What are the common problems with the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty?
Owners of the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty have filed 14 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the diesel fuel system (3). In NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, 9 of its 14 complaints list a mileage (2,000 to 111,000 miles), too few to say when problems were reported; a complaint is an owner's report, not a proven defect.
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See what the paid report includes →NHTSA's file holds 14 owner complaints on the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty. Owners named the diesel fuel system most often: 3 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. None of the 14 complaints reports a crash, a fire or an injury.
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Common problems with the 2002 F-450 Super Duty
NHTSA's file holds 14 owner complaints on the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty. Owners named the diesel fuel system most often: 3 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel System, Diesel | 3 | 2 | Under 5 mileages |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 2 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 2 | 2 | Under 5 mileages |
| Fuel System, Other | 2 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
| Electrical System | 1 | 1 | Under 5 mileages |
None of the 14 complaints reports a crash, a fire or an injury.
Mileage when owners reported a problem with the 2002 F-450 Super Duty
Too few complaints on the 2002 F-450 Super Duty list a mileage to say when owners reported problems: 9 of its 14 complaints list a mileage (2,000 to 111,000 miles), and a median is given here only with 10 or more.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2002 F-450 Super Duty wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Is the 2002 F-450 Super Duty a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2002 is a good or a bad F-450 Super Duty: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2002 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 14 complaints, the 2002 ranks 12th of the 13 Ford F-450 Super Duty model years from 1999 to 2024 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2008 (68). The fewest: the 2024 (10).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 F-450 Super Duty | 66 | 21 | 76,000 |
| 2000 F-450 Super Duty | 43 | 13 | 61,135 |
| 2001 F-450 Super Duty | 23 | 11 | 60,351 |
| 2002 (this page) | 14 | 9 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2003 F-450 Super Duty | 16 | 13 | 55,221 |
| 2004 F-450 Super Duty | 33 | 25 | 48,101 |
| 2005 F-450 Super Duty | 40 | 38 | 50,300 |
| 2006 F-450 Super Duty | 35 | 27 | 49,791 |
| 2007 F-450 Super Duty | 16 | 15 | 53,000 |
| 2008 F-450 Super Duty | 68 | 57 | 34,090 |
| 2021 F-450 Super Duty | 18 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2022 F-450 Super Duty | 24 | 5 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2024 F-450 Super Duty | 10 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 6 recall campaigns that name the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty (4 vehicle campaigns and 2 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 11V352000 | Jul 13, 2011 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS |
| 09V399000 | Oct 13, 2009 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL |
| 07E106000 | Dec 17, 2007 | WHEELS:HUB |
| 07V553000 | Dec 5, 2007 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:DIESEL |
| 07E066000 | Aug 28, 2007 | EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2002 F-450 Super Duty lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2002 F-450 Super Duty.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 5 of the 14 complaints on the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: F-450 SD. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: F-450 SD.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty questions
What are the most common 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty problems?
NHTSA's file holds 14 owner complaints on the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty. Owners named the diesel fuel system most often: 3 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. None of the 14 complaints reports a crash, a fire or an injury.
At what mileage do owners report problems with the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty?
NHTSA's file gives no mileage figure for the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty: 9 of its 14 complaints list a mileage (2,000 to 111,000 miles), and this page gives a median only with 10 or more. These are mileages at a reported problem; they do not say how many miles a 2002 F-450 Super Duty can cover.
Is the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2002 is a good or a bad F-450 Super Duty: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2002 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 14 complaints, the 2002 ranks 12th of the 13 Ford F-450 Super Duty model years from 1999 to 2024 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2008 (68). The fewest: the 2024 (10).
How many recalls does the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 6 recall campaigns that name the 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty (4 vehicle campaigns and 2 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2002 Ford F-450 Super Duty.