2018 FORD F-150 — Complaint #2128493
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:TAILGATE:LATCH filed September 9, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2128493 (ODI reference 11686019) concerns a 2018 FORD F-150 and was filed on September 9, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 15, 2025. The vehicle had 42,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Michigan based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as latches/locks/linkages:tailgate:latch, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD F-150 cohort independently describe similar latches/locks/linkages:tailgate:latch failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2018 FORD F-150 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the contact felt a thump and observed a loud noise simultaneously coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and inspected, and the contact became aware that the tailgate had unexpectedly opened. The contact closed the tailgate. On another occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact felt a thump and observed a loud noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact stated that a large toolbox with 6-foot drawers fell from the vehicle onto the road. The contact stated that the toolbox falling from the vehicle could have caused injuries to other drivers. The contact used a bungee cord to secure the tailgate. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 42,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2128493 |
| ODI Number | 11686019 |
| Date Filed | September 9, 2025 |
| Failure Date | April 15, 2025 |
| VIN | 1FTEW1EP2JF |
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Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
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