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.
1FMDU34X9TZ••••••1996 Ford EXPLORER
This build draws 2.3× more complaints than the average 1996 Ford EXPLORER build (12 vs 5).
12on this build
1118on the model
213builds in total
1involved a crash
1involved a fire
1injuries
Most reportedTires 5Service Brakes 3Hydraulic 3Vehicle Speed Control 2
What owners of this build wrote
Vehicle Speed ControlfireJun 2010
The contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. She stated the vehicle was left parked for approximately one hour. When the contact returned to the vehicle, she noticed the cruise control switch had overheated and melted. The contact was able to drive the vehicle home without incident.…
TirescrashJul 2000
Tires might still be on the car in a junk yard somewhere in alaska, near tok.( DOT number: tire size: r16 )
Seat BeltsJan 2014
The contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. The contact stated the drivers seat belt failed. The vehicle was not taken for inspection or diagnosis. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 151,000
Service BrakesMay 2001
The dealer is been informing that they are working on fuel guage problem for almost 1 year and replaced the assembly in the fuel tank and contacted ford several times. I also contacted them and spoke to shawn @ 1-800-392-3673 extn: 3066. He told me ford will contact me, but,…
Engine And Engine CoolingApr 2000
Water was leaking from engine head gasket. Dealer has repaired the vehicle
Read all 12 complaints on this exact buildFull text, search by keyword, and the systems that fail most on cars built like yours.Unlock with Pro →
Owner complaints…
Now the whole model — all 213 builds of it, not just this build. Same NHTSA reports, wider net:
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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 1FMDU34X9TZA42600 · decoded Sep 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by Denis Kataev, founder of ForCar.