Open safety recalls, the components owners report failing most often, crash-test results and running costs for the 2008 Ford Ranger — assembled from NHTSA and EPA records.
Everything on this page applies to the model as a whole. Run its 17-character VIN to decode that exact car — its engine, trim, assembly plant and factory equipment — alongside these records. Free, no account.
Run a VIN →Recalls and complaints are filed against a specific model year, so figures differ from one year to the next even within a single generation. See every Ford Ranger year.
NHTSA has issued a "do not drive" warning covering 2 recalls on this make, model and year. Repairs are free at any franchised dealer.
Recalls are issued per model. Confirm whether this specific car has already been repaired using its VIN — free, at any franchised dealer or on nhtsa.gov/recalls.
NHTSA lists 6 recalls for this make/model/year. Recalls apply to the model, so some may already be fixed on this specific car — check with a dealer using the VIN.
Issue: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012 Ford Fusion and Mustang and Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain 2009 Ford Ranger, Edge, Fusion and Mustang, Lincoln MKX, MKZ and Zephyr and Mercury Milan vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" or "Zone B" above, Ford is recalling certain 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and MKZ, 2005-2008 Ford Mustang and 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Interim letters informing owners of the recall and that parts are not yet available began mailing March 1, 2017. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.
Campaign 17V024000
Issue: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Ford Ranger vehicles, 2006-2011 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX vehicles, 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles, and 2005-2011 Ford Mustang vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Ford is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 Ford Ranger, Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles, 2006-2008 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ vehicles, 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles and 2005-2008 Ford Mustang vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Any vehicle not included in "Zone A", or "Zone B" is not included in the safety recall. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. Ford mailed interim letters informing owners that parts are not yet available on July 15, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S01.
Campaign 16V384000
Issue: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Ranger, 2006-2012 Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKZ, 2006-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2010 Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX vehicles. The driver's side air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver-side airbag inflator or module with an alternate one, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 9, 2021 for the passenger side, and November 14, 2022 for the driver side. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S12.
Campaign 21V158000
Issue: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2005-2014 Mustang, 2004-2011 Ranger, 2009-2011 Mercury Milan, 2006 Ford GT, 2008-2012 Fusion, 2007-2010 Edge and Lincoln MKX, and 2009-2010 Lincoln MKZ vehicles. These vehicles may be equipped with a driver or passenger frontal air bag inflator used as a replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the frontal air bag, an inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the driver and passenger air bag module, and replace either the module or the inflator, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 17, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.
Campaign 21V081000
Issue: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain air bag inflator and/or module replacement service parts that may have been used as part of a collision repair. The parts include certain driver-side air bag inflators and/or modules, designed to fit 2005-2014 Ford Mustang and Mustang GT500. It also includes certain passenger-side air bag inflators and/or modules designed to fit 2005-2014 Ford Mustang, 2010-2012 Lincoln MKZ, 2010-2012 Ford Fusion, 2010-2011 Mercury Milan, 2007-2011 Ford Ranger, and 2007-2010 Lincoln MKX vehicles. Please see Ford's recall report for the specific part numbers. These parts may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the frontal air bag, an inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy: Ford will notify dealers that purchased the affected parts, and dealers will provide replacement parts to purchasers, free of charge. The recall began March 18, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S05.
Campaign 21E013000
Issue: FORD IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011 RANGER TRUCKS BUILT FROM JANUARY 25, 2011, THROUGH APRIL 25, 2011 AT THE TWIN CITIES ASSEMBLY PLANT, AND SERVICE PARTS DISTRIBUTED TO DEALERS FOR CERTAIN 2004 THROUGH 2011 MODEL YEAR RANGER TRUCKS, 2002 THROUGH 2005 MODEL YEAR EXCURSION VEHICLES, AND 2002 THROUGH 2007 MODEL YEAR F-250, F-350, F-450, AND F-550 TRUCKS FOR FAILING TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, "LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT." THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH WAS SHIPPED WITH A SUBCOMPONENT (SLIDER) THAT MAY EXPERIENCE DEFORMATION. A MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH WITH A DEFORMED SLIDER MAY MALFUNCTION CAUSING THE TURN SIGNAL, TAIL LIGHTS, HAZARD WARNING SIGNAL FLASHERS AND/OR BRAKE LIGHTS NOT TO ACTIVATE.
Risk: NON-FUNCTIONING LIGHTS COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE SWITCHES FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 15, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FORD MOTOR COMPANY CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP CENTER AT 1-866-436-7332.
Campaign 11V352000
No EPA fuel-economy match for this model (naming may differ or it predates EPA records).
1 open NHTSA investigation into this model. Investigations come before recalls, so these are potential defects not yet covered by one.
Rated configuration: 2008 Ford Ranger Supercab
The parts named most often across 324 owner complaintsfiled with NHTSA for this make, model and year — the closest free answer to “what is likely to go wrong?”
7 crashes · 7 injured · 1 death
1 crash · 1 injured
Complaints are self-reported and skew toward problems people find alarming, so treat this as where to look, not a defect rate.
1 complaint-reported fatality on this model.
Car accident on 6/21/2023 - Richardson Texas Air bags never deployed. The truck hit a tree head on . The air bags were maintainced at the Ford dealership a couple of years ago when we got the recall notice Passanger air bag never deployed
Several attempts have been made to attain an appointment to remedy this recall with a local dealership (Long-Lewis) in Corinth, MS. As of today, I have made six attempts to talk with service about this recall, no response has yet been offered. My concern is that I have been driving this vehicle since I purchased new in February 2008 with a potential grenade imitating an air bag and Ford Motor company and or their dealerships do not seem to take this concern seriously. Why is the Federal government (NHSTA) so passive about safety?
Recently purchased this truck and apparetly the passeenger air bag was missing or had previosly failed by imploding. I do not now the history of vehicle. I Carried the truck to Rockwall Ford in Rockwall, Texas to have the air bag recall taken care off. After being there for a week the service manager called me and said Ford would not pay for this since passenger air bag was missing. Ford said I would need to pay for the service myself. I have a major problem with Ford now because they are obligated by law to repace the air bags regardless any of prior events. Priors are totally irrevelant and meaningless. End result I want Ford Motor Company to replace the 2 air bags a no cost to me the consumer. I will continue to pursue the above until there is a satisfactory resolution Please advise Sincerely Larry Kinsey Ph. 214 650 3301 kinseydallas@gmail.com 3951 Fm 550 Royse City, Tex. 75189 Rockwall Ford ph. 972-290-2200 or 972-290-2257
The rear frame is rotted I am a retired ASA certified in 5 categories Mechanic and I have my ranger apart now but I need new rear frame where the spring hangers rotted out and the bracket that runs the top of the gas tank is rotted out that holds the 2 frame rails is rotted out. THESE PIECES CANNOT BE WELDED. Needs a new frame.
This recall has been unresolved for over 2 years.
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that after lending the vehicle to a neighbor, the neighbor informed the contact that the vehicle was making an abnormal noise. Upon inspection, the contact became aware that the rear spring hangers had detached. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. Invalid VIN.
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2008 Ford Ranger. The contact received a notification for NHTSA campaign number: 21V158000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. Several dealers including AutoNation Ford Littleton (8252 S Broadway, Littleton, CO 80122), Schomp Ford (150 S Havana St, Aurora, CO 80012), O'Meara Ford (400 W 104th Ave, Northglenn, CO 80234), Larry H. Miller Ford Lakewood (11595 W 6th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215) and Phil Long Ford (1114 Motor City Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80905) were contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.
Takata Recall. The contact owns a 2008 Ford Ranger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V158000 (Air Bags) however, the part to the recall was unavailable. A dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
WE ARE STILL GETTING RECALL NOTICES EVEN THOUGH THE AIRBAGS HAVE BEEN REPAIRED. WE CONTACTED FORD AND THEY SAID THEY HAVE RECORD OF THE REPAIR BEING COMPLETED BUT WE NEED TO CONTACT DMV TO GET IT RECORDED.
FRONT PASSENGER SEAT BELT TEARING IN HALF OVER PAST 2 YEARS
REAR END OF TRUCK IS ROTTING AWAY SPARE TIRE HOLDER BROKE WHILE DRIVING SPARE WAS HANGING DOWN HAD TO BE REMOVED LUCKILY IT STAYED ATTACHED TO THE TRUCK WITH THE CABLE AND DIDN'T HIT ANY VEHICLE'S THE BED IS EXTREMELY RUSTED IF I GET IN THE BACK OF THE BED IT CRACKS AND FEELS LIKE YOUR GOING TO FALL THROUGH BED IS BECOMING LOOSE AND LEANING TO ONE SIDE. ITS A 12 YEAR OLD VEHICLE SO I EXPECT SOME PROBLEMS BUT NOT THIS EXTENSIVE I FEEL LIKE ITS UNSAFE TO DRIVE WITHOUT A NEW BED ON IT
FRAME HAS COMPLETELY RUSTED OUT AND IS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE.
Showing 12 of 324 complaints.