Everything NHTSA's vPIC database knows about this exact vehicle:
Decoding from NHTSA…
Vehicle history — accidents, title & owners
The decode above is what this vehicle is. For what it's been through — accidents, title brands, odometer, theft/total-loss and previous owners — pull a full history report.
NHTSA publishes the first 11 characters of the VIN with every complaint — that identifies the plant, model year, body and engine. So these are reports from cars built exactly like this one, not an average across the whole model.
1FTEF15Y1TL••••••1997 Ford F-150
This build draws 1.6× more complaints than the average 1997 Ford F-150 build (5 vs 3).
5on this build
2232on the model
720builds in total
1involved a crash
2involved a fire
Most reportedFuel System 2Gasoline 2Air Bags 1Electrical System 1
What owners of this build wrote
Vehicle Speed ControlfireOct 2005
1997 ford f-150 truck was parked next to my home & hadn't been driven this day, after returning home after being gone for the day I found that my truck had caught on fire! After talking to neighbors & got details they had told me that the fire looked as if it had started…
Electrical SystemfireSep 2004
On september 2, 2004, the 1996 ford f150 was parked in front of the house and caught fire under the hood. The tulsa fire deparment came and put out the fire. They reported it appeared to be electrical and under the hood
Air Bagscrash
Consumer was traveling at a unknown speed on wet pavement when the vehicle hydroplaned, hitting a brick wall in which the driver's side air bag did not deploy, causing injuries to the driver. Please prvide any further details
Fuel SystemJul 2010
I own a 1996 ford f150 with dual tanks. I have a problem with the back fuel tank transferring gas to the front tank. If unnoticed this will cause gas to overflow onto the ground causing a real safety and pollution hazard. I called ford and they said that there wasn't any recall…
Fuel SystemApr 2009
The rear fuel tank drains fuel from the front fuel tank and causes fuel to out past the fill cap
Owner complaints…
Now the whole model — all 720 builds of it, not just this build. Same NHTSA reports, wider net:
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The original window sticker and factory options
Full research report as a PDF you can hand to a mechanic
Decoded via NHTSA vPIC. Recalls, complaints and safety from NHTSA; MPG from EPA fueleconomy.gov. Full history reports from our partner. VIN 1FTEF15Y1TLB78012 · decoded Oct 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by Denis Kataev, founder of ForCar.