Best & Worst Ford Car Years (12 Models)

Select model ⬇︎

Bronco
Expedition
Explorer
F-350
F-450
Flex
Focus
Fusion
Mustang
Ranger
Taurus
Transit

If you’re thinking about buying a Ford, you probably want to know which years were standout performers and which ones had problems. We’ve done the homework to help guide you.

Let’s talk about how we got the information to make these recommendations.

We started by going through data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They keep detailed records of recalls, and a year with a lot of recalls can be a red flag. NHTSA also has a database of consumer complaints, which helps us identify the common issues people have faced with specific years.

J.D. Power is another source we leaned on. They do extensive reliability studies, scoring cars on things like build quality and long-term performance.

(Read more about the sources at the bottom of the page).

It’s a good snapshot of how a car might hold up over time, and that’s really valuable when you’re making a purchase.

We also checked out car reviews from websites like Edmunds.

These are people who drive and test a lot of cars, and they give insights into things like handling, comfort, and tech features. It’s practical information that can help you understand what to expect from a specific year.

And of course, we didn’t forget about specialist forums.

These are places where Ford owners share their experiences, the good and the bad. It’s useful because it gives you a feel for the issues that may not be big enough for a recall but could still be annoying. If a bunch of people are complaining about the same thing, it’s worth knowing.

By pulling all this information together, we can give you a balanced view of each Ford model by year. For example, if a certain year is getting high marks from both J.D. Power and Edmunds, that’s a really good sign.

But if the same year also has a lot of complaints filed with the NHTSA, then you might want to be cautious.

In short, the goal here is to arm you with the info you need to make a smart choice. Spending a little time on research now could save you from headaches later. We’ve analyzed the data, so you can make an informed decision about which Ford year and model is the best fit for you.

Go Back: Select car brand to see best/worst per model.