Ford F-550 SD vs Chevrolet Silverado 3500

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Ford F-550 SD	Chevrolet Silverado 3500
Complaints on file	613	1,453
Model years covered	1997–2026	1994–2026
Worst model year	1999	2000
Best model year	2005	2023
Crashes reported	16	75
Fires reported	45	28
Injuries reported	21	32
Deaths reported	1	5
Most complained-about part	Fuel & Propulsion	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	13.5%	9.6%

Ford F-550 SD by year

2 92 85 35 31 40 67 41 55 25 31 1 2 4 8 3 10 18 4 5 4 7 16 15 1 5 3 3

97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 185 30.2%

Engine & Cooling 107 17.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 64 10.4%

Tires 63 10.3%

Electrical System 36 5.9%

Brakes 31 5.1%

Wheels 26 4.2%

Suspension 20 3.3%

Chevrolet Silverado 3500 by year

1 2 78 100 73 114 97 64 60 46 60 61 42 36 10 4 42 31 36 10 78 72 14 27 34 53 56 35 21 72 19 5

94 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Brakes 349 24.0%

Engine & Cooling 158 10.9%

Electrical System 145 10.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 143 9.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 133 9.2%

Steering 89 6.1%

Tires 72 5.0%

Other & Unspecified 64 4.4%