Pickup truck — what actually breaks

2015–2020 · 11 models · 41 engines · 30,274 federal complaints

Every figure below is computed from federal complaint records decoded to the exact engine, aggregated across the whole segment. Where this segment differs from the all-vehicle average, it says so — where it doesn't, no claim is made.

What complaints in this segment are about

Share of component mentions across all pickup trucks in the database, with the all-vehicle average below it for comparison.

This segment

All vehicles

Transmission & drivetrainEngineBrakesElectricalSteeringBody & structureFuel systemEverything else

Brakes complaints run 2.3× their all-vehicle share in this segment.

Steering complaints run 1.8× their all-vehicle share in this segment.

How often those complaints involve a fire, crash or injury

Share of this segment's complaints. The vertical mark is the all-vehicle average — these shares can be compared because sales volume cancels out of a within-group ratio.

Fire1.3%

Crash3.5%

Injury1.9%

all vehicles — Fire 1.2% · Crash 4.1% · Injury 2.6%

The engines with the biggest complaint records

Largest complaint samples in the segment — not a worst-list: complaint totals track sales volume, not failure rate. Each links to the full engine-level breakdown.

Ram 1500 — 5.7L V84,155 complaintsSteering 18% · Electrical 15%

Ford F-150 — GTDI · 3.5L V63,454 complaintsTransmission & drivetrain 21% · Engine 19%

Ram 2500 — 6.7L I62,766 complaintsBrakes 44% · Electrical 11%

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 — L83 · 5.3L V82,654 complaintsBrakes 24% · Transmission & drivetrain 15%

Ford F-150 — 5.0L V82,062 complaintsTransmission & drivetrain 31% · Engine 15%

Ford F-150 — 2.7L V61,567 complaintsTransmission & drivetrain 21% · Engine 14%

Ram 1500 — 3.0L V61,544 complaintsEngine 26% · Fuel system 11%

GMC Sierra 1500 — L83 · 5.3L V81,139 complaintsBrakes 23% · Transmission & drivetrain 17%

Engines that break differently from their class

Across this segment, complaints lead with Brakes. These engines don't follow that pattern — their complaint mix points somewhere else, which is worth knowing before buying one.

GMC Canyon — LFX · 3.6L V6Steering leads at 58%

Chevrolet Colorado — LFX · 3.6L V6Steering leads at 57%

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 — L87 · 6.2L V8Engine leads at 47%

GMC Sierra 1500 — L87 · 6.2L V8Engine leads at 47%

Chevrolet Colorado — LG2 · 3.6L V6Transmission & drivetrain leads at 39%

Ford F-150 — 5.0L V8Transmission & drivetrain leads at 31%

Severity outliers in this segment

Engines whose Fire share sits at least twice the all-vehicle average, by the conservative bound of a 95% confidence interval. A share of complaints, not of cars on the road.

Ram 1500 — 3.0L V6Fire ≥ 5.3%

The recalls that matter in this segment

Recalls where NHTSA told owners to stop driving or park outside. Model-level, manufacturer-confirmed. Recall repairs are always free, whatever the car's age.

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 — Suspension › Front › Control Arm (stop driving, 2016–2017) 16V256000
GMC Sierra 1500 — Suspension › Front › Control Arm (stop driving, 2016–2016) 16V256000

All the pickup trucks we cover

Ford F-1507,344 Ram 15006,316 Chevrolet Silverado 15004,833 Ram 25003,929 GMC Sierra 15002,524 Chevrolet Colorado1,753 Toyota Tacoma1,103 Honda Ridgeline873 GMC Canyon692 Jeep Gladiator475 Toyota Tundra432

Method and limits

Complaints: NHTSA public complaint database, model years 2015–2020, each decoded to its exact engine through the partial VIN it carries.
Do not compare complaint totals between engines or models — totals track sales. Only within-group shares (component mix, severity rates) are comparable, because volume cancels out.
Claims on this page only appear when they clear preset thresholds (deviation ≥1.25×, samples ≥500 mentions or ≥80 complaints). Absence of a claim means the data didn't support one, not that we didn't look.