2008 Mercury Milan Air Bags Problems

Source: NHTSA · Updated Apr 16, 2025 · 211 complaints analyzed

Owners have filed 211 complaints with NHTSA about air bags problems on the 2008 Mercury Milan, 47% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 100,000 miles. The words owners use most often: “takata air bags” (22% of reports).

What owners describe

Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.

  • Takata air bags: mentioned in 46 of 211 complaints (22%)
  • Confirm become: mentioned in 17 of 211 complaints (8%)
  • Ford lincoln: mentioned in 15 of 211 complaints (7%)

At what mileage do air bags problems happen?

Based on 49 complaints that reported the odometer reading.

Under 10k miles3 · 6%
10k–25k miles2 · 4%
25k–50k miles3 · 6%
50k–75k miles8 · 16%
75k–100k miles8 · 16%
100k–150k miles18 · 37%
150k+ miles7 · 14%

How serious are the reports?

Of 211 complaints, 7 mention a crash, 1 a fire, 2 an injury.

Mercury Milan air bags complaints by model year

Peak: 2007, with 232 complaints
2006: 12820061282007: 23220072322008: 21120082112009: 852009852010: 10620101062011: 17201117

n = 779 complaints · Source: NHTSA

Model yearAir Bags complaintsShare of that yearMedian miles
2011 Milan179%59,000
2010 Milan10611%85,000
2009 Milan8538%80,000
2008 Milan21147%100,000
2007 Milan23253%93,250
2006 Milan12860%84,000

When owners reported it

Peak: 2017, with 117 complaints
2008: 2200822013: 1201312014: 1201412015: 3201532016: 192016192017: 11720171172018: 572018572019: 3201932020: 3202032021: 3202132022: 220222

n = 211 complaints · Source: NHTSA

Related recalls (3)

Air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator moduleMar 10, 2021 · NHTSA campaign 21V158000 · 2,602,668 vehicles

Problem: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKZ, 2006-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX vehicles. The driver's side air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.

Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.

Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver-side airbag inflator or module with an alternate one, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 9, 2021 for the passenger side, and November 14, 2022 for the driver side. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S12.

Air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator moduleDo not driveJan 10, 2017 · NHTSA campaign 17V024000 · 654,695 vehicles

Problem: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012 Ford Fusion and Mustang and Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain 2009 Ford Ranger, Edge, Fusion and Mustang, Lincoln MKX, MKZ and Zephyr and Mercury Milan vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" or "Zone B" above, Ford is recalling certain 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ, 2005-2008 Ford Mustang and 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Interim letters informing owners of the recall and that parts are not yet available began mailing March 1, 2017. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.

Air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator moduleDo not driveMay 31, 2016 · NHTSA campaign 16V384000 · 1,892,343 vehicles

Problem: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Ford Ranger vehicles, 2006-2011 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX vehicles, 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles, and 2005-2011 Ford Mustang vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles and 2005-2008 Ford Mustang vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Any vehicle not included in "Zone A", or "Zone B" is not included in the safety recall. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Ford mailed interim letters informing owners that parts are not yet available on July 15, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.

What owners report

Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.

In March 2021 I received important safety recall from Ford advising me that the Airbag inflator might explode in the event of a crash and may cause injury or death to the driver or passengers. My daughter still drives this car, why have they not followed up and replaced this part?

Received Jul 28, 2022 · NHTSA complaint 11476335

The contact owns a 2008 Mercury Milan. The contact stated that he had initially received a recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V024000 (Air Bags) and had the vehicle serviced at a dealer. Despite the recall repair, the passenger’s and driver’s side air bag warning lights illuminated. The…

Received Jan 19, 2022 · NHTSA complaint 11448065

I have been notified by Ford Motor Company several times about the recalls on my vehicle. One recall is for airbags. I went to the closest dealership new my small town and thought they issued the fix, only to learn later that they just disconnect the airbag light. The second recall is for the…

Received May 17, 2021 · NHTSA complaint 11417451
Mercury Milan
2006-2007 Mercury Milan photographed in USA.. Representative photo; appearance varies by model year. Photo: IFCAR, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Frequently asked questions

Do all 2008 Mercury Milans have air bags problems?

No. NHTSA has 211 owner complaints about air bags for the 2008 Mercury Milan (47% of the 451 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.

Was there a recall on the 2008 Mercury Milan air bags?

Yes: 3 safety recalls list air bags. Check your VIN on NHTSA.gov to see whether the fix was done on your car.

At what mileage do air bags problems start?

The median reported mileage is 100,000 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.

What do owners say about air bags problems on the 2008 Mercury Milan?

The most frequent phrase is “takata air bags”, in 46 of 211 complaints, followed by “confirm become” (17).

Other 2008 Mercury Milan problems

See all 2008 Mercury Milan problems or air bags problems across all Milan years.