This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The truck was parked in the driveway warming up with the rear window defrost on when a lot of smoke started coming out of the area around the rear passenger side head rest. I turned off the truck and then there was a loud bang and the passenger side rear window panel had shattered.
The contact owns a 2010 Ford F-150. The contact stated that when the rear window heater was turned on, the window shattered completely. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 99,100.
After turning on rear defroster on a 15 degree day I heard some electrical snapping and popping sounds. I turned off the rear defroster for a few minutes then back on again. Not long after that I heard a very loud bang which was my right side rear window shattering. It stayed in place but was completely spider webbed with a few small missing pieces.
The ambient temperature was approximately -10 degrees Fahrenheit. I went to warm up my truck and turned on the rear window defroster. When I returned to my vehicle to drive to work I found that my rear window on the passenger side had shattered. I inspected the window for signs of vandalism but besides the spidering of the tempered glass there was no sign of any impact. After an extremely short google search I found this is one of the most common problems with the 2010 F-150. The complaints about this problem are so abundant it's become comical. Which is not a good thing Ford... you shouldn't be content with your product being a punchline.
- East Bethel, MN, USA
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Driving my son to school on a cold morning with the rear defroster on. About 10 minutes into our drive we heard a very loud pop and my son noticed that the window behind his head had shattered. After researching this issue it seems to be fairly common among this year model with people describing the exact situations. Called Ford and they refused to do anything about it. Absurd that this defect and the related costs should be passed on to the consumer when it is an obvious issue with the truck.
On the morning of 12/29/14, he had a heavy frost so I used my rear window defrost on my drive to work. Drive was approx. 10 minutes. When I got out of the truck at work, all glass was ok. When I got back in truck to leave work, I looked in rear view mirror, I saw that the passenger side of the three piece rear window was shattered. The glass stayed in the frame and did not fall out. I had to spend over an hour on the phone with my insurance company just to file a claim, and it took the glass company two tries to install the new rear window and rewire it to make it work again. Ford knows there is a problem because they have changed the design on the window along with the wiring to the window. Why will Ford not step up and at least admit there is a problem with the rear defrost and offer to fix it.
I remotely started my F150 to warm up the vehicle on a morning that the outside temperature was 37F. While inside the vehicle I heard a load bang that sounded like glass breaking. Observed that rear passenger window shattered approx. Three minutes after rear defroster switch was turned on. Inspected glass both inside and out and observed that the glass was intact but the whole passenger side back glass what shattered as with safety glass would. I took the vehicle to the nearest dealer and they had seen the problem before but there advised it would not be under warranty or policy. Dealer gave me local csr to contact to discuss the issue and ask for policy. Glass estimate was around $621 for parts and 3 hrs of labor. Declined repair until speaking with csr to ask for consideration under policy. I don't know what I would have done if the glass would have fallen out during driver. Numerous incidences report of this exact mode of failure. Severe safety issue that needs to be addressed with Ford by NHTSA.
Rear defroster was on for approximately 15 minutes. After pulling into driveway and stopping rear passenger reported a funny smell. After turning off the vehicle and while stepping out the rear light on passenger side(which has defrost wires running through it) shattered with a loud pop. The glass remained in place but has spiderwebs throughout the whole light.
I left for work in the morning and I turned on the rear defrost because we had a heavy frost overnight. Window was fine when I got out of truck at work. It was a 10 minute drive to work. When I got back into truck 10 hours later to leave work, I saw that the passenger side of the three piece rear window was broken. The glass did not fall out of the frame so it was not from an impact. Air temp stayed just below freezing all day. Had to spend roughly an hour on the phone with my insurance company and my Ford dealer to get the part ordered. It will be four days till it will be fixed. I just hope nothing happens that will cause the glass to fall out of the frame. I drive my truck at least 6 days a week so I cannot be without it. Please do something about this issue.
While driving, the vehicle lost power completely so power steering was non-functional. Was able, with much difficulty, to guide the vehicle off of busy road and on to side street. Darn lucky I wasn't involved in accident. Had vehicle towed to crossroads Ford in cary, N.C. here is word for word what the mechanic wrote. "vehicle towed in. Customer states vehicle turns over but won't start. Check and advise. "could not duplicate concern. Ran oasis. No codes. Read past hotline reports for bad pin fit for fuse 27 in under hood fuse panel. Tried to relocate to different location. Wire terminal damaged during removal. Installed inline fuse holder to fuel pump wire. Installed 20 amp fuse. Test drove and no problems at this time." So basically, this was a flaw in manufacture regarding pin fit for fuse 27 that caused vehicle to cease power while driving and endangered passengers. I called Ford service at 800-392-3673 and case was opened. Case # [xxx]. customer service rep at crossroads Ford was [xxx] and mechanic was [xxx]. I spoke with service manager [xxx] and he was made aware of situation and I'm waiting for his reply as to if there will be compensation. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Approximately 2-3 minutes after turning on my rear defroster, the passenger side panel of the three panel rear glass shattered. Nothing struck the glass to cause this. Temperature outside was around 36* F, windows were slightly foggy, not covered in frost.
While driving into work, had the rear defrost active for roughly 10 minutes. At a stoplight, noticed smoke rising from outside of the rear window. As I proceeded to pull off the road, heard a loud bang and the passenger side rear window proceeded to spiderweb. The gasket for the rear window has been burned on the lower left hand corner (when observed from outside of the vehicle). It is apparent there is an issue with the rear heating element, as observed by the number of identical complaints on this site. I hope that Ford steps up and does something about this before someone actually gets hurt.
Contacted Ford first about rh rear defroster not working. Luckily only had the burnt smell and not the explosion of glass. Being this is the highest number of complaints on this site Ford should really consider looking into this before possibly a child in a car seat gets a face full of glass. As usuall from Ford I received the usual form letter back about not being under any recalls. Vehicle only has 32,400 miles on it. Would like to know the actual manufacture Ford buys these from. Even offered if they were to send me a rear unit I would replace it myself as being a auto tech all my life and send the old unit back for verification.
The contact owns a 2010 Ford F-150. The contacted stated that while driving 25 mph with the air conditioner on activated, the front passenger side vent began dispersing heat. The failure recurred twice. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired for the related failure eight months prior but the repairs were unknown. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
Used rear defrost (approximately 63 degrees outside) drove approximately 5 miles and passenger rear window shattered. Was sitting at a complete stop at a light. Sounded like a gun-shot. Researched the issue to find many other 2010 F150 owners with the same problem who were told it was a short in the rear defrost electrical. Ford will not cover repairs.
My seat heater stopped working several months ago, I went to replace it today and found that the heat element had melted and turned black the seat cushion in the area of where it melted, I don't believe that there was actual fire but had the power not shut off I am sure that the seat would have caught fire.
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- Land O Lakes, FL, USA