Check a VIN

2020 Ford F-150: sudden unintended acceleration

7 of the 746 complaints about the 2020 Ford F-150 describe sudden unintended acceleration.

owner complaints
7
of this car's complaints
1%
recalls
0
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

Sudden unintended acceleration by model year

What owners say

Filed Apr 21, 2026 · Transmission · TX

When starting the vehicle, while the vehicle was in park, it acted like the vehicle was in drive and surged forward. This is unsafe and needs to be addressed by Ford.

Filed Sep 29, 2025 · Transmission · VA

Component/System Failure: The 10-speed automatic transmission failed prematurely at only 75,000 miles. The transmission is still in the vehicle and available for inspection upon request. The symptoms include harsh shifting between gears, particularly into lower gears, followed by significant lag and then abrupt jumping/engagement. This is consistent with numerous other complaints filed regarding the 10-speed transmission in this model year. Safety Risk: The unpredictable transmission behavior created dangerous driving conditions. The harsh shifting and lag followed by sudden acceleration made it impossible to safely merge into traffic, navigate intersections, or maintain consistent speed on highways. The erratic gear engagement put myself, my passengers, and other drivers at risk as the vehicle's response became completely unreliable. The truck is currently unsafe to drive. Professional Confirmation: Yes, the problem has been confirmed by Aamco Transmission on Sept 17, 2025. They diagnosed it as transmission failure requiring complete replacement. Manufacturer/Other Inspection: No inspection by Ford has occurred to date. Warning Indicators: No warning lights, check engine lights, or dashboard messages appeared prior to or during the failure. The only symptoms were the physical driving symptoms described above—harsh shifting, significant lag, and abrupt gear engagement—which began approximately gradually over the past month and progressively worsened until the vehicle became unsafe to operate.

Filed Jan 16, 2025 · Body, Engine · 81,557 miles · FL

The contact called for her partner who owned a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the dashboard had warped near the passenger side's glove compartment when purchased. The dealer had been informed of the failure and informed the owner that the dashboard needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped and idling at a traffic light, the vehicle lunged forward causing the contact to aggressively depress the brake pedal, causing the vehicle to jerk abnormally. The contact stated that the engine was revving abnormally while stopped at a traffic light. Additionally, while shifting into reverse or drive, there was an abnormal clicking sound coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure had occurred approximately 5 times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and a computer reset was performed. The contact was unaware of the diagnostic results, or the repairs performed on the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the steering wheel intermittently loosened, there was oil leaking underneath the vehicle, and there was an abnormal burning oil odor coming from the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 81,557.

Filed Jul 18, 2023 · Transmission · NC · crash

The F150 was in a Park position while running in our driveway and lunged forward hitting our 2022 Toyota Highlander causing over $11,000 in damage on bother vehicles. ($1,428.69 Truck/ $9,000 estimate for Highlander). The vehicle was taken to Mooresville Ford on June 21, 2023 (earliest appointment available for this issue) to evaluate and repaired the transmission and transaxle. (Currently a class-action lawsuit was filed (Orndorff, et al. V Ford Motor Company concerning this same issue). We believe either this malfunction caused the F150 to unexpectedly lunge forward or another malfunction caused the F150 to lunge forward. We called Ford Headquarters and was told to file a claim with our insurance company. Very Unresponsive! We recently discovered a recall "where a partially seated clip may allow the transmission to be in a gear stated different from the gearshift position selected by the driver. this could allow the drive to move the shifter to Park and removed the ignition key, without the transmission gear actually being in Park. The vehicle could move unintentionally. (Article by Jimmy Dinsmore, April 7, 2020 in Torguenews.com). Also, in some cases the complainants have reported the gearbox slip and enter Park from Drive, stalling the engine. This issue has also caused the truck to lunge forward, causing unintended acceleration. (Article in Carhp.com March 9, 2022). We strongly believe one of the above named issues caused our vehicle to lunge forward causing over $11,000 worth of damage and would like to be reimbursed. We have had no luck with Ford and would like help from you.

Filed Nov 3, 2022 · Transmission · TX

The 10-speed automatic transmission started to hard downshift into 3rd gear causing the truck to lunge forward, and then shutter in 7th gear causing the truck to slow down while driving without warning. That progressed to lunging forward while the truck was being started, and then finally began to shift from 10th to 1st gear without warning while driving both at typical street speeds and also highway speeds. Until this week, while driving on the highway the transmission went into neutral and would no longer engage. This is after a dealer reprogrammed to the computer and an "overhaul" of several components in the transmission. My safety was really put at risk when the transmission would shift from 10th to 1st randomly, and when the transmission stopped working completely while I was driving on the highway. The problem was reproduced while driving with the dealer shop foreman, and he confirmed with the service advisor that all gear and gear shifting was messed up and the transmission needed immediate repair. No dealers within a 40mile radius (South Houston) were available to perform the work, and I was advised to keep driving the truck until an appointment was available in several weeks. No warnings were present until the transmission finally stopped working. All previous paperwork for repairs completed to date are in the truck, which is currently being repaired again. When I get the truck back I can upload repair documents.

Filed May 11, 2021 · Acceleration · 27,115 miles · WA

My truck accelerated twice without touching the gas pedal. I was stopped at a yield sign waiting for traffic to pass. I lifted my foot off the brake, my truck immediately accelerated. I pressed thr brake to slow down and the truck engine/transmission rpms did not decrease until the truck fully stopped. I intentionally stopped about 10 meters behind the next vehicle in a left turn lane. The light turned green and I lifted my foot off the brake. The truck accelerated by itself too fast. I had to hit the brakes hard again. After I pressed the brakes to slow down again, the engine/transmission reset to normal operation. I did not experience thr problem on the remaining drive home. I was exiting off of a highway 5 to exit on to a city street. This acceleration would have caused an accident if there were cars in front of my truck. Consumer stated he went to the dealer and was told "speeding out of control" was cause by gas peadl sticking to 3rd party floor mat. Consumer removed the floor mat.

Filed Jan 26, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 4,900 miles · CA

My -150 lariat has been giving me problems with the front collision camera and detects when no other vehicles are around. My computer for sync does not always turn on and freezes not allowing me to use navigation and other features. I almost got into three accidents because the vehicle accelerated on its own. In the same night when I pressed the gas it would not accelerate. At one point the speedometer was stuck at 67mph yet the truck accelerated well over 70mph. My brakes did not work properly several times. I pressed them and the truck would not stop. I took it in to the ford dealership and they essentially told me no codes could verify the problems. I am very concerned about the safety of my vehicle and I and other drivers were put in severe danger.

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the 2020 Ford F-150 sudden acceleration

Is sudden unintended acceleration a common problem on the 2020 Ford F-150?

7 of 746 owner complaints about the 2020 Ford F-150 (1%) mention sudden unintended acceleration. The model year with the most reports is 2018.

Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2020 Ford F-150?

There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.

Other symptoms on the 2020 Ford F-150

Harsh shifting 114Jerking 79Transmission failure 73Check engine light 56Loss of power 50Slipping 42Backup camera 38Hesitation 35Stalling 30Oil consumption 28Start-stop 25Won't shift 23Door locks 22Wipers 20Engine failure 17Adaptive cruise 15Screen failure 15Overheating 14Knocking 13Shudder 11Fire or smoke 10Grinding brakes 8Collision warning 8Key fob 7ABS 6No deployment 6Coil spring 5Warning lights 5

All model years of the Ford F-150

VIN decoder

See the problems and recalls for an exact car

Buying a used 2020 Ford F-150?

Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.

Check its history