2003 Ford E550 Air bags Problems
- Complaints
- 6about this part
- Share
- 9%of 66 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 47,500miles
- Trend
- Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.
NHTSA recorded 6 complaints about the air bags of the 2003 Ford E550, 9% of the 66 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 47,500 miles. 6 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“Heading south intersate 25 vearing off in 6th ave west exit (denver) I rear ended an automobile just about perfectly my front to their back. My speed, aproximately 20 to 30 MPH hitting the back of a jeep cherokee which was traveling at aprox. 3 to 10 MPH. I pushed the front end of my truck in aprox. 12 past the bumper. The air bag did not go off.”
NHTSA complaint #10116750, filed 2005-04, 50,200 miles“Air bags failed to deploy in an accident. Woman pulled out in front of me and I hit her left front quarter panel. Her saturn and my f-150 were totaled at about 30 MPH. My air bags did not deploy nor did my seat belt hold. I sustained moderate facial and leg injuries. Had the bags deployed, I would be hurting a lot less!”
NHTSA complaint #10140947, filed 2005-10, 47,000 miles“The passenger side airbag on our 2003 Ford ranger xlt failed to operate in such a manner, during a collision, to prevent a head injury to my wife. Neither the airbag nor the seat belt retarder kept her from striking her head on the rear view mirror and dislodging the mirror from the window.”
NHTSA complaint #10047295, filed 2003-11, 10 miles“On july 23, 2006 we were in a car accident. We were traveling through ogden, ut on our way to yellowstone. We were following my parents who were driving a f350 pulling a 37 foot cardinal 5th wheel. We have a f250 and we were pulling a 32 foot prowler travel trailer. A suburban pulling a boat jack-knifed in front of my parents. They barley stopped in time, however, by the time we realized his red brake lights were from a dead stop and not a slow down, we could not stop in time. …”
NHTSA complaint #10165482, filed 2006-08, 53,600 miles“1) no events leading up to the failure - air bags failed to be released 2) on 04/03/05, my husband and I were involved in a 45 MPH head on passenger side crash driving our 2003 Ford ranger edge. Passenger air bag switch was in the on position at the time of the accident and did not deploy.the second vehicle involved (caused the accident by running a red light) was more of a front quarter panel impact and both of their air bags deployed. The result of our air bags not deploying was a more severe shoulder and neck injury to myself (passenger) and my husband(driver). …”
NHTSA complaint #10116757, filed 2005-04, 16,976 milesAir bags: other model years
| Year | Complaints | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 6 | 9% |
Other parts of the 2003 Ford E550
20 complaintsTires
9 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
9 complaintsElectrical system
8 complaintsFuel system
8 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
5 complaintsBrakes
3 complaintsSeat belts
2 complaintsSteering
2 complaintsSuspension
2 complaintsExterior lighting
1 complaintsBody and structure
1 complaints
← All problems reported for the 2003 Ford E550
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 31, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology