2018 Ford F-450: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2018 Ford F-450
On the 2018 Ford F-450, the failure owners report most often is engine bay fire, with 2 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 20,000 miles. Overall it scores 73 out of 100, high risk for a 2018.
High risk for a 2018 — 164th riskiest of the 251 2018 vehicles we can rate. 15 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 10 named failure modes on the 2018 Ford F-450, and the three most-reported carry 40% of everything filed.
Engine bay fire leads with 2 reports and about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other engine problem follows with 2 reports, median 45,000 miles.
Other steering problem follows with 2 reports, median 10,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into engine (5), steering (2) and wheels (2).
When these failures get reported
10 of the reports on the 2018 Ford F-450 came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 20,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 80% by 50,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 40% of the dated reports.
80% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 3 a fire. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 5.40, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: engine bay fire at $4,000–$20,000, other engine problem at $300–$4,000, other steering problem at $350–$2,400 and other wheel or tire problem at $200–$1,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
40% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine bay fire | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $4,000–$20,000 | Critical |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 2 | — | 46k | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 2 | 2 | — | 12k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 2 | 2 | — | 12k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Turbocharger or supercharger failure | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 51k | — | 0.0 | $1,500–$4,500 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure | body | 1 | 1 | — | 4k | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,500 | Moderate |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 23k | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 18k | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2018 Ford F-450 draws about 0.6 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 71st percentile of complaint rates among 2018 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 24,134 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2018 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other steering problem
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 ford f-450. While driving 45 MPH, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to lebanon ford (770 columbus ave, lebanon, oh 45036, (513) 932-1010), but the failure could not be duplicated. The contact informed the dealer and the manufacturer several times of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 800. The VIN was not available.
Recalls on the 2018 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2018 Ford F-450, affecting an estimated 24,137 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover equipment, exterior lighting:brake lights and engine. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
EQUIPMENT
13 vehicles 2019-05-29- Defect
- LGE Coachworks, Inc. (LGE Coachworks) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Ford E-450, F-550, and Freightliner M2-based vehicles equipped with ASA Electronics Voyager back-up camera displays. The displays may unexpectedly revert back to the factory default settings which may cause the camera image to be reversed.
- Consequence
- The driver may inadvertently turn the wrong direction to avoid an object behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- ASA will notify LGE Coachworks owners, and dealers will replace the displays, free of charge. The recall began May 9, 2019. Owners may contact ASA customer service at 1-800-384-4400 or LGE Coachworks at 1-800-209-3985.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS
17 vehicles 2019-05-03- Defect
- Taylor Made Ambulances is recalling certain 2017-2018 Ford E-350, F-450, E-450, F-550, and GMC G3500-based ambulances equipped with Whelen brake lights. Depending on the specific wiring of the vehicle, these brake lights may illuminate when the brake pedal has not been pressed.
- Consequence
- If the brake lights incorrectly illuminate, it can confuse other drivers, possibly increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Taylor Made will notify owners and Whelen will replace the brake lights, free of charge. The recall began June 5, 2019. Owners may contact Taylor Made Ambulances customer service at 1-800-468-1310.
ENGINE
410,289 vehicles 2018-12-18- Defect
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Ford F-150 and 2017-2019 Ford F-250 Super Duty, F-350 Super Duty, F-450 Super Duty, and F-550 Super Duty pick-up trucks equipped with an engine block heater. Water and contaminants may get into the block heater cable's splice connector causing corrosion and damage.
- Consequence
- When the heater is plugged in, prolonged corrosion could cause a resistive short, increasing the risk of overheated or melted wiring which can increase the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will disable the block heater cable, free of charge. Once parts are available, Dealers will replace the engine block heater cable, free of charge. The recall began June 3, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 18S45.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2018 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 2018 — 164th riskiest of the 251 2018 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
Across the 5 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2020 comes out best at 62 and 2018 worst at 73, with 2018 itself at 73.
If the model year is negotiable, 2020, 2012, 2019 and 2017 score lower than 2018 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2018–2020 generation specifically, 2020 is the strongest year at 62 and 2018 the weakest at 73.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2018-2020 generation, 2020 Ford F-450 scores best at 62 and 2018 Ford F-450 worst at 73.
What this page cannot tell you
15 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 15 reports, 10 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 67% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2018 Ford F-450?
The most-reported failures are engine bay fire (2 reports), other engine problem (2 reports, median 45,000 miles) and other steering problem (2 reports, median 10,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2018 Ford F-450 reliable?
It scores 73 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 164th riskiest of the 251 2018 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2018 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Ford F-450 is best?
Within the 2018–2020 generation, 2020 scores best at 62 out of 100 and 2018 worst at 73. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
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