Ford F-350 reliability by year
26 recall campaigns and 3,064 owner complaints across 19 model years. Best year to buy: 2010. Year to avoid: 2019.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 1 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 19 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 41, more than the 26 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the F-350 aggregated across 19 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Ford F-350?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2010 Ford F-350 scores 8.0/10 — the strongest in the 2005–2026 range. 50 complaints on file, 1 active recall. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Ford F-350 year should I avoid?
The 2019 Ford F-350 scores 6.2/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 462 owner complaints with NHTSA, 4 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2019 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Ford F-350 should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2008 (avoid — the steering — 5 fire-related complaints and 1 crash-related complaint on the engine). The cleaner years on the data are 2022, 2021, 2010, 2020, 2019, 2018. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Ford F-350 are tracked?
19 model years (2005 through 2026) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 26 distinct recall campaigns and 3,064 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 41 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Ford F-350?
steering is the most-reported category — 1,218 complaints across 18 model years. Average shop repair runs about $700.