Your vehicle report
2000 Ford Mustang
The problems owners report. The recalls to check. The evidence behind each.
Your vehicle at a glance
Complaint patterns and official recall records, kept distinct.
- Owner complaints
- 311
- Received Oct 1999 to Oct 2025
Owner reports
Most reported problems
- 1Seat belt fails to latch or retract40 complaints · 13% of this vehicle’s complaints
- 2Airbags fail to deploy in crashes38 complaints · 12% of this vehicle’s complaints
- 3Fuel tank or line leaks gasoline13 complaints · 4.2% of this vehicle’s complaints
Official NHTSA records
Recalls to check
- Recall #00V349000Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with manual transmissions. If a vehicle is parked with the parking brake not fully applied and not in first gear, as directed in the owner guide, and the self adjustment pawl subsequently skips one or two teeth, the vehicle could move on some grades.
- Recall #99V250000Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The seat belt retractor may have a pin shaft in the switchable elr/alr mechanism that is incorrectly formed. In some circumstances, the switching mechanism could become nonfunctional, preventing the seat belt webbing from being extracted from the retractor. It is also possible that malfunction of the mechanism could prevent the belt from being switched into the alr mode. The elr mechanism is not affected by this condition.
BrakeNews signals
Flagged complaint patterns
Unusual complaint patterns with no matched recall yet. A flag does not mean a recall will happen.
No problems currently meet BrakeNews’s flagging criteria. This is not a safety rating.
How flags are identifiedComplaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA, not failure rates or a reliability ranking. Reported in these complaints: 56 crashes, 9 fires, 42 people injured, 2 deaths.
Explore by system
Where do owners report problems?
Choose an area on the car or a system below to explore the reported problems.
Illustrative only; not this vehicle’s exact design. Areas represent complaint categories, not confirmed defective parts.
Showing all 20 listed problems by system.
Engine & powertrain
Brakes
Electrical & lights
Airbags, belts & seats
Steering, suspension & tires
Body, doors & glass
Driver assistance
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Other
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Complaint history
When NHTSA received these reports. Changes in reporting alone do not establish a change in failure rates.
Show as a table
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 3 |
| 2000 | 63 |
| 2001 | 67 |
| 2002 | 45 |
| 2003 | 31 |
| 2004 | 27 |
| 2005 | 16 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2007 | 9 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2010 | 3 |
| 2011 | 5 |
| 2012 | 5 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2016 | 0 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 |
| 2026 (to Oct 2026) | 0 |
| Total | 311 |
Problems owners report
Listed groups have at least 3 complaints. The page includes the 20 largest groups plus any additional flagged groups; some complaints are not assigned to a group.
| Problem | Complaints | Share | Share ratio | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat belt fails to latch or retract | 40 | 13% | – | NHTSA recall #99V250000 |
| Airbags fail to deploy in crashes | 38 | 12% | – | |
| Fuel tank or line leaks gasoline | 13 | 4.2% | – | |
| Vehicle rolls backward out of park | 13 | 4.2% | – | |
| Suspension clunking or rattling noise over bumps | 12 | 3.9% | – | |
| Headlights dim or fail at night | 11 | 3.5% | – | |
| Brake pedal sinks due to leaking lines | 11 | 3.5% | – | |
| Engine suddenly shuts off while driving | 11 | 3.5% | – | |
| Parking brake fails to hold or release | 9 | 2.9% | – | NHTSA recall #00V349000 |
| Vehicle catches fire from wiring | 8 | 2.6% | – | |
| Automatic transmission shifts unexpectedly or slips | 7 | 2.3% | – | |
| Manual clutch wears out or fails early | 7 | 2.3% | – | |
| Tires blow out or tread separates | 6 | 1.9% | – | |
| Engine knocking from rod or main bearings | 6 | 1.9% | – | |
| Paint peels off roof and hood | 5 | 1.6% | – | |
| Hood latch fails and hood flies open | 5 | 1.6% | – | |
| Power window regulator fails and window drops | 5 | 1.6% | – | |
| Unintended acceleration despite braking | 5 | 1.6% | – | |
| Check engine light comes on repeatedly | 5 | 1.6% | – | |
| Axle breaks while driving, wheel detaches | 5 | 1.6% | – |
AI groups complaints by meaning; the groups are approximate. Share ratio compares the problem’s share of this vehicle’s complaints with its share on other vehicles over the last 24 months (shown from 3 recent complaints). A 2× ratio means twice the complaint share, not twice the failure risk. Flags mark unusual shares or recent surges after an AI review of the complaint content. “First signal” does not mean the pattern has persisted continuously.How recall estimates are calculated.
Recalls
NHTSA recall #00V349000October 30, 2000434,000 vehicles affected
parking brake: conventional
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with manual transmissions. If a vehicle is parked with the parking brake not fully applied and not in first gear, as directed in the owner guide, and the self adjustment pawl subsequently skips one or two teeth, the vehicle could move on some grades.
This could result in unintended vehicle movement and a vehicle crash without prior warning.
Remedy
Dealers will modify the parking brake control and install a plate or over-bracket to the control to lock the self adjust mechanism in position following adjustment.
NHTSA recall #99V250000September 20, 199925,306 vehicles affected
seat belts: front: anchorage
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The seat belt retractor may have a pin shaft in the switchable elr/alr mechanism that is incorrectly formed. In some circumstances, the switching mechanism could become nonfunctional, preventing the seat belt webbing from being extracted from the retractor. It is also possible that malfunction of the mechanism could prevent the belt from being switched into the alr mode. The elr mechanism is not affected by this condition.
If the mechanism malfunctions and does not allow the webbing to be extracted, the lap and shoulder belt could not be worn by a vehicle occupant. In the event that the mechanism does not allow the alr mode to be engaged, the operator may be unable to properly install a child seat in that seating position.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the lap and shoulder belt assemblies. Assemblies with julian date codes of 200 through 223 are suspect and will be replaced.
Other model years
About this data
NHTSA complaints and recalls through October 2026. Complaints are counted once each, however many components they name. Original complaints are on NHTSA's page for the 2000 Ford Mustang.
Problem groups are formed by AI and may be approximate. BrakeNews flags unusual complaint patterns; they are not official defect findings. Investigation reports are written and checked by AI, with no human review. Owner reports do not establish that a defect exists.
Read the methodology and track record · Check current recalls by VIN