Backup camera failure on the 2011 Ford F-150
When backup camera failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Ford F-150 report backup camera failure at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 90,000 miles and a quarter after 165,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 70,000 miles. It is the 36th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 70,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 190,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 118,014 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71,986 miles | 91,497 miles | 99,000 miles | 166,375 miles | 190,000 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 $250–$1,200 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 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 9 miles, and latest on the 2012 at 185,000 miles.
By volume the 2019 carries the most reports, with 47; the 2011 has 10. 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.
2011 f-150 xlt will not go into reverse or other times when you put it in reverse the vehicle behaves like it's in neutral then will suddenly shoot backwards (does this in drive as well-forward). When this occurs the backup lamps do not illuminate and the backup camera does not function and the instrument panel does not display the what status the vehicle is in...ie drive/reverse etc.... I took the vehicle to my mechanic who immediately informed me the vehicle was under recall (NHTSA campaign #12v190000). He printed the service bulletin and recall info. I took the vehicle to ford where I was told my VIN # did not fall under the recall despite the fact it's the same exact model transmission, vehicle, and issue to the letter. It should be known that many more vehicles are affected beyond the initial recall. This has the potential to be an extremely dangerous defect as the vehicle lunges backwards/forwards without any indication of the status of the vehicle and while the vehicle's safety features are not working properly. *tr
2011 f-150 xlt will not go into reverse or other times when you put it in reverse the vehicle behaves like it's in neutral then will suddenly shoot backwards (does this in drive as well-forward). When this occurs the backup lamps do not illuminate and the backup camera does not function and the instrument panel does not display the what status the vehicle is in...ie drive/reverse etc.... I took the vehicle to my mechanic who immediately informed me the vehicle was under recall (NHTSA campaign #12v190000). He printed the service bulletin and recall info. I took the vehicle to ford where I was told my VIN # did not fall under the recall despite the fact it's the same exact model transmission, vehicle, and issue to the letter. It should be known that many more vehicles are affected beyond the initial recall. This has the potential to be an extremely dangerous defect as the vehicle lunges backwards/forwards without any indication of the status of the vehicle and while the vehicle's safety features are not working properly. *tr
Transmission may not go into reverse or when the driver pushes the shift lever in the reverse 'r' position and the vehicle's transmission does go in reverse, the 'r' may not illuminate on the dashboard of the f-150. The backup lamp on the rear of the vehicle may not illuminate. This was a previous recall for this year model but I have been told my truck was not affected. Every symptom descrided is exactly what is happening to my vehicle. Any time I put the vehicle in reverse the "r" on the dash does not light up and it takes approx.5-10 seconds for the vehicle to go in to the reverse gear at which time a yellow wrench appears on the dash. The reverse lights do not come on and the reverse camera does not activate. After the wrench appears the transmission will not recognize any gear. I have to shut the truck completely off and restart for drive to function correctly.
Also reported on the 2011 Ford F-150
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other steering problem
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
Other visibility problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 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 backup camera failure happen on the 2011 Ford F-150?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 90,000 miles and a quarter after 165,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is backup camera failure on the 2011 Ford F-150?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 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