behavior appears in 17 complaint narratives. Steering behavior appears in 14 complaint narratives. Use these patterns to inspect individual reports and prepare questions for a mechanic.

Calculated from recorded counts. An AI narrative has not been published for this selection.

Complaint evidence

Examples provide context, not a representative sample or a verified diagnosis.

Owner report 10491687 · 2013-01-07 (January 7, 2013)

OWNER OF A 2013 MUSTANG GT PREMIUM 5.0 WITH 6 SPEED TRANSMISSION. HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH ROUGH SHIFTING SINCE SHORTLY AFTER BUYING. HAVE TAKEN IT INTO MY LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP 2 TIMES SO FAR AND MADE MENTION OF MY PROBLEMS SEVERAL OTHER TIMES. FORD HAS BEEN UNABLE TO CORRECT THE ROUGH SHIFTING WITH BOTH TRIPS TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TELLING ME THAT THEY CAN NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. THE ROUGH SHIFTING OCCURS IN 1ST-2ND AND 3RD GEARS MOST OF THE TIME, ESPECIALLY IN COLDER TEMPERATURES. SOMETIMES I ALSO HAVE A HARD TIME DOWN-SHIFTING INTO…

Owner-reported narrative. 4,666 miles reported. Look up ODI 10491687 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10495356 · 2013-01-31 (January 31, 2013)

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 FORD MUSTANG. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO SHIFT INTO THIRD GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 300. ..UPDATED 03/18/13 *BF THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE FAILED TO SHIFT INTO 3RD GEAR, WHICH HAD OCCURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE DID NOT SHIFT INTO SECOND GEAR ONCE. UPDATED 03/27/13

Owner-reported narrative. 300 miles reported. Look up ODI 10495356 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10475828 · 2012-09-18 (September 18, 2012)

INCIDENT: WHILE WAITING IN THE LEFT TURN LANE FOR THE LEFT TURN LIGHT TO TURN GREEN I HAD MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. I WAS BEHIND ANOTHER LEFT TURNING VEHICLE. WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGED I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE SO TO APPLY PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR. HOWEVER, BEFORE I PUT MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO REAPPLY BRAKE AND THE CAR STOPPED. THIS TOOK PLACE ON LEVEL GROUND ON SOUTH BOUND HIGHWAY 19 AT HENRY ST. IN KONA. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 3,210 miles reported. Look up ODI 10475828 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10514965 · 2013-06-04 (June 4, 2013)

UNDER MODERATE TO HEAVY BRAKING THE CARS BRAKE PEDAL WILL PULSATE AND GO TO THE FLOOR BUT THE VEHICLE WILL STILL BE MOVING FORWARD AND TAKE AN EXTENDED TIME TO SLOW DOWN. FORD STATES THATS THIS IS NORMAL OPERATION. LAST TIME I CHECKED WHEN YOU GO TO APPLY THE BRAKES THE VEHICLE IS SUPPOSED TO STOP NOT TAKE ITS SWEET TIME SLOWING DOWN. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 5,200 miles reported. Look up ODI 10514965 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10500868 · 2013-02-28 (February 28, 2013)

# 1 STEERING/SUSPENSION NOISE IN THE FRONT OF THE CAR (BUSHING - CR3Z-3078-C AND CR3Z-3079-C ARM ASY).# 2 FSA 12E06 POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE.# 3 CHECK FUEL FILL INLET. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 4,300 miles reported. Look up ODI 10500868 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10516015 · 2013-06-10 (June 10, 2013)

I ACCELERATED FROM A TRAFFIC LIGHT, FROM A FULL STOP. AT APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH I DEPRESSED FULLY THE CLUTCH PEDAL IN ORDER TO SHIFT INTO 2ND GEAR. THE CLUTCH PEDAL REMAINED IN THE FULLY DEPRESSED POSITION AND DID NOT RETURN TO THE RAISED POSITION. THE GEAR SHIFT LEVER COULD NOT BE MOVED INTO ANY GEAR, BUT COULD BE MOVED FREELY WITHIN THE NEUTRAL POSITION. I RAISED THE CLUTCH PEDAL BY PLACING THE TIP OF MY SHOE UNDER IT AND PULLING UPWARD, BUT NO CHANGE WAS OBSERVED IN THE OPERATION OF THE GEAR SHIFT LEVER. I COULD START, AND TURN OFF THE EN…

Owner-reported narrative. 4,329 miles reported. Look up ODI 10516015 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10684225 · 2015-02-19 (February 19, 2015)

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 FORD MUSTANG. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 22,000.

Owner-reported narrative. 22,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10684225 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10762509 · 2015-09-09 (September 9, 2015)

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 FORD MUSTANG. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE RECURRED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THROTTLE POSITION SYSTEM FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 52,000.

Owner-reported narrative. 52,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10762509 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10627365 · 2014-08-22 (August 22, 2014)

INCREASING SPEED TO MERGE ONTO KELLOGG IN WICHITA, KANSAS WESTBOUND FROM OLIVER AND TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO JERK, THEN IN A VERY SHORT TIME SPAN, ABOUT 2-3 SECONDS, ENTIRE VEHICLE SHUT DOWN. DEALER DID SOME REPAIR WORK BUT THE CAR HAS HAD NUMEROUS ELECTRICAL INCIDENTS INCLUDING FAILING TO START, SHUTDOWNS, FAILURE OF PASS SIDE WINDOW TO GO ALL THE WAY DOWN, FAILURE OF CLIMATE CONTROL CAUSING FOGGED WINDOWS, SPEAKERS SHORTING OUT, TRUNK OPENING ON ITS OWN, AND SO FORTH. NUMEROUS, BUT STILL SMALL PERCENTAGE OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION (6R80) ISSUES …

Owner-reported narrative. 650 miles reported. Look up ODI 10627365 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11020977 · 2017-08-31 (August 31, 2017)

MY MUSTANG HAS THE SAME EXACT SAME PROBLEM WITH THE STEERING AS THE FUSION AND TAURUS WHICH ARE CURRENTLY ON RECALL..... INTERMITTENT POWER STEERING LOSS DUE TO AN INTERMITTENT ELECTRICAL CONNECTION IN THE STEERING GEAR...I WOULD LIKE THE NHTSA TO LOOK INTO INCLUDING THE 2013 MUSTANG IN THIS RECALL.. MY MUSTANG ONLY HAS 40,026 MILES

Owner-reported narrative. 40,026 miles reported. Look up ODI 11020977 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 10661523 · 2014-12-02 (December 2, 2014)

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 FORD MUSTANG. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE FUEL TANK COLLAPSED TO THE GROUND. NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE BRACKET AND BOLTS THAT SECURED THE FUEL TANK NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,700. MAILED OUT 01/13/15*LJ UPDATED 02/04/15*LJ UPDATED 6/10/2015*JS

Owner-reported narrative. 20,700 miles reported. Look up ODI 10661523 at NHTSA ↗

Owner report 11003748 · 2017-07-08 (July 8, 2017)

MY VEHICLE HAS FAILED WITHOUT WARNING FOUR TIMES IN THE PAST 3 MONTHS. ONCE THE VEHICLE FAILS IT IS IN A NO-START CONDITION. FURTHERMORE, THERE IS RANDOM STALLING WHEN I'M DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND THE HAS BEEN FOR QUITE SOME TIME. ONCE IN THE VEHICLE FAILS IT WILL NOT RESTART. THE FIRST TIME MY CAR FAILED WAS UPON STARTUP WHEN I WAS AT WORK FOR 4 HOURS. I CAME OUT TO MY CAR TO START IT AND IT WOULD NOT START. THE SECOND TIME MY VEHICLE FAILED IT WAS WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC, AGAIN WOULD NOT START. THE THIRD TIME MY CAR FAILED W…

Owner-reported narrative. 96,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 11003748 at NHTSA ↗