Ford · vehicle model
Ford Ranger
10,309 NHTSA complaints and 158 safety recalls across model years 1978–2025.
- Complaints
- 10,309
- Recalls
- 158
- Model years
- 41
The verdict
The Ford Ranger pairs above-average complaint volume with 158 recalls (heavily recalled).
- 2nd pctile
- complaint volume, US models
- 158
- recall campaigns
Ford Ranger vs. all tracked models
Total NHTSA ODI complaints across models with substantive safety data
10,309 Higher than most more complaints than 98% of 3,088 models
tracked vehicle models, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more models. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · August 2026
The Ford Ranger appears in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database with 10,309 consumer safety complaints and 158 recall campaigns across 41 model years (1978–2025). That averages roughly 251 complaints per model year. Report counts can differ between model years for many reasons; this dataset does not establish the cause of a difference.
Complaint volume on a nameplate alone is not a reliability verdict: a long-running bestseller can accumulate more filings than a low-volume niche model because more vehicles are on the road. The table below shows report counts and published NHTSA crash-test ratings side by side for each model year. The filing-year histogram shows the timing of submitted reports, not a causal trend.
NHTSA has 179 investigation files tied to this model, with 6 currently open. Investigation records, complaint reports, and recall campaigns each provide different context. Use the official NHTSA VIN lookup and the underlying notices to research a specific vehicle; PlainCars does not infer a vehicle-risk or pricing conclusion from these records.
Complaints by Year
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2024 | 67 |
| 2023 | 19 |
| 2022 | 49 |
| 2021 | 128 |
| 2020 | 136 |
| 2019 | 313 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2014 | 1 |
| 2011 | 259 |
| 2010 | 170 |
| 2009 | 178 |
| 2008 | 340 |
| 2007 | 282 |
| 2006 | 316 |
| 2005 | 353 |
| 2004 | 461 |
| 2003 | 310 |
| 2002 | 449 |
| 2001 | 684 |
| 2000 | 849 |
| 1999 | 966 |
| 1998 | 744 |
| 1997 | 536 |
| 1996 | 533 |
| 1995 | 451 |
| 1994 | 531 |
| 1993 | 272 |
| 1992 | 231 |
| 1991 | 145 |
| 1990 | 141 |
| 1989 | 88 |
| 1988 | 117 |
| 1987 | 58 |
| 1986 | 50 |
| 1985 | 33 |
| 1984 | 12 |
| 1983 | 13 |
| 1979 | 1 |
| 1978 | 1 |
Complaint Filing Trend
NHTSA complaint volume by year filed (not model year).
Filings moved from 1,821 in 2017-2021 to 705 in 2022-2026, a fall of 61.3% . That is the 35th percentile of change across the 763 nameplates with enough filings in both windows to compare, where 0 is the steepest fall and 100 the steepest rise.
Filing volume, not a reliability verdict: counts also move with how many vehicles are on the road, how old they are, and whether a recall drew attention. Computed from this portal's NHTSA filing-year records over the same two windows the trend rankings use.
Year filed (bar labels show the complaint count).
Compare Ford Ranger to Similar Vehicles
NHTSA Investigations 6 Open
Timing Belt Failure
Anti-lock brake system (ABS) Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) illuminated
Unintended Transmission Downshift and Rear Wheel Lock-up
Timing Belt Failure
Underbody shields detachment
B-Pillar Trim Detachment
Unintended Transmission Downshift and Rear Wheel Lock-up
Collisions Involving Ford BlueCruise
Seat Belt Retractor Pretensioner Inadvertent Deployment
Loss of Motive Power
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is the Ford Ranger?▼
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What are the most common Ford Ranger complaints?▼
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Data sources
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. Ford Ranger totals are aggregated from the linked NHTSA model-year rows; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.