Stalling while driving on the 2010 Ford F-150
When stalling while driving gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Ford F-150 report stalling while driving at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 16 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 15th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 127,195 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
38% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11,805 miles | 22,000 miles | 42,800 miles | 121,500 miles | 139,000 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 $300–$2,500 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2012 carries the most reports, with 30; the 2010 has 16. 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2010 ford f-150. While sitting on a hill, the vehicle rolled backwards. After rolling more than one foot down the hill, the engine stalled so the contact applied the brakes, shifted into park and restarted the vehicle. The problem had not occurred before. The vehicle was taken to the dealership but no repairs were performed. The current mileage was approximately 3,000. The failure mileage was approximately 1,580. Updated 6/1/10 *cn no repairs were made to the vehicle. The dealer stated everything was normal. Updated 06/17/10*jb
My wife was driving our 2010 ford f-150. Gas tank 5/8 full. She was making a right turn onto a major state route when the vehicle suddenly stalled. She was able to re-start the vehicle, however when the engine stalled she lost all power steering and brakes. This caused the vehicle to veer into the oncoming lane of traffic. This is the second occurrence. The dealer had the vehicle for 18 days after the first occurrence, however they were unable to diagnose or fix the problem. We took possession of the vehicle again and it almost occurred once and then actually stalled a second time (described above). I have filed a previous complaint. The vehicle was again brought to the dealer and they were unable to fix the problem. Ford motor company did order the replacement of the vapor management system between the two occurrences. The part was returned to ford by the dealer. I can not place my wife, children or I, not to mention the motoring public in further danger by driving this vehicle. We could have easily had a dangerous traffic crash when the vehicle suddenly ended up in oncoming traffic. Thank you. *tr
Engine stalls at random speeds after braking or coming to a stop. Most recently while braking for a turn, right hand fork at about 35 MPH, engine stalled losing power steering and power brakes. Very dangerous situation and common from what I have found on the internet. All 3 local ford dealers act like they have never heard of the problem. I am sure that is what they have to say, because they do not know how to correct it, but this is a very serious situation. It is a 2010 "new" truck and I wont let my wife drive it with the kids because it is dangerous. *tr
Also reported on the 2010 Ford F-150
Other visibility problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Tail light, brake light or signal failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 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 stalling while driving happen on the 2010 Ford F-150?
Across 16 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is stalling while driving on the 2010 Ford F-150?
16 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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