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.
1FMDU34X9RU••••••1997 Ford EXPLORER
This build draws 11.4× more complaints than the average 1997 Ford EXPLORER build (45 vs 4).
45on this build
1335on the model
338builds in total
8involved a crash
4injuries
Most reportedTires 13Service Brakes 11Hydraulic 10Structure 6
What owners of this build wrote
Power TraincrashFeb 2002
While parked gear jumped from park to drive at a very rapid speed. However, an accident did occur. There were no injuries. *ak while vehicle was parked consumer revved engine to 3000 RPM, transmission violently banged in to drive, lurched forward and ran into a rock wall
Vehicle Speed ControlcrashFeb 2002
While sitting in driveway in idle consumer revved up the engine, and in doing so, vehicle with a loud bang engaged itself into drive and started moving before running into a foreign object which stopped vehicle. Contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything.*ak
TirescrashJul 2000
We were driving on I-44 between adair, oklahoma and tulsa, oklahoma. Our traveling speed was 75 miles per hour. Without warning the left rear tire lost all tread causing our 1994 ford explorer to fish-tail out of control. We slid off the highway and hit highway mile-marker sign…
Service BrakescrashOct 1999
No summary
EquipmentJun 2002
The spare tire is supported under the rear of the vehicle by a steel cable support system. I was traveling on a freeway and hit a bump. The cable supporting the spare tire broke. Apparently the cable had rusted and became weak. The tire dropped onto the road surface. There was a…
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Owner complaints…
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Exact value for this VIN, adjusted for mileage
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 1FMDU34X9RUC33410 · decoded Nov 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by Denis Kataev, founder of ForCar.