Ford F 150 Super Crew
Problems & Worst Years
Every reported problem for the Ford F 150 Super Crew, model year by model year — ranked from 3724 federal NHTSA complaints across 2012–2022.
Complaint patterns on the Ford F-150 Super Crew change character almost every model year, so the smart move is to shop by year rather than by nameplate. The heaviest files belong to 2018, with 905 reported occurrences, and 2012, with 869. The 2018 story is drivetrain: transmission shifting issues account for 416 reports, jerking and unintended shifts into neutral another 108, and cam phaser failure — an engine complaint owners flagged as a safety concern — adds 286 more. The 2012 file is dominated by a single oddity: 577 reports of the rear window shattering without any external impact, alongside more than 200 combined reports of the engine stalling or losing power during acceleration.
2015 deserves its own caution. Its total of 720 is spread across 126 distinct problems, 22 of them safety-severity — the widest spread in this data — and the leading complaints are brake fluid leaks causing complete brake failure and low-brake-fluid warnings preceding brake failure. Any 2015 candidate deserves a hard look at the brake system. The 2016 file is narrower but memorable: 526 of its 625 reports concern door latches failing to operate in cold weather, a nuisance owners logged as a safety issue.
Later years shift toward the transmission and fuel side. 2019 leads with transmission slipping and random gear shifting; 2020 adds jerky shifting and unintended-movement complaints; 2021's top item is fuel pump failure at 176 reports, plus stalling tied to the fuel system and axle bolt failures. By 2022 the loudest complaints are electrical — system glitches and infotainment malfunctions.
The comparatively lighter years are 2020 (216 occurrences) and 2022 (246), though both are recent enough that their files are still filling in. Complaint counts reflect what owners chose to file with NHTSA, not measured failure rates, and newer trucks have simply had less time on the road to accumulate reports. Weigh a specific truck's service history and a pre-purchase inspection — brakes on a 2015, transmission behavior on a 2018 or 2019 — more heavily than the model year itself.
Ford F 150 Super Crew problems by year
Complaint volume by model year (bar = relative to the worst year). Theworst yearsare the most-complained-about, weighted by safety-risk problems.
| Year | Complaint volume | Problems | Safety / High | Most common problem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012worst | 722 | 13 | 4/4 | rear window shattering without external impact Other · 577 complaints |
| 2015worst | 569 | 126 | 22/40 | Brake Fluid Leaks Causing Complete Brake Failure Brakes · 47 complaints |
| 2016 | 589 | 27 | 1/8 | Door latches fail to operate in cold weather Other · 526 complaints |
| 2018worst | 745 | 15 | 3/4 | Transmission shifting issues Transmission · 416 complaints |
| 2019 | 368 | 22 | 0/9 | Transmission Slipping and Random Gear Shifting Transmission · 196 complaints |
| 2020 | 172 | 14 | 3/4 | Transmission Jerking and Shifting Issues Transmission · 59 complaints |
| 2021 | 338 | 10 | 2/5 | Fuel Pump Failure Other · 176 complaints |
| 2022 | 221 | 19 | 2/5 | Stereo/Infotainment System Malfunction Electrical · 74 complaints |
Data source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) owner complaints and recalls, 2012–2022. Problem clustering and year rankings are derived from the complaint record; complaint volume reflects reports filed, not total incidence or fault rate. Vehicle image is illustrative.