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2021 Ford F-150 problems, recalls and owner complaints
What the 2021 Ford F-150 has been recalled for and what owners report, from official government data. Updated November 9, 2026.
- 0safety recalls
- 1,310owner complaints
- 18crash reports
- 7fire reports
- 13injuries reported
1,310 complaints, against an average of 1,124 for the other 14 Ford F-150 model years.
Every Ford F-150 model year with its number of owner complaints. Pick a year to compare.
What goes wrong with the 2021 Ford F-150?
The components named most often in the 1,310 owner complaints. One complaint can name several, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What symptoms do 2021 Ford F-150 owners describe?
Found by reading the text of all 1,310 owner complaints. Tap a symptom for the answer, a real owner quote and any related recall.
- Why do the headlights or taillights fail on my 2021 Ford F-150?91 owners · 6.9%
- Why does my 2021 Ford F-150 stall, lose power or shut off while driving?89 owners · 6.8%
- Why does my 2021 Ford F-150 transmission jerk, shudder or shift hard?83 owners · 6.3%
- Why do the windshield wipers stop working on my 2021 Ford F-150?44 owners · 3.4%
- Why does my 2021 Ford F-150 idle rough, misfire or hesitate?42 owners · 3.2%
Fault codes 2021 Ford F-150 owners mention
Diagnostic trouble codes owners wrote in their complaints. Open a code to see what it meant on other cars and whether a recall names it.
Has the 2021 Ford F-150 been recalled?
NHTSA lists no safety recalls for the 2021 Ford F-150 as of November 9, 2026. Recalls can be issued at any time, so check your VIN before you rely on this.
What do 2021 Ford F-150 owners report?
12 of the 1,310 complaints, the most recent for the most-reported components, as the owners wrote them. NHTSA removes names and VINs; long reports are trimmed. CarHooq has not verified individual claims.
Component Affected: Exterior Lighting: Daytime Running Lights / Headlight Assembly Description of Defect and Safety Risk: The driver-side integrated LED Daytime Running Light (DRL) failed completely due to an internal component/diode malfunction within the factory-sealed headlight housing. This is a premature component failure at only 79,800 miles and is a widely documented systemic defect across this model year's F-Series production run. This issue constitutes a significant safety hazard rather than a standard wear-and-tear maintenance item. Because the LED system is an engineered…
Transmission had very violent downshift out of nowhere when coming to a stop. This has happened multiple times and it sounds like I’m not the only person who is experiencing this.
My 2021 F-150 PowerBoost hybrid repeatedly lost propulsion while traveling on the highway in early October 2026, including four incidents on one trip around October 3. At approximately highway speed, the tachometer dropped to zero while the selector remained in D, and the truck coasted as if in neutral. There were harsh shifts around 9th/10th gear and difficulty accelerating beyond approximately 70 mph. A vehicle warning appeared. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery temporarily restored operation. Sudden loss of drive power in highway traffic created a collision risk. The underlying…
I had an oil change performed earlier in the day. Drove 90 miles on the oil change when I lost complete oil pressure and than had my engine lock up. After the truck was towed back to the dealership and some surface investigation was done they told me it would be 2K to take the oil pan off to get a definitive answer to the issue. For them the only fix was replacing the entire engine at 14k. They believed it was just bad luck timing the occurrence of the loss of oil pressure and engine failure. The event happened with 135,556 miles on the vehicle. At 122,000 miles I had my drive shaft detach on…
The cdf is outdated and the truck would get stuck in the wrong gear and not work. I was only 3,800 miles over the 60k mile warranty and having to pay out of pocket for a updated cdf drum that ford has created because they know the old ones are faulty
Passenger side LED DRL outage on horizontal and vertical LED strip
Repeated “Park Brake Fault Service Now” errors. Vehicle is not drivable.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and a alert was received through the mobile application. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where a diagnostic inspection revealed that the knock sensor failed and required replacement. The dealer informed the contact that water intrusion on the intake manifold caused the knock sensor failure. The vehicle was scheduled for repair at the dealer. The contact attributed the failure to the factory omission of the engine cover and the cowl design directly…
I picked up my F-150 Powerboost from the Ford dealership after getting and oil change. Recorded mileage was 100,385 (just 385 miles out of the 100,000 EV warranty. Just 2 hours after getting it back the check engine light came on for P0B24 for hybrid battery failure. The Ford dealership diagnosed the issue and confirmed the entire hybrid battery has to be replaced. I requested Goodwill assistance from Ford being that it was <500 miles out of warranty. Ford denied the request immediately. The Ford service department wrote them an email with official confirmation of the issue and the timing of…
While traveling home on a 2 lane highway 55 on a busy Sunday, the truck started misfiring and jerking, shaking then stalled. Engine light was flashing and we were able to pull off to side as it stalled. After a short time we proceeded on the highway, as we were in a precarious position, about 3 miles and it began misfiring and stalled again. This could have been a tragic situation had there not been a pullout with our travel trailer. We had to have our truck towed to the ford dealer and our RV towed home. While seeking similar cases online we believe it to be a fuel pump driver module and…
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the windshield wipers failed to activate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V842000 (VISIBILITY). The failure mileage was 97,000.
When using the window wipers, they become inoperable. Stopping in the middle of the window, pausing when moving, or completely stopping and unable to get them to start moving until they begin to move on their own. This has occurred multiple times and at multiple different speeds of operation for the wipers. This was a previous recall issued by Ford that has been completed on the vehicle yet the same result is occurring.
In-depth Ford F-150 guides
2021 Ford F-150: questions owners ask
Is the 2021 Ford F-150 reliable?
NHTSA data alone cannot rate reliability, but it shows what owners reported. Owners filed 1,310 complaints with NHTSA about the 2021 Ford F-150; the most common categories were power train (448, 34.2%), electrical system (174, 13.3%), exterior lighting (123, 9.4%). There are no safety recalls listed for this model year. 18 complaints mention a crash, 7 mention a fire, 13 injuries were reported.
What are the most common problems with the 2021 Ford F-150?
Across 1,310 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the categories mentioned most often are power train (34.2% of complaints), electrical system (13.3% of complaints), exterior lighting (9.4% of complaints), engine (8.5% of complaints), visibility (6.3% of complaints). One complaint can name several components.
Does the 2021 Ford F-150 have any recalls?
As of November 2026, NHTSA lists no safety recalls for the 2021 Ford F-150. Recalls can be issued at any time, so check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Why do the headlights or taillights fail on my 2021 Ford F-150?
91 of the 1,310 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2021 Ford F-150 (6.9%) describe headlights, taillights or brake lights failing or condensation in the lamps. One owner wrote: "Daytime running LED quad headlight system. the vertical led on the front passenger front headlights is out. Dealer said cost is $2000.00 to fix. have to replace whole assembly." (NHTSA complaint 11773356, October 2026). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why does my 2021 Ford F-150 stall, lose power or shut off while driving?
89 of the 1,310 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2021 Ford F-150 (6.8%) describe the engine stalling, losing power or shutting off while driving. One owner wrote: "While traveling home on a 2 lane highway 55 on a busy Sunday, the truck started misfiring and jerking, shaking then stalled. Engine light was flashing and we were able to pull off to side as it stalled." (NHTSA complaint 11769118, October 2026). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why does my 2021 Ford F-150 transmission jerk, shudder or shift hard?
83 of the 1,310 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2021 Ford F-150 (6.3%) describe harsh, jerky or delayed transmission shifting or shuddering. One owner wrote: "I believe my vehicle is exhibiting the same transmission issues leading up to the failure of transmission components identified in NHTSA Recall #: 26V402." (NHTSA complaint 11757756, August 2026). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why do the windshield wipers stop working on my 2021 Ford F-150?
44 of the 1,310 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2021 Ford F-150 (3.4%) describe windshield wipers stopping or failing. One owner wrote: "When using the window wipers, they become inoperable. Stopping in the middle of the window, pausing when moving, or completely stopping and unable to get them to start moving until they begin to move on their own." (NHTSA complaint 11744757, June 2026). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why does my 2021 Ford F-150 idle rough, misfire or hesitate?
42 of the 1,310 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2021 Ford F-150 (3.2%) describe rough idling, misfires or hesitation when accelerating. One owner wrote: "While traveling home on a 2 lane highway 55 on a busy Sunday, the truck started misfiring and jerking, shaking then stalled. Engine light was flashing and we were able to pull off to side as it stalled." (NHTSA complaint 11769118, October 2026). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Check your own F-150
Counts are a starting point, not a verdict: popular models collect more complaints because more of them are on the road, and NHTSA does not verify individual reports. To see whether a recall is still open on your car, enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls (U.S.) or your registration at check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk (UK). Had a safety problem? Report it to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations and recalls.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation recall and complaint databases (public domain), retrieved November 9, 2026. Model year 2021 only; combines NHTSA's entries for F-150 REGULAR CAB, F-150 SUPER CAB, F-150 SUPER CAB DIESEL, F-150 SUPER CREW, F-150 SUPER CREW DIESEL and F-150 SUPER CREW HEV. How these reports are made.
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