Among the less fancy, but nevertheless critical safety systems on your car are your taillights. Anyone who’s seen a car with their lights off at night understands how extremely hard it can be to see such a car. And that’s why it’s important that NHTSA and Ford are recalling 2022 to 2024 Ford Mavericks — 242,669 of them — after discovering examples with taillights not working.
According to the NHTSA documentation, Ford had received multiple warranty claims and trouble codes reported from fleet data showing that the taillights were not illuminating. The issue has to do with the body control module not sending proper current for the dual bulbs in each light, and so the main position light wouldn’t illuminate. Though at the very least, the brake lights and turn signals would still operate.
No accidents or injuries related to this issue have been reported, but obviously the risk of an accident is greatly increased with malfunctioning taillights. The fix is fairly simple. The dealer will update the body control module’s software. Like with any recall, the repair is completely free. Ford will be notifying owners by mail, and they can reach Ford with questions at 1-866-436-7332. Ford’s reference number for the recall is 24S24.