Problems · by component
2011 Ford F-150 vehicle speed control problems
203 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2011 Ford F-150 cite vehicle speed control, 9% of all 2,137 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
203
9% of all complaints
Crashes
10
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
6
Reported by owners
What owners say about the vehicle speed control
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“When driving on the interstate with the normal flow of traffic at 55mph, the vehicle abruptly downshifted from 6th gear to 1st gear causing the the vehicle to lock up an nearly caused an accident. This was followed by a a mechanic warning light and the speedometer to lock out and no longer work. Once pulled over, the vehicle was powered down. When the vehicle was turned back on operation returned in a limp state.”
“While driving at about 50 MPH truck suddenly down shifted to 1st gear locked up rear wheels and sent engine into a roar. Instrument panel not showing speed or any information. Had transmission shop trouble shoot and determined frame rail failure. replaced frame rail and serviced.”
“At highway speeds speedometer started occasionally dropping to zero while actually going 55-65 mph. Then it became quite frequent AND the truck started spontaneous downshifting causing the rear wheels to break loose and the rear of truck to fishtail. It was terrifying.”
“2011 F-150 super crew Laredo is sifting gears down by its self at high spends causing immediate car speedometer cluster going to zero and not be able to accelerate. There was a customer satisfaction program 19N01 it was 10 yr 150,0000 miles”
“Transmission downshifted to 1st gear causing the rear wheel to lock momentarily while driving 40mph on the highway and then shifted back to 5th gear. Transmission will occasionally stay on 3rd or 5th gear when at a complete stop. Dealership refuses to remedy recall issue for my truck. I have complained multiple times.”
“While operating vehicle at highway speeds the speedometer suddenly drops to zero and the transmission downshifts to first gear without warning. Apparently a failure of the transmission speed sensor. (?) A driver unaware of this issue that continues to drive results in excessive heat and pressure developing in the differential..A recall has been issued by NHTSA but Ford and the local dealer refused to address the problem because my VIN was not included in the recall.”
Showing 6 of 203 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.