Ford F-150 problems: recalls, complaints and what they cost
Pick a model year below for the Ford F-150's open safety recalls and the components owners complain about most — then, for each of those, whether it is safe to keep driving and what the repair should cost.
Choose a year to load recalls and complaints.
What goes wrong with the Ford F-150?
Across 7 model years sampled between 2010 and 2025, NHTSA records 67 recall entries for the Ford F-150, counted once per model year covered. Complaint records for this vehicle are incomplete in our latest retrieval, so no total is shown rather than an understated one — use the year selector above for live figures.
By model year
| Year | Recall entries | Complaints |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | not retrieved |
| 2024 | 11 | not retrieved |
| 2023 | 13 | not retrieved |
| 2020 | 11 | 45 |
| 2015 | 14 | not retrieved |
| 2012 | 4 | not retrieved |
| 2010 | 1 | not retrieved |
Model years 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 are not in this retrieval, which means no records were returned for them — not that there were none. Use the year selector above to query those years live.
Older years accumulate more complaints simply by being on the road longer, so compare a year against its neighbours rather than against the newest one.
Recent safety recalls
Structure
The interior door handle housing embossment retaining the interior door handle spring May fracture during normal usage resulting in insufficient spring force to return…
Free remedy: Owners will be initially notified and instructed to take their vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln/Mercury dealer if any interior door handle is loose or fails to return to the stowed position after activation for…
Power Train
The transmission may unexpectedly downshift into first gear, regardless of vehicle speed.
Free remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module, free of charge. The recall began March 4, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332.
Power Train
The affected vehicles are equipped with an automatic transmission that may unexpectedly downshift to first gear, regardless of vehicle speed.
Free remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module with updated software, free of charge. The recall began on September 19, 2016.
Air Bags
Incorrect software for the occupant classification system module (ocsm) was installed on the vehicles either at the time Of manufacturing or during the course Of replacement Of…
Free remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ocsm free Of charge. The safety recall began on May 21, 2012. Owners May contact the Ford motor company customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.
Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit. Take the campaign number to any franchised dealer. How recalls work.
Recall text above is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice, affected VIN ranges and dealer instructions.
Source: NHTSA (US Department of Transportation), public domain, retrieved 2026-10-08. Use the year selector above for the current live figures.
How does a full-size pickup typically fail?
Body-on-frame pickups fail differently from the cars around them, and the pattern follows how they are used rather than how they are built. Towing and payload load the drivetrain, brakes and cooling system far harder than a commute does, so transmission heat, brake wear and rear-end components dominate the complaint lists. Trucks also live longer and accumulate more miles, which means the fault you are reading about may belong to a vehicle with twice the mileage of yours.
What should I check first?
For a full-size pickup, the systems worth ruling out before anything else are transmission temperature under load, and brake life if it has towed. Match what the vehicle is actually doing to the guide below — each one opens with a safety verdict, not a parts list.
- Transmission slipping
- Grinding when braking
- Engine overheating
- Clunk over bumps
- Humming rises with speed
What is the difference between a recall and a complaint?
A recall is a defect the manufacturer must fix free of charge, forever, with no mileage limit and regardless of how many owners the car has had. A complaint is one owner’s report filed with NHTSA. One complaint is an anecdote; two hundred naming the same component is a pattern, and patterns are what you want before you buy or before you authorise a large repair. Read the complaint list by concentration, never by total — a model that sold three times as many units collects roughly three times as many complaints while being no worse.
What should I check before buying one?
Ask what the truck actually did for a living. A tow vehicle and a commuter with the same odometer reading are not the same purchase. Look for a hitch that has clearly been used, aftermarket transmission cooling, and brake wear that is heavier than the mileage suggests.
Beyond that, the checks that find expensive problems are the same on any vehicle: see it started from stone cold, look under the oil cap, smell the transmission fluid, and scan it for stored and recently-cleared codes. Our used car inspection checklist walks through each one, and why cars fail explains how systemic defects emerge in the first place.
Check one before you buy it
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Does the Ford F-150 have any open recalls?
Open safety recalls for the Ford F-150 are listed on this page, pulled live from NHTSA's public database. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, so an open campaign is money the manufacturer owes you rather than a repair you pay for. Check by VIN for certainty on one specific vehicle.
What are the most common Ford F-150 problems?
The complaint list on this page groups owner reports by component, which is the useful view: one component dominating the list is a pattern, while complaints spread evenly across many systems usually just means the model sold in volume. For this class of vehicle, transmission temperature under load, and brake life if it has towed are the areas worth checking first.
Is the Ford F-150 expensive to repair?
Cost depends far more on which system fails than on the badge. Each symptom guide linked from this page carries a parts-and-labour range for US independent shops, so you can price the specific fault rather than the car in general.