Owners have filed 28,938 complaints on the Ford Explorer, covering 1991–2025. The system named most often is Power Train (724 reports). Worst years by volume: 2002, 2016, 2013; cleanest: 2024, 2009, 2025. 1,449 reports describe a crash, 650 a fire, 170 a death. On average the car was 5.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Explorer
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 28,938 Explorer complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 724 Read
Dashboard gear position indicator has misaligned. Should be: p,r,n,d,2,1 is: r(park),n(reverse),d(neutral),2(drive),1(low),----(low)
Automatic Return To Park safety feature failed to stop vehicle from forward rolling causing vehicle to crash into open garage. The drivers door hit side of garage frame, closing onto my left leg causing calf muscle pain and bruising
When vehicle is put into reverse, there is a 15-20 second delay before reverse kicks in. You don't know when it is reverse yet , you let go of brakes and vehicle moves forward until transmission engages. Have taken vehicle to dealer to have checked out and ford and dealer says normal delay. Very unsafe not knowing…
Electrical System 466 Read
My truck burst into flames 🔥 and burn to the ground while parked in the drive way
Minor traffic accident, damage to left front bumper and fender, near battery. Result was instant flame under hood and vehicle destroyed
There is a problem with the battery discharging . Also the engine was stalling . I had to take the vehicle to the shop 4 times , and finally they changed the thermostat . The battery has started discharging again
Tires 327 Read
Saturday, nov , 3:00 pm. Driver (17), was making a left turn at xxxxxx & xxxxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxx) and suddenly lost control of 1999 ford explorer which jumped curb and slammed into a tree. No other vehicles involved. Apparent cause: right rear tire -- goodyear wrangler ht -- seemed to have blown to pieces. Vehicle had…
The contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. The vehicle has firestone destination, size lep23570r16 xl107t tires (na). While changing lanes at 60 mph, the tires would swerve and shake. He returned the tires from where they were purchased and was informed that the failure could have been due to the alignment. The tire shop…
The contact owns a 2002 ford explorer with cooper discovery htp tires, size: 235 70 r16 (n/a). The contact was traveling 65 mph when the front and rear driver's side tires blew out, causing the steering wheel to shake and the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The contact crashed into a side rail and was…
Air Bags 279 Read
Dt: the air bags did not deploy on driver's or passenger's sides. This happened on august 5, 2005. Not contacted ford
While driving on paved highway(clear, dry day) a hissing sound was coming from the steering column. After making a left turn onto another paved highway, the hissing noise increased, then was followed immediately by the spontaneous deployment of the driver's side air bag, prior to any impact. The obstruction of the…
Side seat airbag has exhaust port facing inwards, instead of outward, towards the door of the vehicle, that caused the hot chemical from the airbag to push out all the gas at the left side of my body, melting my clothes and causing chemical burns to my side when it deployed upon a wreck
Service Brakes 258 Read
While driving vehicle suddenly started accelerating uncontrollably. Driver applied the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. Vehicle continued to accelerate excessively. While making a right turn driver hit the curb and flipped four times landing upside down in a ditch. Driver and passenger sustained injuries, and…
While driving the ABS engaged, which caused the truck to flip over. As a result the driver was ejected from the vehicle, then two seconds later, the vehicle caught fire. *jb the consumer contacted the manufacturer about the failure but the responded with a letter which said " sorry there is nothing we can do for you…
While driving at 30 mph went to apply for the brakes on wet pavement and brakes didn't work. Consumer hit a tree. Pulling the vehicle from the tree there was smoke coming from under the hood and the vehicle caught on fire
Vehicle Speed Control 245 Read
The contact owns a 2002 ford explored. The contact stated that while driving uphill, the vehicle suddenly emitted a burning odor. The vehicle then stalled without warning as the vehicle proceeded to roll-backward and crashed into a phone pole. The vehicle then crashed into a residential home. The contact sustained…
The contact owns a 2025 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that after his wife had pulled into the parking spot at the residence and shifted into park(P) to turn off the vehicle, the contact stated that the cameras activated on the display screen and then went black before the engine revved up and the vehicle…
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his fiancé was at a complete stop, the auto-hold mode designed to maintain the brake pedal depressed was engaged. However, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly and crashed into the rear of the vehicle in front of him. There was no warning light…
Steering 207 Read
The contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. The contact stated that while in reverse, the vehicle accelerated independently. Additionally, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to respond and the steering wheel seized. As a result, the vehicle crashed into trees then went forward independently crashing into shrubs, a…
Ice and slush enter the door panels from under the vehicle causing, doors to freeze shut
The explorer suddenly rolled over, injuring me severly. Moments after the incedent the car burst into flames
Suspension 146 Read
Driving about 50mph on dry country road, good visibility, when suddenly car pulled hard right. We went onto a grass embankment, I managed to pull left back onto the road, but car fish-tailed uncontrollably, we hit crash barrier, and finally came to a stop. Badly shaken but no injuries. Examining car, besides body…
The contact called in for a client who owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact works at an independently owned auto body shop. The contact stated that the vehicle was towed into the body shop for inspection. While inspecting the vehicle, the contact became aware that the driver’s rear toe link had fractured. The…
Left side rear suspension toe link fracture in my car ocurred when the car was in service on a highway! After the failure mode ocurred, we lost the control of the car and we front crashed against a truck. Fortunatelly a fatality does not ocurred but it was closed, only body injuries and a lost car. This failure mode…
Explorer 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Air Bags | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 17 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 12 | 5 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 34 | 10 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 13 | 6 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 30 | 10 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 37 | 14 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 36 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 32 | 5 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 42 | 10 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 10 | 6 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 29 | 4 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 8 | — | |
| 2009 | Air Bags,seat Belts | 3 | — | |
| 2008 | Electrical System | 5 | 2 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 11 | 4 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 9 | 5 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 17 | 6 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 44 | 11 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 39 | 8 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 115 | 49 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 52 | 18 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 68 | 57 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 90 | 41 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 141 | 92 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 112 | 39 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 152 | 32 |
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 | 5,799 |
| Average complaints per series | 5 |
| Worst single series | 63 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.1 years |
A model average of 5 hides a worst series at 63. 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 Explorer?
By complaint volume, 2002, 2016, 2013 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 years are the cleanest?
2024, 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 Explorer have?
28,938 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1991–2025. Of those, 1,449 describe a crash and 650 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.