Owners have filed 575 complaints on the Ford Explorer Sport, covering 1993–2005. The system named most often is Structure (72 reports). Worst years by volume: 2001, 2002, 1998; cleanest: 1993, 2005, 2004. 39 reports describe a crash, 43 a fire, 4 a death. On average the car was 6.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Explorer Sport
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 575 Explorer Sport complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Structure 72 Read
Was driving the vehicle when I noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. I pulled over as quick as possible into a strip mall parking lot. Before I got out flames were coming out of the engine compartment. I ran into a store and got a fire extinguisher to try and put out the fire. I failed, as the whole front of…
Vehicle hydroplanes on wet surfaces resulting in crash on may 11, 2005
There is a vertical crack on the rear of the vehicle starting underneath the window. Length of about 2 to 3 inches. Just seemed to appear. Was not there one day then there the next. *tr ## VIN failed
Power Train 71 Read
2004 ford explorer. Transmission shifts roughly into reverse and third gear. Car was put into reverse in june, 2004 and did not move until a few seconds later, and then lunged backwards, hitting my wife and breaking her arm. Still shifts roughly to this day
The contact owns a 1997 ford explorer sport. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked on an incline when it rolled forward and crashed into another vehicle. The vehicle was not destroyed. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop and the repair shop stated that the transfer case needed to be replaced. The…
The problem with my 2004 ford explorer is when you place the vehicle in reverse from any other gear (most noticeably from the position of park)there is a delay in the in ballpark of anywhere from 3-10secs before the vehicle will actually engage in the position of reverse. Today(9 mar 09) I took it in for this problem…
Engine And Engine Cooling 45 Read
Dt: owns 2001 ford explorer, both driver and passenger are pregnant. Had just entered interstate and was driving about 70 mph and tried to slow down to about 65mph. Tried to tap brake but heard engine rev up and it immediately sped back up. Tapped brake again and knew something was wrong. Engaged hazard lights and…
Vehicle caught fire. Vehicle was not running at the time. Vehicle destroyed by fire
The contact owns a 2001 ford explorer. While driving at speed at 15 mph, the vehicle lost electrical power and the engine stalled. The steering became very difficult to maneuver and the contact was unable to maintain control of the vehicle. The vehicle rolled over as a result of the failure. The police arrived on the…
Seats 44 Read
Rear ended , substained surious injuries, 2000 ford explore driver seat roke when other car rear ended me , it was the recliner bolt
The contact stated while traveling 30 mph, the passenger side seat reclined without warning. The passenger grabbed the driver, causing the driver to swerve and hit the curb. The front passenger side tire blew out. The vehicle was taken to the dealership and the recliner assembly needed to be replaced
Auto accident, rear ended at a red light, substained surious injuries, my car 000 ford explore driver seat broke after the inpact the driver seat. Recliner bolt broke
Electrical System 42 Read
Ford explorer 2002 caught fire while parked. *bf
The consumer's 2002 ford explorer was parked in a parking lot when it caught on fire. *nm
I was driving when my car start smoking, when I stopped it caught on fire. The car is totaled. The fire originated at the engine compartment near the spark plugs
Vehicle Speed Control 42 Read
2001 ford explorer caught on fire in the engine compartment.*mr while driving car sounded like it was missing. The consumer saw smoke, pulled over and realized that eh vehicel was on fire. The cruise control box, located on the right side, was the cause of the fire. *bf
The contact owns a 2001 ford explorer sport. After being parked for a week, the vehicle caught fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle has not been inspected to determine the cause of the fire. The vehicle was parked in the driveway and burned the house. The current and failure mileages were…
2001 ford explorer sport spontaneously caught fire in engine compartment while parked in garage attached to my home. Vehicle was moved to driveway and fire extinguished. Ford dealer admitted to recall of defective cruise control switch which was the origination point of fire. Was advised to file claim with my auto…
Suspension 41 Read
The front stabilizer bar link broke during an evasive maneauver causing loss of control while driving down the interstate resulting in a rollover death of the driver of a 2001 ford explorer sport
2000 ford explorer sport rollover accident. Both my son and witnesses state that my son was driving the speed limit (55 on a rural 2 lane road) when a small dip in the road caused him to fishtail and flip onto his roof. Thank god him and his friend had on the seat belts and were able to crawl out of the car unharmed.…
Consumer complained of vibration problem. . Steering wheel vibrated when making turns or when vehicle was in motion or stationary. Took vehicle back to dealership, who rotated the tires. The problem still occurs
Visibility 37 Read
The contact owns a 2003 ford explorer sport. While driving approximately 25 mph, a noise emerged from the rear hatch window. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and noticed that the piece that held the window in place was fractured. The vehicle was repaired for the same failure in march of…
The contact owns a 2003 ford explorer sport. The contact stated that the lift gate glass detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 04V442000 (structure) due to the vehicle being a two door and not a four door. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not…
The contact owns a 2003 ford explorer sport. When the contact attempted to open the rear window, it completely shattered. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The failure occurred without warning. The current and failure mileages were 68,843
Explorer Sport 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Seats | — | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 8 | 5 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 13 | 10 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 5 | 5 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 2 | 5 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 4 | 11 | |
| 1997 | Electrical System | 2 | 5 | |
| 1993 | Electrical System | — | 1 |
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 | 317 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.8 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.1 years |
A model average of 1.8 hides a worst series at 9. 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
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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 Explorer Sport?
By complaint volume, 2001, 2002, 1998 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 Explorer Sport years are the cleanest?
1993, 2005, 2004 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Ford Explorer Sport have?
575 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1993–2005. Of those, 39 describe a crash and 43 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.