Other visibility problem on the 2005 Ford F-150
When other visibility problem gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Ford F-150 report other visibility problem at a median of 51,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 38,000 miles and a quarter after 69,000 miles, from 139 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 26,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 92,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 66,158 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
21% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26,000 miles | 37,975 miles | 51,000 miles | 68,611 miles | 92,158 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $150–$1,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 30 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 170,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 carries the most reports, with 491; the 2005 has 146. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
8/26/07 front passenger window falls. 7/19/08 front driver window falls. 1st fixed warranty. 2nd fixed $100 deductible (extended warranty). Continual recurring problem just after warranty according to internet. Approx. Ford charge $200+ and 1.5 hrs. (internet). 3 ford mechanics say 15 min. Fix and a truck owner says 35-45 minutes in his driveway (internet). The faulty cable can't be purchased from dealer (for do-it-yourself) without buying window also (internet). This obvious defect seems to be a money maker for ford. This is not only an aggravation and inconvenience, but also a security (safety) problem. This situation can occur while vehicle is parked and driver not in attendance. Upon returning, driver may find mugger in back, contents missing or vehicle stolen due to easy access through fallen window. *tr
Window controller fails with a loud banging noise. The noise is so distracting that it causes a possible accident situation. I was pulling a trailer at the time and the swerving caused fish tailing. There are thousands of documented failures of the ford window controller in 2005 vehicles and ford won't recall without NHTSA requiring it. *tr
Normal driving with windows up, heard loud bang and we thought someone had hit or thrown something at our pickup. Then I noticed driver side front window slowly sliding down and finally falling into door. Pickup is for all intents unsafe. Can not put up window. I see on other websites and this one that this is a very common problem, and ford should be made to fix this with a safety recall. This happened 2 months after warranty was up with less than 15,000 miles on vehicle. Totally unacceptable. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Ford F-150
Window regulator or power window failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Misfire or rough idle
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 146 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other visibility problem happen on the 2005 Ford F-150?
Across 139 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 51,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 38,000 miles and a quarter after 69,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other visibility problem on the 2005 Ford F-150?
146 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed