There are 5 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2021 Ford F-150in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This report is being made within 1 1/2 hours after the incident. It has not been inspected by a dealer, service center, nor any other agency. I was stopped at a local fast food restaurant waiting to pay for my purchase. The 2021 Ford F-150 was in drive with my foot on the brake. No warning lights or other indication were present. Without warning, the engine revved to a high rpm and the truck shot forward about 15-20 feet before I could react by putting my full weight on the brake pedal. The engine quickly slowed. I then put the vehicle in reverse and backed up to the window and placed the transmission in park. The truck is equipped with adaptive cruise control but it was not active at the time of the incident. Had there been another vehicle in front of me, I would have rear-ended them. I work from home and use the truck a couple of times per week and it is available for inspection most days.
After starting the vehicle at a motel in the morning, and backing out of the parking spot, I put the vehicle in drive and gave it a little bit of gas (wheel cranked to the left to finish turning out of the spot), and the vehicle rapidly accelerated across the parking lot. I hit the brakes and the vehicle stopped accelerating. I looked down to see the cruise control set to 15 Mph and crossed out (disengaged due to brake engagement). I never set the cruise control at that speed. To the best of my knowledge I never bumped any cruise control buttons that morning. To the best of my knowledge a software glitch caused cruise control to set and engage, from a stop, to an unsafe speed considering the circumstances.
After braking to enter drive way. The truck accelerated spontaneously causing vehicle to hit a wall. Similarly on previous occasions the truck has lurched forward when releasing the brake after coming to a complete stop at red lights or stop signs.
With the cruise control set to a speed of around 60mph and with no other vehicles around, the truck accelerates (uncommanded) to some value over 71mph. This occurs randomly but is repeatable and has only started occurring within the past week. A definite safety concern.
With cruise control engaged, the set speed would randomly change up or down changing vehicle speed rapidly. Most dangerous part was some times the speed would set itself from around the speed limit where I set to as much as 20-30 mph above the posted speed limit up to 90 mph. The speed would instantly increase by 5,10,15,20 mph all of a sudden which is not possible to set with the cruise control buttons as they only increase or decrease in one mph increment. If it is some sort of speed limit sign reading system it failed and caused a dangerous situation for me and my family. I have video of multiple instances. This is dangerous and life threatening for the occupants of my vehicle and others on or near the road and could easily lead to loss of control, injury or death.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026