Pickup truck buyers who financed a new model three years ago are now sitting at a painful intersection: they still owe money on vehicles that have racked up multiple safety recalls, federal investigations, and below-average dependability scores. Ford alone has recalled 1.4 million F-150 trucks over a gearshift defect, issued a separate recall covering more than 355,000 pickups for instrument display failures, and faces a federal probe into unintended downshifts. GM has added to the pattern with recalls of its large pickups and SUVs over rear-wheel lockup risks. For owners of these trucks, the three-year ownership mark has become the point where repair bills, safety anxiety, and regret converge.
Why three-year-old truck defects are hitting owners hardest right now
The timing of these problems is not random. J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study specifically measures problems reported by owners of three-year-old vehicles, making it the industry’s clearest snapshot of how trucks hold up once warranties thin out and early defects surface at scale. Trucks that entered service during the 2021 and 2022 model years are now the ones being rated, and those same model years overlap almost perfectly with the recall campaigns that Ford and GM have disclosed.
The hypothesis that trucks with the most federal investigations during their first three years would also post the steepest drops in dependability ratings finds strong circumstantial support in the public record. Ford’s F-150, for example, has been the subject of at least three distinct recall or investigation actions covering 2021 through 2023 model years. One recall alone affected 1.4 million pickups because a gearshift problem could allow the transmission to shift out of park without the driver’s input. A separate action covered more than 355,000 trucks with instrument display failures, meaning drivers could lose visibility of speed, fuel level, and warning lights while driving. On top of those recalls, NHTSA opened an investigation into complaints that certain Ford pickups can downshift without warning, raising crash risk.
Each of these actions lands squarely in the ownership window that defines buyer regret. Most truck loans stretch five to seven years. An owner who bought a 2021 F-150 is likely still making payments while also dealing with dealer visits for recall repairs, and the psychological toll of driving a vehicle under active federal safety scrutiny compounds the financial strain.
Recall patterns across Ford and GM pickups since 2021
Ford’s recall activity on the F-150 extends beyond transmission and dashboard problems. The company issued recall 23S65 for 2021 through 2023 F-150 trucks equipped with the Trailer Tow Max Duty package and a 9.75-inch heavy-duty axle in a three-quarter-float design. The defect involves rear-axle hub bolts that can break, potentially causing a loss of drive torque. For owners who bought the heavier-duty towing package specifically because they needed to haul trailers, discovering that the axle hardware itself is suspect strikes at the core reason they chose the truck.
GM’s truck and SUV lineup has faced its own cluster of safety actions during the same period. The automaker recalled large pickups and SUVs because rear wheels can lock up during driving, a condition that increases crash risk. Separately, GM full-sized SUVs powered by the 6.2-liter V8 were recalled after reports of potential engine failure tied to connecting rod and crankshaft defects. While that recall targeted SUVs rather than pickups, the 6.2-liter V8 is shared across GM’s truck platform, and the engine-failure reports have fueled broader anxiety among owners of GM’s full-size truck family.
The volume and variety of these defects create a compounding effect. A single recall can be an inconvenience. Three or four overlapping actions on the same nameplate within three years suggest a deeper quality-control problem that erodes owner confidence and resale value simultaneously.
Gaps in the data and what truck buyers can actually see
Despite the intensity of recent recall activity, the information landscape for shoppers is surprisingly fragmented. J.D. Power’s dependability scores offer a standardized way to compare problem rates, but they do not list individual recalls or investigations by nameplate. Federal safety data, meanwhile, is scattered across multiple databases. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains a searchable portal for open recalls, investigations, and complaints, but it requires buyers to search by vehicle identification number or filter through technical bulletins that can be difficult to interpret.
That creates a blind spot for consumers trying to connect the dots between glossy reliability rankings and the real-world experience of owning a heavily recalled truck. A model can post a middling dependability score without clearly signaling that it has been the subject of multiple high-profile safety campaigns. Conversely, a truck with one large but quickly resolved recall may be lumped in with chronically troubled nameplates.
Another gap is time lag. Dependability studies look at vehicles after three years in service, but recalls and investigations can continue for a decade or more. A 2021 pickup that looks acceptable in the latest rankings may accumulate new defects as it ages, especially if underlying engineering issues were not fully addressed in early fixes. Owners who assume that the three-year snapshot tells the whole story may underestimate their long-term exposure to safety repairs and depreciation.
How recalls intersect with loans, warranties, and resale value
The three-year mark is also pivotal in the life of a truck loan. Many buyers put little or no money down, which means they remain “upside down” – owing more than the vehicle is worth – well into the fourth or fifth year of payments. When a truck is hit with multiple recalls during this period, owners face a dilemma: they can trade out and roll negative equity into a new loan, or they can stay put in a vehicle that feels increasingly compromised.
Factory warranties soften the blow only partially. Safety recall repairs are performed at no cost, but the time spent scheduling appointments, arranging transportation, and returning for follow-up work adds up. When defects affect core systems such as transmissions, axles, or engines, owners may worry about long-term durability even after the official fix is installed. That perceived risk shows up in used-truck pricing, where heavily recalled model years can command lower values than adjacent years with cleaner records.
Dealers, for their part, must balance disclosure obligations with the need to move inventory. A truck with a completed recall technically meets safety requirements, yet shoppers who research its history may balk at paying top dollar. This tension helps explain why some owners feel trapped: the market has quietly priced in the risk, but loan balances have not.
What current and future truck owners can do
For current owners of 2021–2023 Ford and GM trucks, the most immediate step is to confirm that all recall work has been completed and to monitor for new actions. That means checking official databases regularly, not relying solely on mailed notices that can be delayed or overlooked. Keeping detailed service records and documenting any recurring problems can also strengthen a case for goodwill repairs or buyback discussions if defects persist.
Shoppers considering a used truck from these model years should treat recall and investigation history as a core part of due diligence, alongside mileage and accident reports. That includes asking dealers for printouts of completed recall campaigns, searching federal safety databases, and comparing dependability scores across rival brands and model years. In some cases, choosing a slightly older or newer truck with a cleaner safety record may be a better bet than chasing the newest design or the highest trim level.
Ultimately, the convergence of recalls, investigations, and dependability scores on three-year-old pickups underscores a broader shift in how truck ownership risk is distributed. Instead of defects emerging early and being resolved under warranty, many of the most serious problems are surfacing just as buyers hit the midpoint of long loans and begin thinking about resale. Until manufacturers demonstrate more consistent quality on their highest-volume trucks, owners of these heavily scrutinized model years will continue to shoulder the consequences in the form of time, stress, and diminished equity.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
