What are the most common problems on the 2016 Ford F-150?

NHTSA has 12 owner complaint(s) on record for the 2016 Ford F-150. Power Train is the most-reported problem area on the 2016 Ford F-150, cited in 10 of 12 filed complaints (83%).

Problems › Ford › 2016 F-150

2016 Ford F-150 Problems & Owner Complaints

12 NHTSA owner complaints

No crash / fire / injury flags

Age-normalised, this year draws ~1.1 complaints per year on the road — ranking 4 of 5 Ford F-150 years we track (1 = most complaints per year).

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What owners report

Power Train is the most-reported problem area on the 2016 Ford F-150, cited in 10 of 12 filed complaints (83%).

Engine is next (2 complaints, 17%), followed by Service Brakes (2), Vehicle Speed Control (1).

No complaint for this vehicle reports a crash, fire, injury or death.

Complaints by vehicle system

Owner complaints filed with the U.S. NHTSA for the 2016 Ford F-150, grouped by the vehicle system each cites. A single complaint can name more than one system, so the group totals can add up to more than 12.

Power Train 10

“The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted. The failure was intermittent. The message “Service Vehicle” was displayed and the wrench symbol was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who confirmed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V237000 (Power Train) and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that approximately 5 miles after retrieving the vehicle, the failure reoccurred. The contact called the dealer and confirmed that the recall had been closed because the re…”
NHTSA complaint #11754004, 2026

“I was driving on the highway speed limit 65, and all of the sudden it down shifted to first gear, jerking the truck almost to a complete stop, very scary and unsafe. I pulled over to recoup myself . It is now happening more frequently, wrench light on the dash . Not sure what I need to do , my truck is my life support for me and my family! Help me please! Thank you,”
NHTSA complaint #11753628, 2026

“I have a problem with my truck with the Molded Lead Frame. It is shifting erratically and not shifting below 3rd gear. I has an open recall for it, 26N04, but Ford won't perform the service because they are not getting the correct code from the computer system. So I am now forced to drive this truck in this unsafe condition until I get the correct codes.”
NHTSA complaint #11752993, 2026

Engine 2

“Vehicle suddenly seemed to shift while driving causing a loud sound, jerk and caused a loss of control suddenly.”
NHTSA complaint #11752526, 2026

Service Brakes 2

“I went to start my truck and the brake went all the way to the floor. I had no braking power and it had to be towed back home over an hour away. There is a recall on 2016 Ford F150 with the 3.5 Eco Boost engine which I have. This recall involves a seal in the master cylinder failing and losing braking power and affecting the brake booster. Referencing recall 20S31. I went to Ford and they told me the recall did not apply to this specific truck due to a different batch of parts. This truck is now having the exact problem as the specific ones which have already been recalled. I believe the recal…”
NHTSA complaint #11754135, 2026

“On XXX I lost all brakes in my 2016 Ford F-150 while towing a fishing boat. I had just decended a steep grade on a busy downtown street when I received an alert that I was low on brake fluid. The next pump of the brake went to the floor. I received an audible alarm. Had this occured on the steep grade, this could have been a very serious accident. I understand the loss of brakes was due to failure of the master cylinder just and as described by the open recall on my vehicle. I added a quart of brake fluid to an empty resevoir, tried to pump the brakes up and the fluid vanished. I could not…”
NHTSA complaint #11754047, 2026

Unknown Or Other 1

Vehicle Speed Control 1

“Vehicle suddenly seemed to shift while driving causing a loud sound, jerk and caused a loss of control suddenly.”
NHTSA complaint #11752526, 2026

How we read this (methodology)

How to read this: raw complaint totals are not a clean reliability score — a model year with more cars sold, or simply more years on the road, accumulates more complaints regardless of how good it is. So this page leans on two signals that are not distorted by sales volume: the share of complaints falling on each vehicle system (the breakdown above) and NHTSA's own crash / fire / injury / death flags. When we compare model years of the same model, we normalise by years on the road (complaints ÷ vehicle age) rather than comparing raw totals. Age-normalised, the 2016 Ford F-150 draws about 1.1 complaints per year on the road, ranking 4 of 5 among the Ford F-150 model years we have ingested (1 = most complaints per year on road).

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Data source: U.S. NHTSA (nhtsa.gov). SaveVIN surfaces public recall data and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.