Owners have filed 7,596 complaints on the Ford Expedition, covering 1997–2026. The system named most often is Power Train (1,025 reports). Worst years by volume: 1999, 2000, 1997; cleanest: 2026, 2009, 2025. 447 reports describe a crash, 591 a fire, 15 a death. On average the car was 5.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Expedition
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 7,596 Expedition complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 1,025 Read
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that as his wife had attempted to park the vehicle, she placed the gear shifter into park(P) and let her foot off the brake pedal. Once she released her foot off the brake, the vehicle abruptly accelerated forward and hit a storage shed. The contact depressed…
While towing a rented trailer from Tractor Supply, the trailer detached because it was not properly secured by store staff. The trailer struck the rear bumper of my 2021 Ford Expedition, causing visible body damage and raising concerns about hidden damage to the drivetrain and transmission due to the sudden force of…
Transmission slams into gear, lacks power, has put itself into park at 55mph. Was replaced by Ford and 1,400 miles later it blew up. 2.5 hours into a 9 hour road trip the transmission started leaking and hitting the exhaust pipe and caused the fluid to flare as it hit the hot exhaust. Vehicle filled with caustic smoke…
Electrical System 532 Read
Due to icy road conditions, the vehicle slid off the road, impacting the passenger side at a point between the front fender and front door. A fire started immediately at point of impact, under the hood. The driver exited the vehicle, only to notice that the engine was still running. She reached back into the vehicle…
[XXX], I bought a new Ford Expedition Max Platinum. Four days after I bought the Ford Expedition Max, I experienced brake failure and all warning lights going off on the Ford. I was unable to brake correctly and almost causing a wreck on [XXX] in Charlottesville, VA. I called the Ford Dealership, (Myers Ford) in…
This was a rental vehicle hybrid, while driving on a highway, the vehicle first developed a flat tire. Afterward, while the vehicle was in motion, smoke appeared and the vehicle caught fire spontaneously. There was no collision or impact of any kind. The driver pulled over and all passengers exited safely. The fire…
Vehicle Speed Control 319 Read
The contact owns a 2024 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while making a right turn, the vehicle accelerated independently and rear-ended a city bus. The vehicle came to a stop from the impact. None of the air bags deployed. There were no injuries sustained. The "Pre-Collision Assist not available" and the…
My wife tried to move my expedition from spot to another in our parking lot During that maneuver the gas pedal assembly broke down and the car in high speed created some personal and property damages I have the part handy and ready for inspection up on request The insurance knows about it And I had a police report No…
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated. As a result, the vehicle proceeded over the side curves then stalled. All the air bags deployed. No warning lights was illuminated. The contact sustained injury to his left…
Engine 274 Read
Spark plug ejected resulting in fire. Injured hand putting out said fire
Incident happened 06/26/2026. My wife was driving with our 4 kids down the highway to family event. My wife smelled a funny odor coming from the vents and was going to drive to the next exit and then noticed smoke. At that moment she wasn’t sure where the smoke was coming from. She put the hazards on and started…
It made a loud boom I stopped thought it was a tire when I got out of the car flames started to come out of the driver side wheel well
Service Brakes 259 Read
The contact owns a 2004 ford expedition. The contact was coming to a stop and depressed the brake pedal when the vehicle would not stop or slow down. The contact crashed into a pole and a gas meter before the vehicle caught on fire. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire and a fire report was filed.…
The brake line that is routed to the rear brakes rusted completely through, causing me to lose all braking function hence, control of my vehicle. I had to run off into a ditch to miss a slowing vehicle. After I had come to rest in the ditch there was an engine fire caused by brake fluid spraying onto the hot engine…
I began to brake because there was a parked car at the stop sign i was approaching. My vehicle was not stopping even though the brake pedal was pressed all the way down to the floor. 2025 Ford Expedition crashed into a parked car is a malfunctioning Electronic Brake Booster (EBB) module. Crucially, this malfunction…
Air Bags 191 Read
The contact rented a 2015 ford expedition. While driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently and crashed through a telephone pole and a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact stated that smoke entered the vehicle after the crash. The vehicle was towed to an independent facility. A…
I was involved in a traffic collision today, may 15, 2015, going southbound the speed of 45mph on a city street in rancho cucamonga ca. Another car going westbound didn't wait at stop sign, went through the intersection, I slammed on the brakes and turned wheel to the right to avoid hitting her but we collided, I was…
The contact owns a 2004 ford expedition. While driving approximately 40 mph under dry conditions, a vehicle cut in front of the contact while making a left turn. The contact crashed into the other vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy. As a result, the driver and passenger were injured and had to be taken to the…
Engine And Engine Cooling 190 Read
See attached document for complaint
On wednesday morning, july 27, 2011, between 8:30 a.m. And 9:00 a.m., I took my 2010 ford expedition to the fountain car wash in plano. Upon exiting the car wash tunnel, I shifted the truck from neutral to drive, idled slowly out of the tunnel and around the hairpin turn to head to the back of the building where car…
On september 11, 2011 we hit a deer, the whole front of the expedition was destroyed. Jim bass ford collision did the repairs. In the meantime they claim that the engine light was on due to the camshaft position sensor pigtail being bad. I claimed that before the accident everything was fine ( no engine light). The…
Structure 133 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while stopped at a stop sign and reaching into the center console, the contact's ring finger touched the silver chrome trim near the sliding opening latch and was severely lacerated, almost severing it completely. As a result, the contact lost…
Minor side impact. All repairs were make and no issues noted
Vehicle accelerated unintended and unexpected. Speed was uncontrollable. Driver avoided to the best of his abilities standing workers and unintentionally hit two other vehicles and workers inside those vehicles. 6 injured taken by ambulance two critically hurt!
Expedition years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Electrical System,wheels,service Brakes | — | — | |
| 2025 | Electrical System,air Bags,service Brakes | 4 | 1 | |
| 2024 | Air Bags,service Brakes,forward Collision Avoidance | 6 | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 5 | 4 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags,seat Belts | 4 | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags,service Brakes | 3 | 4 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 4 | 7 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 6 | 3 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 8 | 2 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 19 | 7 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 8 | 8 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 8 | 5 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 10 | 2 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 3 | 3 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags,structure | 5 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 9 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags,structure,unknown Or Other | 2 | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 21 | 2 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 5 | 5 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 16 | 6 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 19 | 5 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 39 | 13 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 47 | 29 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 14 | 58 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 30 | 78 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 42 | 163 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 40 | 60 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 27 | 60 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 42 | 61 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 2,446 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.1 |
| Worst single series | 44 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.2 years |
A model average of 3.1 hides a worst series at 44. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Expedition?
By complaint volume, 1999, 2000, 1997 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Expedition years are the cleanest?
2026, 2009, 2025 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Ford Expedition have?
7,596 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1997–2026. Of those, 447 describe a crash and 591 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.