NHTSA recalls, safety ratings, and consumer complaints for the 2020 Ford Ranger.
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| Frontal Crash | |
| Side Crash | |
| Rollover |
| Overall Rating | Not Rated |
| Frontal Crash | Not Rated |
| Side Crash | Not Rated |
| Rollover |
| Overall Rating | |
| Frontal Crash |
| Overall Rating | Not Rated |
| Frontal Crash | Not Rated |
| Side Crash | Not Rated |
| Rollover |
Component: SEATS:MID/REAR ASSEMBLY
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Ranger Super Cab vehicles equipped with rear seats containing fixed head restraints. The fixed head restraints may interfere with proper installation of certain types of child seats. Additionally, the child seat may not attach properly to the lower-rear anchors. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage System."
Consequence: An improperly attached child seat can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the rear-lower child restraint anchorages for correct alignment and adjust as necessary. Separately, dealers will replace the non-removable head restraints with removable head restraints, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on November 5, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 17, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21C24.
Component: SEAT BELTS:FRONT:WEBBING
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Ford Ranger Super Cab vehicles. The front passenger outboard seat belt may not have been assembled properly, allowing the seat belt to be misrouted. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 208, "Occupant Crash Protection" and 209, "Seat Belt Assemblies."
Consequence: A misrouted seat belt may not adequately restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: Ford will provide owners with instructions to perform a preliminary inspection of their front seat belts. Owners that detect an issue with the driver's seat belt, are unsure of the results, or do not want to perform an inspection, should not drive their vehicles and contact a Ford dealership. Dealers will inspect the front row outboard seat belts and replace them, if necessary, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on November 5, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed December 22, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21C25.
Back up camera intermittently fails to operate giving a squiggly picture or a blank black screen. I have seen many articles involving the same issues with Ford Broncos and where recalls have been issued for those vehicles. When will the NTSB be calling for Ford to recall other vehicles models having the same issues?
2020 Ford Ranger XL: Total failure of both rear leaf spring assemblies (detached from bushing). Discovered during routine maintenance at approximately 47K miles. Both rear leaf spring assemblies failed in the same location where spring meets the bushing at fwd spring attachment leaving the rear of the truck supported by the rear shock assemblies only. Technician assessment showed no damage to associated rear suspension components, minimal corrosion, and no sign of collision or impact causing failure - suspect latent manufacturing defect in original OEM part as OEM has since updated original part number. Local ford service center indicated that this is a known issue however no current recall or extended warranty covered by OEM. I am in possession of all failed parts. Happy to provide info or failed parts upon request for further analysis.
Truck shifts from 1st to 3rd, hard shifting in 4th through 10th gears.
Hit a tree head-on going 30+mph. Impact point on the vehicle was next to the airbag sensor. Air bags did not deploy
The 2020 Ford Ranger has 7 NHTSA recalls and 112 consumer complaints on file. It received an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5 stars in NHTSA crash testing. The high number of complaints suggests potential reliability concerns — review the complaint details above before purchasing. For the most detailed information about a specific vehicle, decode its VIN using our free decoder above.
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| Side Crash |
| Rollover |
Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020 Ford F-150, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, Explorer, Mustang, Transit, Expedition, Escape, Ranger and Edge, and Lincoln Nautilus and Corsair vehicles. Due to a poor electrical connection, the rearview camera may intermittently display a blank or distorted image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Consequence: Reduced rearward visibility can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rearview camera, free of charge. The recall began November 17, 2020. Remedy became available on February 1, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 1, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20C19.
Component: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL)
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020 Ranger and F-150 vehicles equipped with 10-speed automatic transmissions and certain 2020 Expedition vehicles equipped with a "police" package. The transmission shift cable lock clip may not be fully seated, allowing the transmission to actually be in a different gear than the gear shift position selected by the driver.
Consequence: If the transmission selection does not match the indicated gear selection, and the parking brake is not applied, unintended vehicle movement can occur, increasing the risk of injury or crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and correct the shift cable locking clip installation, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 27, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S18.
Component: EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2023 Bronco, 2023 Super Duty F-250, and 2019-2023 Ranger vehicles. The Tire and Loading Information (TREAD) label states the incorrect load carrying capacity, which can result in an overloaded vehicle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Consequence: An overloaded vehicle increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will mail a new TREAD label to install over the existing label, free of charge. Owners will also have the option to take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the new label installed, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 21, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23C18.
Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Transit Connect, 2019-2020 MKZ, MKX, Edge, Continental, F-150, Nautilus, Fusion, 2019-2023 Ranger, Mustang, 2020-2021 EcoSport, Expedition, Navigator, 2020-2022 Escape, F-250 SD, Corsair, 2020-2023 Aviator, Transit, 2020-2024 Explorer, 2021-2024 Bronco Sport, and 2022-2024 Maverick vehicles. A software error may cause the rearview camera to display a blank image, or the image may remain on the display after the backing event has ended.
Consequence: A rearview camera that displays a blank image can reduce the driver's view behind the vehicle. A rearview image that continues to be displayed after the vehicle is shifted out of reverse may distract the driver. Both of these situations can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will update the rearview camera software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 4, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S72.
Component: EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:ENGINE BLOCK HEATER
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Lincoln MKC, 2016-2023 Explorer, 2019-2020 Fusion, 2019-2024 Ranger, 2020-2022 Lincoln Corsair, Escape, 2021-2024 Bronco, Bronco Sport, and 2022-2024 Maverick vehicles. The engine block heater may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short circuit when the block heater is plugged in.
Consequence: An electrical short circuit can increase the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed December 3, 2025. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated September 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA4. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 15, 2025.
My 10 speed 10r80 transmission is failing and dangerous. Besides slipping bucking and delaying shifting it now revs up without moving. I've almost been hit more than 6 times. My ford dealer changed the fluid road tested and normal all that I'm complaining about is normal.
Purchased used in 2024 with 44,000 miles. Transmission issues began at 79,000 miles. Hard shifting, slipping and then lurching when it goes in gear. Diagnosed after transmission service ($600) as a factory defect in the 10 speed transmission. Ford has issued Service Bulletins defining and outlining the issue but has offered no assistance in rectifying and repairing. Since so many vehicles are affected there should be a recall. I understand that in Canada a class action lawsuit has been initiated.
I bought my 2020 Ford Ranger preowned with around 64k miles on it. After having owned it for about 6 months or so, I started to notice lots of problems with the transmission. After first noticing it, the problems persisted for a couple more months until I finally decided to address it. The problems were very characteristic of transmission slippage, and they got progressively worse week by week, which it what ultimately prompted me to address it. When accelerating and shifting through the lower gears (15-30 MPHs, approximately), the shift would be delayed and lag a couple seconds. This would often cause stalling in the acceleration, particularly when going from a stop to a start, such as through traffic lights. There were also very rough and aggressive shifts at higher gears when driving on the highway. It would feel like rough jolts that would rock the truck a little. Also transitioning the truck into reverse often caused serious jolts as the transmission shifted very aggressively. Eventually, I took my truck into an AMCO transmission shop for inspection. They confirmed that my transmission was damaged and needed replaced. This was at about 86k miles. I took the truck into a Ford dealership to get a second opinion and they also confirmed my transmission needed replaced. I went ahead and had the transmission replaced at that point. The replacement was done with the truck at 86k miles. The Ford dealership replaced the 10R80 transmission with a re-manufactured 10R80. It has now been about 8k miles and 9 months since the transmission was replaced, and the re-manufactured transmission is starting to experience similar problems. Mostly with a lag when shifting in lower gears and hard jolts when placing it in reverse. The problems are not as bad as the original transmission before I had it replaced, but some still remain. There were no warning lamps or messages with this problem. Ford's 10R80 transmission is notorious for failing and being a safety problem to the public.
Brought the vehicle to the dealer for standard 40,000 mile service. When it was raised on their lift, the rear end dropped out because both driver and passenger side leaf springs had broken at the mount bushings. The springs had been broken for some time, as there was significant rust at the broken points. The truck drove normally. This was only discovered once the truck was on a service lift. The weight of the truck was resting on the intact part of the springs, but may have completely disconnected if I had hit a large enough bump while the springs were broken. This would certainly have caused a loss of control, and likely resulted in a crash. The dealer confirmed that this was a manufacturer defect. Despite being past the warranty period, Ford agreed that this is a defect. They used the "Ford ESP" extended service plan to with the cost to perform the repair, though I did not have an extended service contract. I searched the internet, because this should not be possible on a vehicle with this age and mileage. I discovered many reports of similar occurrences on the 2019-2022 Rangers. [XXX] [XXX] I found similar reports on Reddit and other sites. This is dangerous and appears to be a common defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
When starting to accelerate, the automatic transmission shifts hart into second or third gear, and sometime has no power, like it is idling for 5 to 7 seconds before engaging. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed by Quirk Ford of Augusta, Maine who said I must have had a faulty transmission from the factory. The safety issue is hesitation from the occasional loss of power during the hard shift which could put one in danger of being rear ended. The were no warning indicators except the sudden jarring during hard shift. Other than the problem being diagnosed by the dealer, it has not been inspected. Hard shift first appeared around 75,000 miles. Dealer flushed and Changed fluid. Reappeared with loss of power during around 130,000 miles. Transmission being replaced 12/15/25 at $9200. Ford basically said it was my problem. I have had two ford rangers before that I drove for over 230;000 miles each without any transmission issues. Clearly the 10 speed transmission is flawed and needs a recall.
2020 Ford Ranger with transmission and engine (EGR cooler) issues resulting in hard shifting and surges makes it dangerous to drive. Happened on vehicle that was properly cared for and maintained. Issues present on truck that has less than 70k miles.
all of these issues: Shuddering at the point of acceleration Inability to reach desired speed Gear lockout Failure to start Shifter “lockout” or being “stuck in park” Hesitation from a stopped position Sluggish performance, including during towing “Check engine” light “Juddering,” which involves shaking of the vehicle during normal operation Loss of power or failure to engage
Rear view camera screen freezes, has distortion and is sometimes blank. This has been an issue for several months and I keep seeing articles regarding this problem and that Ford is recalling various vehicles for the same issue but have not been notified of a recall for my vehicle model and year.
I bought the 4x4 Ford Ranger specifically to be towed behind my motor home and followed the directions on how to set up the Flat-tow feature that allows the Ranger to be towed behind my motorhome. I had traveled to a number of Good Same Rallys without any trouble with the Ranger. I use it also as my main vehicle at home to go to store, church etc. On my last trip to Branson, MO while coming home there was a noise that sounded like my brakes on the Ranger were locked up. I took my foot off the gas pedal and it stopped, I proceeded on home when it did this several times. Each time it would stop. I got home disconnected the Ranger and it started fine, I drove it almost 200 miles when I began to notice a jerking from the transmission and took it to my dealer. They proceeded to check it out and told me that the transmission and universal were bad and needed to be replaced at a 17k price. According to the computer readout my battery had failed 2 times. HOW CAN A BATTERY FAIL TWO TIME??? Apparently this caused my flat tow in nuetral tow to go into normal range and at that time made my truck act like it was in normal range, towing a dead truck. THIS COULD HAVE CAUSED ME TO HAVE A BAD ACCIDENT, END UP IN A DITCH. The shop checked and the batter was low but ok. The computer on board did this to my truck and lied on the readout. Three (3) other Rangers had this happen to them and one blew up. I am sure other Ranger owners have had this happen to them too. This can cause a serious accident. I have filed a complaint to our attorney General in my state.
My transmission start to skip about two years ago, l took to Ford Dealership, they check the code, everything was good, we check the 3 months ago, everything okay, but it still kept skipping, so l change the fluid, and filter, still skips, for wanted over $600.00 to see what the problem, said l had no warranty, I’m a 71 year old disabled Senior on a fixed income, , didn’t have the money, l don’t know what to do
Backup camera isn't working a recall on some 2020 rangers has been issued but not mine. Parking collision warning isn't as loud as it used to be. Took it t ford garage but they wanted to charge me to do diagnostics. Warning onbackup camera call your service department
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