NHTSA · Vehicle · Recall 26V581000 · Recalled September 9, 2026
Ford Explorer recall (26V581000)
1. Compare your item
This notice names a product; your particular item is not yet verified. Compare every applicable model, serial, lot, production-date or model-year boundary below.
Agency product description and boundaries
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2026 Explorer vehicles. The active vent on the passenger side may not open as intended, preventing the air bag from deploying properly.
Still to verify: match the label on your item with the full official notice, including any exclusions, tables and photos. Some identifiers appear only on the agency website and are absent from this data feed. A missing field does not mean all versions are affected.
If your lot or date falls outside a stated range, this notice has not established that your item is affected. This is not a finding about other recalls or product safety.
Vehicle-specific check required: use NHTSA’s official VIN lookup. Fresh Recalls has not checked a VIN or repair status and does not ask you to submit a VIN.
2. Agency hazard and consumer action
NHTSA reports: An air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury in a crash.
NHTSA consumer action: Dealers will replace the passenger air bag module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 16, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S65. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on September 14, 2026.
Affected product: Ford Explorer recall status
3. Open the official notice or contact
View the official NHTSA record for campaign 26V581000 (api.nhtsa.gov) ↗
To check whether your vehicle is affected and unrepaired, look up your VIN on NHTSA’s recall search ↗.
Affected vehicles
Companies & origin
Identifying details (verbatim from the notice)
- CPSC — consumer products ↗ (aggregated here)
- NHTSA — vehicles, car seats, tires ↗ (aggregated here; use NHTSA's VIN lookup to check a specific vehicle)
- FDA — food, drugs, medical devices ↗ (aggregated here)
- USDA FSIS — meat, poultry & processed egg products ↗ (not aggregated here)
- Recalls.gov — the U.S. government’s all-agency portal ↗
Found something wrong or missing? Report a data error.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Agency excerpts come from the public data feed and may omit tables or later changes; the linked government source is authoritative. Source last checked October 18, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC. Record retrieved September 26, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC.