AutoUtility currently tracks 73 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Ford Fiesta. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 22 complaints (30.1% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 7 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire, 7 report one or more injuries, 1 reports one or more fatalities.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 73 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (22 reports • 30.1% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (17), Fuel & Propulsion System (15)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 7 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 7 injury filings • 1 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
73
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
7
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
1
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
7
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
1
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Ford Fiesta

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 30.1% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

22 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 23.3% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

17 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 5 injury report entries
#3 Problem Area 20.5% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

15 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 9.6% of complaints

Electrical System

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 9.6% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 4 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Ford Fiesta

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 5.5% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

4 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Ford Fiesta

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11753744
Filed: 07/30/2026

"The A/C vent actuating solenoids under the dash have all failed. They don't allow the cool air to be routed properly. We have had the dealers service center check each time as they would fail, and they found replacement is needed at each visit. The actuators began failing at 6,000 miles, and..."

Incident Date: 06/11/2019 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11669409
Filed: 06/26/2025

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked and experienced hard shifts from first to second gear and from second to third gear. The contact stated that the RPM were significantly high prior to shifting gear, then decreased before the..."

Incident Date: 05/26/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA ODI ID: #11661557
Filed: 05/16/2025

"I have this car since 2019 with 8000 miles and this is the 3rd time the code came up for the evap system to be repaired. P0456. The first time it was replaced was at mileage 47084 at winner Ford dealership. On June 11th 2021. The second time it was replaced was at Winter Ford dealership on March..."

Incident Date: 05/16/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11659244
Filed: 05/06/2025

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the vehicle, and the vehicle started to lose motive power. The contact was uncertain if any warning lights were illuminated. Due to the failure, the vehicle was..."

Incident Date: 10/01/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA ODI ID: #11649114
Filed: 03/18/2025

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with a purge valve solenoid. The contact was informed that the purge valve solenoid was stuck..."

Incident Date: 05/04/2021 • Raw NHTSA Component: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Ford Fiesta

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2019)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Ford Fiesta 258 16 4 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Ford Fiesta 178 10 0 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Ford Fiesta Current Page 73 7 0 Current
2018 Ford Fiesta 35 4 0 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Ford Fiesta 97 13 3 View 2019 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Ford Fiesta

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 35 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 15 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 8 1 0 3 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 7 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 0 0 1 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 3 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 2 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 1 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 1 1 0 3 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 1 1 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 1 0 2 1
STEERING,SUSPENSION,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 1 0 1 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (73). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (2)

1 OPEN 1 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA26004
Opened: 2026-07-31 • Currently Active

Timing Belt Failure

Affected Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE:BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS

On December 18, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE25020 to investigate instances of timing belt failure in model year (MY) 2015-2017 Ford Fiesta and MY 2015-2018 Ford Focus vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Ford), equipped with a 1.0L engine and manual transmission (subject vehicles). Additionally, MY 2018-2021 Ford EcoSport and MY 2016-2018 Focus vehicles with a 1.0L engine and automatic transmission were analyz...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE25020
Opened: 2025-12-18 • Closed: 2026-07-31

Timing Belt Failure

Affected Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE:BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS

On December 18, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE25020 to investigate instances of timing belt failure in model year (MY) 2015-2017 Ford Fiesta and MY 2015-2018 Ford Focus vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Ford), equipped with a 1.0L engine and manual transmission (subject vehicles). Additionally, MY 2018-2021 Ford EcoSport and MY 2016-2018 Focus vehicles with a 1.0L engine and automatic transmission were analyz...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.