all vehicles · every F-Series year · method

Ford F-Series 2013

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.53 per 1,000

0.7 times this nameplate’s own median · from 373 complaints filed in the first three years, of 3203 ever. 95% lower bound 0.48.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.52	269
2009	0.23	107
2010	0.45	210
2011	0.80	445
2012	0.81	500
2013	0.53	373
2014	0.32	244
2015	0.57	438
2016	0.70	557
2017	1.29	1106
2018	0.96	869
2019	1.25	1126
2020	0.36	304
2021	0.77	585
2022	0.89	612
2023	0.73	512

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Power Train 1352 complaints

downshifted	386	28%
frame	255	19%
speedometer	248	18%
lead frame	245	18%
molded	128	9%
unexpectedly downshifted	110	8%

Engine 586 complaints

truck	246	42%
ecoboost	90	15%
gear	80	14%
pass	74	13%
wrench	69	12%
downshifted	36	6%

Service Brakes 370 complaints

cylinder	161	43%
reservoir	57	15%
low brake	55	15%
brake master	52	14%
cylinder brake	35	9%
empty	35	9%

When it breaks

18% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 74,000 miles, from 2363 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

4 investigations covering this model year, 3 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 665 complaints about this component over roughly 76 months before an investigation opened.

Reduced power during hard acceleration

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10482665 · 10494709 · 10497823 · 10502249 · 10504089 · 10508914

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.