This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I allowed my car to warm up. It was approximately 28 degrees outside. I began to drive my car. I engaged the rear defroster. Within 60 seconds I heard a loud bang, similar to a gun shot. Along with a smell of smoke. Then glass went flying towards the front of vehicle. After looking around I noticed the rear window was shattered. The rear window consists of three pieces of glass. Only the passenger (far right side) was shattered. Luckily, there was no people sitting in the back seat at the time. Took it to the Ford dealership, they said the Ford company has not addressed the issue. I was told numerous F150's have had similar problems. Ford refuses to cover repairs.
While driving to work last Friday morning, my rear glass exploded from what looks like a faulty defroster. The electrical wiring was charred and looked melted. I thought that my vehicle had been struck by something. Ford refuses to acknowledge that there seems to be a problem with this part. I'm just glad that my children were not in the backseat area when this occurred.
Driving home from work the other day, about 5 minutes after I left the parking lot I was driving on a side road and heard a loud thump or bang like something fell on the roof. However I was on an open road with nothing overhead or nearby. In the summer of 2012 my wife reported similar circumstances one night while she was on a trip, and she later discovered the right rear window had shattered (we had it replaced at an auto glass shop without reporting the problem). When I looked in the rearview mirror, I could see the same thing had happened; the passenger-side section of the rear glass was completely shattered (but remained in the frame). There was no discernible origin; very even cracking throughout all the pane of glass. The rear window defroster was engaged at the time. I have duct tape holding the glass in place and a dealer appointment next Tuesday morning.
The contact owns a 2010 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, he heard a loud sound coming from the rear seat. The contact soon realized that the rear window had exploded without any warnings. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine what caused the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 41,900. Updated 3/14/14 the consumer stated the driver's side section of the 3 section rear window exploded into hundreds, if not more pieces. Updated 04/01/14
Driving my 2010 F-150 pickup down the street doing 35 mph with the rear window defroster on and after about 5 minutes, pow! the passenger side of the 3-piece window shattered after the loud explosion. After speaking with our local glass repair shop, he stated that he had already replaced 4 of these specific rear windows during the month of January. Seems to be a pattern going on here. There needs to be a recall on these windows!
- Brooklyn, MI, USA
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I was driving on a major state route on my way to work and turned on the rear defroster. I smelled something hot and then a loud popping noise. When I looked in my rear view mirror the rear window had shattered. Contacted Ford dealer and they said the vehicle was out of warranty 3 months and there was nothing they could do. I asked the dealership to contact Ford to see if there were similar instances of this happening. They did not but gave me the phone number for the Ford complaint office. I researched online and it seems that this has happened multiple times with this model of truck. Because the highway I drive is a major truck route it could have been very dangerous not being able to see out the rear window.
The contact owns a 2010 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the rear passenger's side window became shattered. The contact took the vehicle to an auto glass specialist where it was advised that the entire rear window needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 32,000.
The contact owns a 2010 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph over train tracks, the rear window shattered. The contact took the vehicle to a auto glass shop to have the rear window replaced. The contact filed a complaint with the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 33,000.
I started my truck in the driveway to warm it up. When it reached operating temperature, I turned on the rear window defroster before pulling out. Still in the driveway, after 20 seconds I heard an extremely loud 100+ db pop, which was the passenger-side back glass panel shattering. The temperature outside was 32 deg F (0 deg C) with some frozen precipitation on the upper surface of the truck. There are 27 complaints on the NHTSA site for the 2010 F150 and I found more than 50 additional cases on internet bulletin boards.
While driving home from work on 1/15/14, I decided to use my rear window defrost due to the temperature (42 degrees) and the build up of condensation. I turned it on for about 10 minutes until the glass was clear. It took me approximately 30 minutes to drive home where I parked my truck inside my garage. I left about 1 hour later and while looking in my rear view mirror I noticed the sliding window shattered on the passenger side. After returning home I contacted safelite and scheduled to have it replaced through my insurance company. When the repairman came out he realized he had the wrong replacement and was going to order it through Ford. He also advised me the window damage started at the connection point of the defrost. After further investigation on-line I realized I am not the only one with this problem. There are many F-150 owners that had the same thing happen to them with some being the glass actually exploded and some with arcing or fire. Most of the issues were on 2010 F-150's with some newer models as well and all were on the passenger side slider window. Most of the cases I read about on-line were paid out by the vehicle owners and insurance agencies. There were some cases were Ford paid the bill. I feel this should definitely be looked into on the safety aspect alone and Ford should be held accountable.
Started the car in the morning. Turned on the rear defroster. Began to shovel the driveway and heard a loud pop from the truck. Didn't notice anything until I got in to back up and saw the rear passenger window gad shattered. Ford dealer was very familiar with the "window" problem, as they described it. Said that because the vehicle was past 50,000 miles that it was no longer under warranty. I rarely use the rear defroster. The dealer said I should take it to the local glass specialist to have it replaced. They never mentioned that it may be an electrical problem. It seems to me that a known repetitive problem should be paid for by Ford. If it is an electrical problem, I may be replacing my window more than once.
I was leaving from work. I put my rear defroster on my rear sliding window. I heard a loud pop. I looked at the rear window when I arrived home. The passenger side rear sliding window was spider cracked all over. I can't believe there is no recall on this yet. Its pretty sad when you buy a fully loaded truck that costs over fifty grand, but you cant use the rear defrost because they malfunction. It's pretty obvious this is a problem...just do a search on the internet.
It was frosty out and I turned on the rear defrost. A few blocks down the road, I heard a pop and my back window broke. I have the electronic sliding rear window.
Turned on rear defroster of power sliding rear window, right side passenger section cracked into pieces. No there was no hair line crack no impact to this window. Looked at the lower heat strip in the bottom left side of this panel and sure enough there are burn marks. Now the back defroster does not work at all. Did Ford stand behind their product. Absolutely not !! this is my 2nd Ford truck and as soon as I get rid of this one we will being going GM. Thank goodness this is shatter proof glass and was not blown out because my daughter was in her car seat right under this.
I got in the truck this morning and left the house, turned on rear defroster, and about 3 minutes later I heard a loud "pop"! I stopped and looked around but didn't find any since it was still dark out but once the sun came out I saw my rear passenger window, right above my daughter's child seat was shattered. Luckily she was not in there. I have spoke with dealership and they have denied any knowledge of this happening, but a simple search here and on the Ford forums show plenty of consumers having this problem. This should be a recall!
The contact owns a 2010 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph with the rear defroster activated, he noticed smoke coming from the rear passenger's side window. After coming to a stop and inspecting the vehicle, he noticed there was a small hole burned through the window. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The technician stated that the power window would have to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 42,000.
I had my truck parked outside during a heavy snowfall day at work. I went out and started it to let it warm up and turned on the rear defrost. When I got in to leave I noticed my passenger side rear window was shattered. I had no idea what had happened, not in an area where vandalism is possible. After reading the online posts about others with this problem I realized this is exactly what happened.
2010 Ford F-150. Outside temperature approximately 28 degrees. Started vehicle and turned on rear window defroster. Drove about 1 mile and was waiting alone stopped at a light. Heard very loud bang noise consistent to a crash or muffled small caliber bullet being fired. Stepped out of my vehicle to confirm I was alone on road and wasn't in an accident. (I was completely alone at 6am with no other cars in site). I noticed the right (passenger) side rear window had spider webbed and completed shattered. Rear window is 3 panes, right middle, left. Right side window that shattered was extremely hot to the touch compared to middle and left (driver) side. Contacting Ford as I believe this to be a manufactures defect as it has happened to many 2010 F150S with tri rear windows.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lake Zurich, IL, USA