Reliable Auto DB

2020 Ford Ranger reliability

Is it reliable?

Owners have filed 127 complaints with NHTSA about the 2020 Ford Ranger over 7 years — 11 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most Ranger years here — under the median of the other years, which is 13. NHTSA has 7 recalls on file, including Engine block heater, Back-over prevention, software, and Labels.

2019 Ford Ranger XLT SuperCab FX4
Photo by Kevauto, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Complaints

127

Per year

11

Recalls

7

Years on the road

7

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Powertrain (48 of 127), then Engine (16) and Electrical system (11). Complaints that include an odometer have a median of 20,000 miles, and the middle half falls between 2,250 and 55,900 miles. Those filings include 6 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 3 that report an injury.

Next to 2019 and 2021

The 2019 Ranger has 266 complaints, 23 per year, and the 2021 has 114 complaints, 13 per year. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2019. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2021.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2020 Ford Ranger. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (7)

Recall equipment, electrical, engine block heater 2025-10-10 · NHTSA campaign 25V685000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Lincoln MKC, 2016-2023 Explorer, 2019-2020 Fusion, 2019-2024 Ranger, 2020-2022 Lincoln Corsair, Escape, 2021-2024 Bronco, Bronco Sport, and 2022-2024 Maverick vehicles. The engine block heater may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short circuit when the block heater is plugged in.
Remedy Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded blanking plug, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed December 3, 2025. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated September 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA4. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 15, 2025.
Vehicles affected 59,006
Recall back-over prevention, software 2025-06-27 · NHTSA campaign 25V442000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Transit Connect, 2019-2020 MKZ, MKX, Edge, Continental, F-150, Nautilus, Fusion, 2019-2023 Ranger, Mustang, 2020-2021 EcoSport, Expedition, Navigator, 2020-2022 Escape, F-250 SD, Corsair, 2020-2023 Aviator, Transit, 2020-2024 Explorer, 2021-2024 Bronco Sport, and 2022-2024 Maverick vehicles. A software error may cause the rearview camera to display a blank image, or the image may remain on the display after the backing event has ended.
Remedy Dealers will update the rearview camera software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 4, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S72.
Vehicles affected 200,237
Recall Labels 2023-05-26 · NHTSA campaign 23V379000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2023 Bronco, 2023 Super Duty F-250, and 2019-2023 Ranger vehicles. The Tire and Loading Information (TREAD) label states the incorrect load carrying capacity, which can result in an overloaded vehicle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Remedy Ford will mail a new TREAD label to install over the existing label, free of charge. Owners will also have the option to take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the new label installed, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 21, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23C18.
Vehicles affected 29,607
Recall seat belts, front, webbing 2021-10-15 · NHTSA campaign 21V811000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Ford Ranger Super Cab vehicles. The front passenger outboard seat belt may not have been assembled properly, allowing the seat belt to be misrouted. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 208, "Occupant Crash Protection" and 209, "Seat Belt Assemblies."
Remedy Ford will provide owners with instructions to perform a preliminary inspection of their front seat belts. Owners that detect an issue with the driver's seat belt, are unsure of the results, or do not want to perform an inspection, should not drive their vehicles and contact a Ford dealership. Dealers will inspect the front row outboard seat belts and replace them, if necessary, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on November 5, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed December 22, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21C25.
Vehicles affected 47,683
Recall seats, middle or rear assembly 2021-09-30 · NHTSA campaign 21V765000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Ranger Super Cab vehicles equipped with rear seats containing fixed head restraints. The fixed head restraints may interfere with proper installation of certain types of child seats. Additionally, the child seat may not attach properly to the lower-rear anchors. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage System."
Remedy Dealers will inspect the rear-lower child restraint anchorages for correct alignment and adjust as necessary. Separately, dealers will replace the non-removable head restraints with removable head restraints, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on November 5, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 17, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21C24.
Vehicles affected 37,625
Recall back-over prevention, sensing system, camera 2020-09-23 · NHTSA campaign 20V575000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020 Ford F-150, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, Explorer, Mustang, Transit, Expedition, Escape, Ranger and Edge, and Lincoln Nautilus and Corsair vehicles. Due to a poor electrical connection, the rearview camera may intermittently display a blank or distorted image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Remedy Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rearview camera, free of charge. The recall began November 17, 2020. Remedy became available on February 1, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 1, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20C19.
Vehicles affected 620,246
Recall powertrain, automatic transmission, gear position indicator 2020-04-03 · NHTSA campaign 20V197000
Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020 Ranger and F-150 vehicles equipped with 10-speed automatic transmissions and certain 2020 Expedition vehicles equipped with a "police" package. The transmission shift cable lock clip may not be fully seated, allowing the transmission to actually be in a different gear than the gear shift position selected by the driver.
Remedy Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and correct the shift cable locking clip installation, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 27, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S18.
Vehicles affected 55,158

NHTSA's count is every vehicle in that campaign. A campaign can cover other model years and other models.

Complaints by component (127 total)

Powertrain
48
Engine
16
Electrical system
11
Service brakes
9
Forward collision avoidance
7
Exterior lighting
6
Seat belts
6
Speed control
6
Back-over prevention
5
Structure
5
Suspension
5
Visibility
5
Visibility and wipers
4
Air bags
3
Engine and engine cooling
2
Fuel and propulsion system
2
Steering
2
Lane departure
1
Seats
1
Show 11 more Show less
Crash-flagged

6

Fire-flagged

1

Injury reports

3

Death reports

0

Of the 33 complaints that include an odometer reading, the median is 20,000 miles. The middle half fall between 2,250 and 55,900 miles.

Complaints filed per year

9202014202192022162023262024322025212026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "Left rear leaf spring broke at the axel. When left the house truck was acting funny. Crossed a RR track and the truck became eratic/hard to steer. Pulled into shop across the street. They inspected the truck and found…"
    Suspension · filed 2026-09-04
  • "While driving my 2020 Ford Ranger, the transmission has repeatedly exhibited unexpected and unintended gear changes, including sudden downshifts or gear changes without driver input, hesitation, and abrupt loss of power…"
    Powertrain · filed 2026-08-28
  • "1. Transmission is going out dealership never said a word about the 6 recalls on it one being transmission 2. Front seat belts are in backwards and the child safety hook in back seat has a recall on it that the 3 of the…"
    Powertrain, Seat belts, Forward collision avoidance · filed 2026-08-11
  • "I was traveling south on I-35 going up a long steep hill and my transmission started to hard shift and then I would lose power and when I would accelerate, I had no power it would just stall out so I merged to the right…"
    Powertrain · filed 2026-08-11
  • "Coolant intrusion defect that affects other 4 cyl ecoboost Ford engines occurred on this regularly serviced per Ford recommendations vehicle as well. Engine failure at highway speeds could cause a severe accident as the…"
    Engine · filed 2026-07-29

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2020 Ford Ranger Super Cab PU/EC 2WD Not rated Not rated Not rated 3 stars
2020 Ford Ranger Super Cab PU/EC 4WD Not rated Not rated Not rated 3 stars
2020 Ford Ranger Super Crew PU/CC 2WD 4 stars 4 stars 5 stars 3 stars
2020 Ford Ranger Super Crew PU/CC 4WD 4 stars 4 stars 5 stars 3 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim Engine Transmission Drive City Hwy Combined Annual fuel cost
Ranger two-wheel drive 2.3L, 4-cyl Automatic (10-speed) Rear-wheel drive 21 26 23 MPG $2800
Ranger two-wheel drive Incomplete 2.3L, 4-cyl Automatic (10-speed) Rear-wheel drive 19 18 18 MPG $3600
Ranger four-wheel drive 2.3L, 4-cyl Automatic (10-speed) Part-time four-wheel drive 20 24 22 MPG $2950

Specs and fitment

2019 US return (T6), 2019–2023
Body styles SuperCab pickup, SuperCrew pickup
Oil 2.3L EcoBoost, 5W-30 synthetic blend , 6.2 qt capacity
Tire size 255/70R16, 255/65R17, 265/65R17 or 265/60R18; LT265/65R17 with the off-road package
Towing capacity 7,500 lbs

Known issues for this generation

Ford's technical service bulletin 23-2078 covers a shudder or vibration when accelerating from a stop on 2019-2023 Rangers, traced to an excessive rear-axle pinion angle and corrected with a shim kit. Separately, early production also saw two rollaway-related recalls: safety recall 19S15 (NHTSA 19V-366) for loose or missing transmission shift-cable bracket fasteners on Rangers built in March 2019, and compliance recall 19C02 (NHTSA 19V-071) for misrouted shifter wiring that could keep the shift interlock from locking the transmission in Park.

Compare

Previous year 2019 Ford Ranger Next year 2021 Ford Ranger See every Ford Ranger model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2020 Ford Ranger reliable?

Owners have filed 127 complaints with NHTSA about the 2020 Ford Ranger over 7 years — 11 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most Ranger years here — under the median of the other years, which is 13. NHTSA has 7 recalls on file, including Engine block heater, Back-over prevention, software, and Labels.

What are common problems with a 2020 Ford Ranger?

The complaints owners file most often name Powertrain (48 of 127), then Engine (16) and Electrical system (11). Complaints that include an odometer have a median of 20,000 miles, and the middle half falls between 2,250 and 55,900 miles. Those filings include 6 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 3 that report an injury.

Is the 2020 Ford Ranger more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2019 Ranger has 266 complaints, 23 per year, and the 2021 has 114 complaints, 13 per year. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2019. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2021.

Has the 2020 Ford Ranger been recalled?

The 2020 Ford Ranger has 7 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2020 Ford Ranger?

Owners have filed 127 complaints about the 2020 Ford Ranger with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2020 Ford Ranger get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2020 Ford Ranger is 21 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What oil does a Ford Ranger take?

2019-2023 2.3L EcoBoost: 5W-30 synthetic blend (~6.2 qt). 2024+ listings commonly use 5W-30 for 2.3L/2.7L/3.0L EcoBoost (~6.0 qt).

Does recall 24V-770 cover the Ford Ranger?

NHTSA 24V-770 (Ford 24S64) covers certain 2024 Rangers (also certain 2024-2025 Broncos): a front upper control-arm ball-joint fastener may not be properly installed or torqued; dealers inspect and correct.

What generation years does the US Ford Ranger cover here?

T6 return (2019-2023) and the 2024+ T6 refresh. There is no US Ranger model year between 2012 and 2018 in this catalog.