109 of the 1,304 complaints about the 2021 Ford F-150 are about the lighting — 8% of everything reported for this model year. Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before 53,500 miles.
109
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
Filed with NHTSA, in their own words.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Daytime Running Light failure in headlight assembly. Second time it occurred. Had the first headlight assembly replaced while under warranty. I am now outside of the warranty mileage and the other side's headlight DRL has failed.
NHTSA complaint #11756461 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Left side headlight went dark. Started dimming now is full out
NHTSA complaint #11756213 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Both factory LED headlamp assemblies are experiencing premature LED failures. The vertical LED/DRL section has failed on both headlights, and the horizontal LED section has failed on one and is beginning to fail on the other. These are factory-installed upgraded LED headlamps and the LED components are not individually replaceable, requiring replacement of the complete headlamp assembly. The failures occurred before the vehicle reached five years old. Ford was contacted regarding the issue and declined goodwill assistance. I am concerned about the premature failure of the factory exterior lighting and the potential safety implications if additional portions of the headlamp assemblies fail. It does affect viability for other vehicles and both went out within 3 months of each other. I have noticed several other vehicles on the road specifically with my headlights with the same issue.
NHTSA complaint #11755692 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The safety daytime running lights are failing prematurely. My car has 32,000 miles and my DRL is burnt out on the passenger side. Online forums confirm that this is happening to many, many people. It’s a safety hazard for other drivers because the cost to repair is substantial and people aren’t fixing them. Ford should fix this as a recall.
NHTSA complaint #11755402 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Outer LED light burned out. Makes for lights to seem dimmer at night while driving.
NHTSA complaint #11754280 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Day Running Lights in headlights fail. The side LED fails completely requiring the entire headlight housing needing to be replaced. This is a common failure and Ford is not doing anything to help the thousands of customers this is affecting. This failure is widely reported online, in forums and chat rooms. Dealer acknowledges it is a part failure but Ford will not pay for replacement even though it is a design or manufacturing problem with this particular year and style of headlights.
NHTSA complaint #11753682 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
*Brake system failure, complete shut down of vehicle. *Vehicle unable to start. *Vehicle was taken directly to Peoria Ford ( 9130 W Bell Rd, Peoria, AZ 85382) via tow truck on XXX Confirmed when dropped off of brake system failure and vehicle not functioning. *Vehicle was inspected on XXX which we were originally told it was the battery. Although the vehicle was in for trailer software recall on XXX and during inspection at that time battery was in good health. *No warnings until attempting to use the vehicle on XXX and received the brake system failure alert. Vehicle would also not lock. *After battery was replaced by Peoria Ford I was then told the brake system would not release and would need Actuator misalignment reset/replaced.
NHTSA complaint #11753799 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Passenger side LED Headlight assembly daytime running LED's, the vertical led has gone out in my 2021 Ford f150, while not a major problem, LED daytime running lights increase visibility of other drivers to help in safety. From research, it seems that many of these headlights, the led daytime running lights in the 2021 year model are failing.
NHTSA complaint #11753461 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The verticals led daytime running light (DRL) on the passenger side has stopped working.
NHTSA complaint #11751398 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The passenger side running light in the headlight has gone out. Not the entire part just the vertical section of the running light
NHTSA complaint #11747322 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V455000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and 26V104000 (Electrical System, Exterior Lighting); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
NHTSA complaint #11747373 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The passenger side light has the outer-most vertical LED segment out (not lit up). This appears to be common on this model truck after researching.
NHTSA complaint #11747090 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The problem and or issue on my 2021 Ford F150 is the Day Running light on the Upper Passenger side went out and does not work anymore. I reported it to the Dealer. I believe it to be a safety issue if all Day Running lights are not fully operational. This happened with about 66,026 miles on my vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11745073 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Vertical Daytime Running Lamp is out and from doing multiple hours of research it looks as if it was a quality control issue. The LED board was not secured internally and it caused an LED to touch the tube and burned it. It is very common on 2021-2023 models and the manufacturer changed it for 2024. Please we need to get this as a recall.
NHTSA complaint #11743628 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
My 2021 Ford F-150 has been having trouble with the transmission. Hard shifting, shifting to 10th gear at 40mph and unable to downshift after slowing down. I have also had issues with the daytime running lights not working since around 45k miles. My truck only has 59K miles at the time of me typing this.
NHTSA complaint #11741271 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Both of the Daytime Running Lamps (DRLs) on my 2021 F150 have failed. They cost `$2,000 each to replace. They are LEDs, and were billed as never needing replacement, and certainly not under 50k miles. A quick search shows that this is a common issue with 2021+ F150s, and looking around on the road, I notice many with the same issue. This failure of safety equipment reduces visibility and could contribute to accidents.
NHTSA complaint #11737918 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
My 2021 Ford F-150 Lariat has a repeated failure of the front LED daytime running/perimeter lighting (Driver's Side). The light was intermittently dim before failing completely. This occurred around 94,000 miles. Because this lighting is part of the truck’s front visibility system, the failure creates a safety concern, especially in daylight, rain, fog, and low-light conditions. Based on owner reports, this may be a widespread defect affecting other 2021+ F-150 trucks. I request NHTSA evaluate this issue for a possible defect investigation and recall.
NHTSA complaint #11735555 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Daytime Running Lamps, vertical beam on driver side does not function after 4 years. Research shows it's likely melting the headlight assembly components during overheating and burnout.
NHTSA complaint #11735305 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
DRL led strips premature failure. The vehicle is only 5 years old and the DRL on the fog lights and the headlight assembly are failing. Multiple f150s in this year range are experiencing similar issues. This poses a safety risk due to not being able to properly see and be seen due to poor lighting.
NHTSA complaint #11733908 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
I have a 2021 F150. The vehicle has LED day time running lights (DRL's). Several of the lights have overheated and melted the plastic internally to limit the transmittance of light. Thus it appears that the light is not functioning, but the reality it has burnt the plastic. This is a known issue that can be seen everyday on the road in other F150's and in the FORD F150 forums. FORD has realized this design issue and has changed the design of the headlight assembly in newer vehicles. In order to get the (DRL's) repaired, you must replace the entire headlight assembly at a cost of $1500 just for the assembly according to the FORD dealership when I brought the vehicle in routine service. Also, when the DRL first failed, it was believed that FORD had sent an over the air software update that included increasing the intensity of the LED for the DRL. This software update was changed back to the setting that it originally came with the vehicle. The first LED that failed was approximately 2 years ago. A second DRL failed about 6 months later. I have changed the settings so the DRL's do not come on during the day to minimize future DRL's from burning the plastic. In theory, if I wanted to have my vehicle perform properly with the DRL's operating for safety, I would need to replace both assemblies at a cost of over $3000. That seems very excessive. I should have submitted this complaint sooner, but now that I receive several recalls per year for my F150 for other issues, I felt it was time to add this one to the list since the issue is so widespread. If DRL's are not important for safety while driving, why are they installed on vehicles? A quick search on YouTube for diagnosing videos, clearly indicates that the problem exists and its a design issue.
NHTSA complaint #11732645 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V104000 (Electrical System, Exterior Lighting); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
NHTSA complaint #11728500 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Daytime running lights are failing.
NHTSA complaint #11727648 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The passenger side day time running light is dimmed drastically and almost not visible anymore on the upright section. After doing research , this seems to be a very common issue and not a cheap repair. Some states day time running lights are mandatory to work to pass inspection. Ford has not acknowledged this issue and/or making profit from changing out the whole headlight assembly to fix. It seems like it is a bad design or low quality product for a supposed safety issue.
NHTSA complaint #11723768 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Daytime running light just went out one side.
NHTSA complaint #11723369 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Led Daytime running lights burnout. No repair by ford without replacing whole housing. No covered under warranty.
NHTSA complaint #11718646 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The passenger side daytime running light no longer illuminates or illuminates poorly. During daytime inclement weather, low beams must be manually turned on to ensure there's some form of lighting illuminated during snow, fog, etc. Problem is well known by the dealer and extremely wide spread in the 2021 to 2023 F-150. The component has not been inspected. There is no warning lamp to indicate daytime running light failure.
NHTSA complaint #11717591 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
I'm reporting that my driving/fog lights aren't working and haven't for some time. My truck only has 58,000 miles on it and is only 5 years old, I have been guided to report this issue to the NHTSA. I drive allot in the early morning and am NOT getting the lighting I should, it's agravating that you pay so much for a vehicle and the lights don't work properly. I have read 100's of post/emails and vlogs, there are thousands and thousands of these trucks with that same issue, what can I do to repair or replace these lights? Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11717168 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Both Quad LED side strips (vertical daytime running lights) on my 2021 Ford F‑150 have burnt out. The failure occurred gradually, with the left strip failing first around [insert approximate date] and the right strip failing shortly after. These LED strips are a safety feature, and their failure reduces visibility while driving. I have attached a photo of the burnt DRL, a photo of a working DRL for reference, and a screenshot of my Ford Live Chat showing my ticket number and that I am tracking this issue publicly in a Facebook group of other owners experiencing the same failure. This appears to be a recurring defect affecting multiple trucks in the 2021–2023 F‑150 range. I am filing this complaint to document a safety defect that may require investigation.
NHTSA complaint #11715973 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
My 2021 F-150 has burnt-out Quad LED side strips on both headlights. These are daytime running lights, a safety feature. I understand there is no TSB or recall, but many owners have the same issue. I am filing to document a recurring safety defect." Attach a photo of your burnt DRL
NHTSA complaint #11716051 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Driver side LED DRL light has failed. This is a common problem occuring with many people with 2021+ year models of the Ford F-150. Truck is barely outside of warranty and with 51,000 miles and should not have a failing LED DRL. Additionally, Ford has made this part unrepairable and according to the dealership closest to me will require a full headlight assembly replacement.
NHTSA complaint #11713065 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.