all vehicles · every F-Series year · method

Ford F-Series 2017

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

1.29 per 1,000

1.8 times this nameplate’s own median · from 1106 complaints filed in the first three years, of 3214 ever. 95% lower bound 1.21.

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.

Steering 1070 complaints

truck	622	58%
wobble	606	57%
death	566	53%
death wobble	544	51%
violently	400	37%
bridge	173	16%

Suspension 820 complaints

wobble	497	61%
death	459	56%
death wobble	442	54%
violently	341	42%
bridge	133	16%
expansion	85	10%

Power Train 604 complaints

truck	225	37%
downshifted	94	15%
lead	70	12%
unexpectedly	70	12%
frame	67	11%
lead frame	64	11%

When it breaks

46% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 32,000 miles, from 1998 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

6 investigations covering this model year, 3 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 1106 complaints about this component over roughly 122 months before an investigation opened.

Unintended Transmission Downshift and Rear Wheel Lock-up

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:

10904882 · 10958568 · 10959017 · 10965903 · 10970449 · 10972225

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.