Pickup truck buyers rely on their vehicles not only for transportation but also for work and play, and being stuck at a dealership having a recalled issue repaired takes time away from all three of those duties. As a result, owners suffer a major headache when an automaker announces that there’s a problem with their truck which, more often than not, should’ve been avoided during production. However, recalls do happen and as this data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveals, some pickups are more susceptible than their competitors.
Since we’re only halfway through 2019, we’ll take a look at last year’s numbers first. These figures are available at NHTSA.org and you can search for your own vehicle’s recall history, no matter the make, model, or year, so long as it’s within the administration’s record-keeping parameters.
- 2018 Ford F-150: 9 recalls, 264 complaints
- 2018 Ram 1500: 8 recalls, 49 complaints
- 2018 Toyota Tundra: 4 recalls, 37 complaints
- 2018 Nissan Titan: 1 recall, 8 complaints
- 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500: 0 recalls, 46 complaints
Of all the major half-ton pickups sold in the United States last year, the 2018 Ford F-150 racked up the most recalls with nine in total, as well as 264 complaints issued to the NHTSA by owners—far more than the next truck in line, Ram’s 1500. While the Fiat Chrysler-built pickup had just one recall fewer than the Ford, it undercut the Blue Oval by a sizable margin in terms of complaints.
Foreign built pickups like the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan fell directly in the middle, the former having less than half the number of recalls when compared to Ford and Nissan, the latter, facing just one for a missing load capacity modification label.
Chevrolet’s Silverado 1500 was the only half-ton truck to avoid recalls for the 2018 model year, although it did give owners reason enough to submit 46 complaints.
Now, though, we look at 2019 model year figures which include information for new-generation trucks such as the Chevy Silverado and Ram 1500. Keep in mind that these numbers are up to date as of June 19.
- 2019 Ram 1500: 10 recalls, 115 complaints
- 2019 Toyota Tundra: 4 recalls, 6 complaints
- 2019 Ford F-150: 2 recalls, 10 complaints
- 2019 Chevrolet Silverado: 1 recall, 19 complaints
- 2019 Nissan Titan: 0 recalls, 1 complaint
Despite Nissan retaining a stellar track record for its newest Titan pickup, others such as Ram have been facing a much tougher year than the one before. The current-generation Ram 1500 has gotten off to a rocky start with 10 recalls for issues such as disabled airbags and safety features, a steering wheel that may detach from the steering column, and auxiliary battery terminals that are at risk of overheating.
The 2019 Toyota Tundra finds itself up one spot higher than its predecessor while the Ford F-150 is down two rungs. Chevy’s new Silverado did pick up one recall for a damaged passenger airbag module, though it affected just 154 vehicles.
While reliability shouldn’t be measured solely off recall and complaint counts, these figures give valuable insight to see which trucks are facing more issues in their current form. These numbers will continue to fluctuate as the year goes on and don’t necessarily give a definitive look at the reputation of each model, but you’re the consumer—take it as you will, maybe with a grain of salt.
h/t: TFLTruck