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What 55 owners told NHTSA about the 2024 Ford Ranger

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (55)Crash / fire / injury (2)Transmission & drivetrain (16)Electrical system (15)Brakes (7)Body & structure (6)Engine (5)Fuel system (5)Visibility & wipers (4)Airbags (3)Driver assistance (3)Steering (3)

15 of 55 complaints match · Electrical system · clear filters

Jun 16, 2026Electrical system

The truck shifted its drive mode from normal driving into Baja mode by itself, and also shifted the transmission from 2H to 4H, potentially damaging the transmission and causing a safety issue on the highway.

NHTSA ODI 11744587

May 23, 2026Transmission & drivetrainElectrical system

Vehicle experienced unintended transmission gear change without driver input from the gear selector. While driving, the transmission shifted unexpectedly into 4H even though the selector was not touched. This created a safety hazard due to sudden change in vehicle behavior, including: loss of acceleration, lurching and unexpected movement. Issue occurred at approximately 30 mph. Concern is potential electronic transmission control or shift-by-wire malfunction causing unintended gear engagement.

NHTSA ODI 11739691

May 11, 2026Electrical system

The incomplete recall 26V238 is a concern. They say in the letter from Ford that it could be a fire issue. It seems the harness in the A pillar gets pinched and could short out causing the overhead lighting or mirror lighting to either cause a smoke issue or fire. BUT THE ANSWER IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE UNTIL LATE JULY MAYBE!! Why send a letter and state you have no answer yet or will have for a couple of months!!! Am I supposed to be happy that I will know why the fire breaks out? Some 1400 potential failures out of 140,000 is the prediction per a conversation with your [XXX] on the chat line. This is to me a lame response to an issue with a potential for a real safety issue and should have more response than "WE ARE WORKING ON THE ANSWER AND MAYBE END OF JULY" INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11737091

Apr 14, 2026Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemEngine

My 2024 Ford Ranger XLT 2W has been suddenly losing power or stumbling upon initial acceleration. This has been occurring intermittently. My truck now has approximately 20,000 miles. The problem has become increasingly frequent. It seems to occur most often when accelerating from a complete stop. The loss of power can last for several seconds, then normal power is regained. Several times, the truck has lost power while making a left turn. It simply will not accelerate, and I find that I am stuck, unable to complete my turn and clear the oncoming traffic. I have taken my truck to a local dealer who attempted to diagnose the problem and they didn’t offer a solution since they were unable to reproduce the problem during their road test. It has happened many times since then and I am scheduled to return the vehicle to the same dealership to attempt to diagnose and fix the problem again soon. The problem seems to occur, regardless of which drive mode the truck is in and also occurs with Electronic Stability Control both enabled and disabled. There are no warning lights or check engine codes shown.

NHTSA ODI 11731068

Jan 8, 2026Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemSpeed control

I am the original owner of this vehicle and the engine and controls have not been modified in any way. Yesterday while driving at approximately 30 mph on a surface street with dry road conditions in the “2H” setting on the Drive Modes Selection Dial my truck spontaneously shifted into four-wheel drive high and then attempted to switch into four-wheel-drive low – “Rock Crawl Mode.” The rear differential locked, speed was suddenly reduced, and the steering became more difficult. Luckily, I was able to safely pull over. I captured a video at this time documenting the control settings and display image. It took multiple attempts, even in Park and Neutral, to get out of 4WD and back into the 2H setting. Once back in 2H, the truck drove normally. I have had similar experiences at least twice before in this truck with months between them. In those cases, I wondered if I had accidentally bumped the dial control. I am certain that this was not the case yesterday, so this was a spontaneous event initiated by the truck’s computer and/or mechanical controls. I consider this to be a very serious safety hazard, as it dramatically and unexpectedly affected the speed and handling of my truck. I did some online searching today and found that multiple other Ranger Raptor owners have experienced this issue, suggesting that this may be a serious design flaw affecting multiple vehicles. I plan to schedule a service appointment with Ford and notify them directly of this problem and hazard.

NHTSA ODI 11709682

Dec 7, 2025Electrical systemEngineFuel system

Loss of power/accelleration. Multiple times. Issue has always occurred when turning left quickly then trying to accellerate. to make the immediate uphill. The accellerator goes dead for 3-4 seconds, then works. Engine RPM does not speed up when commanded, but then does after several seconds. By then it has been pushed to the floor attempting to make it over the upcoming hill. This is going to cause an accident, especially when pavement is slick, then truck quickly responds to the pedal position. The truck displays no codes or lights. Dealer says they have no idea what it could be. There are multiple reports on [XXX] . [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11703525

Oct 17, 2025Electrical system

The battery has been dying since the last update which causes my rear camera to just go black screen when I am reversing my battery shouldn't be dying after a year and my camera should still work

NHTSA ODI 11694083

Oct 16, 2025Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemEngine

while driving between 5-10 MPH on a dry, smooth paved road, the transmission began cycling through 4WD modes and began shifting from normal mode to 4WD Sand mode, i was able to pull over and park, but the transmission continued shifting and fully transitioned to 4WD mode. This is the second time it has occurred, the first time the transmission fully switched 4WD and i was barely able to pull off the road to reset it. after first issue, dealership noted the following "3131 confirmed concern. pulled codes with FDRS and found P05D3 in ABS module. Referred to workshop manual and run pinpoint test AH for concern. AH1 yes. AH2 had me reconfigure ABS module with As-Built data rerun self test. No codes returned and system operating correctly at this time." There multiple online forums with owners having the same problem. https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/24-rr-shifted-while-driving.18956/ Truck will be going to dealership for assessment again.

NHTSA ODI 11693898

Aug 25, 2025Transmission & drivetrainElectrical system

The Drive Mode Control has been malfunctioning and selecting different drive modes while the vehicle is in motion without any physical input from myself, the driver. While driving in the normal two-wheel drive high (2H) at various rates of speed the Drive Mode Control will start clicking and selecting different drive modes, such as going to four-wheel drive low (4L) or four-wheel drive high (4H) and a pop-up message in the instrument cluster display showing the change displaying Mud/Ruts, Sand, Slippery modes being selected. This has been continuously occurring randomly at both low and high rates of speed. There are never any objects or materials in contact with the Drive mode Control when this happens, it does it on it's own with an audible clicking noise. This is effectively putting myself, my family and other drivers safety at risk since the truck is making changes to the power train without any input from myself and I have to take my attention off the road to bring the truck back into normal two-wheel drive high (2H) mode. I have contacted both Ford Motor Company directly and my local Ford Dealer Service Center to try to have the vehicle inspected but have not been able to due their delay in being able to diagnose the vehicle. This has been going on for 4+ months and the date provided below is the last occurrence of the issue.

NHTSA ODI 11682811

Jul 29, 2025SteeringElectrical system

ive had 2 seperate issues with my 2024 for ranger one is a steering assist fault the other is a electric fault on the speedometer jumping up and down while its in park and causing an issue

NHTSA ODI 11676873

Jun 13, 2025Electrical systemLane Departure

Certain buttons don't work on the steering wheel. Usually temporary. Sometime the center console won't load at start up. The lane keeping system and speed control don't follow the instructions in the setup menu.

NHTSA ODI 11666772

Apr 17, 2025Electrical systemDriver assistance

The contact owns a 2024 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, the alert of a sensor was displayed. The contact stated that the message that the sensor was not working, and the front center sensor was not available, was displayed. The contact stated that the brakes independently activated whenever the sensor alert was displayed, causing the vehicle to stop unexpectedly without a vehicle or object being nearby. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice, and the contact was informed that the Ford engineers were working on the issue. The code was cleared, and the air and sensors were not working. The contact was informed that there was no fix for the issue. The contact was unable to use adaptive cruise control, and the vehicle was parked. The contact was unable to use the features. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30.

NHTSA ODI 11655182

Apr 8, 2025Transmission & drivetrainElectrical system

1. The vehicle will sometimes randomly switch between drive modes with no influence from the driver. I believe it could be a faulty drive mode sensor and the vehicle is available to be inspected. 2. Having the vehicle switch drive modes at random could cause an increase in danger while driving. Going from Normal to Baja or other modes while at highway speeds is very concerning, considering it changes from 2-wheel to 4-wheel drive. 3. No. 4. No, the vehicle will be taken to a Ford dealership soon for the current window recall. 5. No prior warnings. The first couple of times, I thought I may have bumped it, but on multiple occasions I have realized it did it by itself with no influence from the operator. 6. For the additional details below: I put in the most recent incident, but it has occurred multiple times over the past year.

NHTSA ODI 11653397

Mar 15, 2025SteeringElectrical systemLane Departure1 injury

I flew down to Anchorage Alaska this brand new 024 FORD RANGER XL on [XXX] sight unseen and no test drive from KENDALL FORD Dealership. After buying the truck I started it, engaged 4 wheel drive and slippery/ icy setting. On the way back to Fairbanks the steering was hard to turn and got progressively harder the faster I drove and the colder it became. About half way home it became exhausting to steer requiring a lot of force to turn the steering wheel that actually resisted with real force being turned. I didn’t know the lane keeping would turn on with the cruise control but it did and resisted me even more. The roads became black ice and it was freezing rain. The phone charge port lost power, the dash blanked out, there was no radio and the rear power port I had switched to lost power and my phone died. I was driving about 30 to 40 mph on the 2 lane undivided snow covered black ice covered highway. In a curve in the road where the highway maintenance snow plows had stopped plowing I believe the truck mistook the snow line for the painted line and unexpectedly and surprisingly actually turned the steering wheel towards the double solid dividing centerline and I turned back into my lane. This slight movement caused the truck to totally slide out of control and cross the double solid dividing centerline and the truck went into opposite highway oncoming lane! Luckily there was no traffic coming the other way or it could have been a horrible accident. I hit the brakes and the truck actually stopped good, and then I got back into my lane and pulled over at the first chance. My phone was dead so I had no flashlight because I flew down I carried nothing but my coat. I tried to inspect the steering but it was all dark and below zero so I continued on towards Fairbanks another hundred miles to the North. The truck also had a bunch of other problems like refusing to start that can leave a person to freeze to death quickly in the Arctic below zero temperatures. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11648482

Dec 10, 2024Electrical system

I was in an area that had received snow and cold temperatures. I started my car to warm it up and began cleaning off the snow. The heat from the rear defroster caused my read window to shatter leaving glass mostly on the exterior of the truck bed but also in the back seat. This is a known problem with Ford model trucks and they refuse to repair the issue or replace my window.

NHTSA ODI 11629933

Working with the data? Download all 55 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 14, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2024 Ford Ranger verdict →