Other body or interior problem on the 2004 Ford Ranger
2 injuries 2 of the 31 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other body or interior problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Ford Ranger report other body or interior problem at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 23 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 114,240 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.
17% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9,560 miles | 60,000 miles | 80,000 miles | 95,800 miles | 123,800 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
Of these reports, 2 an injury is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $200–$2,000 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 18 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 81; the 2004 has 31. 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.
I recently purchased a 2004 ford ranger edge, regular cab. I am 5'10", and sit with my seat as far back as it will go in the truck. This, unfortunately caused my rear window to pop out of the truck. I took the truck back to the dealer, where they said that's a common problem with the make and year of my truck, and all ford is doing is reinforcing the windows. The windows are not a problem, it is the seat. The seat was not designed correctly for the truck, but ford is not willing to redesign the seats, recall the trucks, or upgrade trucks to extended cabs. This poses a problem because even after the window is fixed, the problem is going to happen again. And "god forbid" I ever get into a rear-end collision - what happens to my window, me, my seat, etc?! This problem ends up being more serious than ford is willing to take responsibility for, and I strongly feel this should be reported. I know for a fact it is not just my truck with the problem - a dealer and I went around trying out other trucks to see if they had the same problem on the lot, and sure enough, we pushed the seat all the way back, and the windows popped out. This was…
I just bought a 2004 ford ranger regular cab in aug 2004. About 2 weeks ago after a heavy rain the whole inside of my vehicle was wet. It was wet from both the driver and the passenger head rests to the floor. It took a little over a week for the vehicle to dry out. I took it to the ford dealer that I bought it from and they told me that I had a defective window. They did not even have to look at the truck to tell me what the problem was. They had to order a new back window for me. The assistant service manager told me that the problem the seat back pushes out the back window and water can get inside. I am 6'4" and I have to have the seat all the way back to drive. When they replaced the window I talk to the auto glass company that they sub the work out to. He told me that this was a very common problem in the ranger regular cabs. He said that he has had a few vehicles that come in every 3 months to get a new rear window. I have also called ford and spoke with them about the problem. They offered little help. My new truck now smells like mold and mildew, but they will do nothing to fix that, even though it is their fault, or the…
Dt: the consumer was unable to see odometer. The consumer stated the odometer could not be seen in daylight or at night. They can't do anything about it until the manufacturer has a recall. Manufacturer said they would report it to engineering. *ak
Also reported on the 2004 Ford Ranger
Airbag inflator rupture
Other engine problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other powertrain problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Other suspension problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 31 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 body or interior problem happen on the 2004 Ford Ranger?
Across 23 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other body or interior problem on the 2004 Ford Ranger?
31 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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