Ford preliminary evaluation PE25007
B-Pillar Trim Detachment. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the roof and pillars on 3 model years (2017–2019). Opened Aug 7, 2025, closed Aug 5, 2026 after 12 months. It led to safety recall 25V732000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn August 7, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE25007 to investigate instances of B-pillar trim detachment in model year (MY) 2019 Ford Flex vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company. During the investigation, MY 2011-2018 Ford Flex vehicles were analyzed as peer vehicles, and subsequently incorporated into the subject population because they use B-pillar trim pieces that are substantially similar to those used on the MY 2019 Ford Flex vehicles. In July 2025, prior to the opening of PE25007, ODI and Ford met to discuss B-pillar trim detachment in Ford Flex vehicles. Ford reported that its warranty analysis indicated that Flex B-pillar trim had a low detachment rate and that Ford did not believe this condition posed an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. In July 2025, Ford closed its internal investigation. Because ODI’s analysis of complaint data indicated a high failure rate and an increasing failure trend, PE25007 was subsequently opened. In responding to the information request for PE25007, Ford reassessed the warranty search criteria used in its July 2025 internal investigation. The reassessment found the detachment rate to be substantially higher than what Ford had originally determined. Consequently, in October 2025, Ford issued recall 25V732based on the reassessed and accurate high failure rate. This recall instructed dealers to inspect the driver and front passenger B-pillar trim pieces and repair/replace if necessary. The vehicles included in this recall were MY 2017-2019 Ford Flex with production dates between February 17, 2017 and December 2, 2019. In January 2026, Ford issued 25V732 Amendment 1, which updated the remedy to remove the inspection criteria and instead proactively secure the driver and front passenger B-pillar trim with adhesive. The scope of vehicles included in the recall was unchanged by Amendment 1. ODI’s analysis of 25V732 found that both the scope and remedy were insufficient and that an unreasonable safety risk remained despite the recall. MY 2016 Ford Flex was excluded from the recall scope and the rear B-pillar trims on both the driver and passenger side were excluded from the recall. The failure rates of both MY 2016 Ford Flex and rear B-pillar trim pieces were found to be higher than the failure rates in similar trim detachment recalls issued by both Ford and other vehicle manufacturers. Starting in January 2026, ODI and Ford had multiple meetings to discuss Ford’s PE25007 response data and ODI’s concern about the 25V732 scope and remedy. In June 2026, Ford issued 25V732 Amendment 2. This amendment expanded the scope of the recall to add MY 2016-2017 Ford Flex vehicles produced before February 17, 2017. Additionally, this amendment updated the remedy to include removal of and reapplication or replacement of both rear driver and rear passenger B-pillar trim pieces in addition to front driver and front passenger B-pillar trim pieces. This updated remedy applies to all MY 2016-2019 vehicles. Ford expects to complete the mailing of remedy owner notification letters by March 26, 2027. Also, Ford informed ODI that prior model year (MY 2011-2015) vehicles were referred to Ford’s Customer Satisfaction forum for consideration of an extended warranty program. In view of recall 25V732 and its associated amendments, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE). The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2025 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2025 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2025 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2025 | 37 files 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637 |
40 of 48 documents shown; the rest are under this number at nhtsa.gov.
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Aug 7, 2025, owners had filed 196 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 11 named the structure NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themA vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE25007 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 25V732000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE25007 still open?
No. It closed on Aug 5, 2026 and led to recall 25V732000.
Which vehicles does PE25007 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 3 model years: 2019 Ford Flex, 2018 Ford Flex, 2017 Ford Flex. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.