What ownership is like, what breaks at what mileage, what the repairs cost, and what to check before you buy one.
← All Ford Explorer generations
NHTSA complaints per catalog listing run from 13.73 for 2001 (563 complaints across 41 listings) to 421.50 for 1995 (843 across 2), against a generation median of 90.62. The highest year, 1995, is 4.7 times that median. No year reaches the 2.0x our rule needs together with an above-median ad share and 30 or more listings, so nothing is flagged. Our catalog holds very few cars of these years, so a complaints-per-listing figure is mostly a small-denominator artifact and our rule cannot fairly flag them. Read the raw complaint counts, not the rate.
| Miles | Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| any | Tire tread separation (Firestone Wilderness AT) | Free at a Ford dealer when open | CarBuzz says a tread separation recall affected 14.4 million tires. NHTSA lists the tire recall 00T005000 and a later safety improvement campaign, 01X001000, against 1995 to 2001 Explorers in our database. Tires from that period are long past replacement age, so check the date code on whatever is fitted today. |
| any | Cruise control deactivation switch (fire risk) | Free at a Ford dealer when open | NHTSA recall 09V399000 covers 1995 to 2002 Explorers with the Texas Instruments speed control deactivation switch, which may leak internally and then overheat, smoke or burn. CarBuzz calls out a speed control recall affecting 4.5 million vehicles. Confirm by VIN. |
| not stated by the sources | Automatic transmission failure (slipping, broken reverse, not engaging gear) | No Explorer-specific price found. Mister Transmission gives $3,000 to $7,000 for a full transmission replacement on Ford vehicles generally. | CarBuzz lists broken reverse gears and not getting into gear. CoPilot puts transmission problems among the most common for the generation. Check shift quality cold and hot, reverse in particular. |
| not stated by the sources | 4.0L SOHC timing chain rattle | About $100 in parts and a kit near $55 if done at home (forum post). No shop price found. | HJL Autoparts says the SOHC chain rattle was reduced after 2002 but not fully resolved. A rattle on cold start is the sign. If a shop does it the labor will far exceed the parts, and we found no quote for that. |
| any | Recalls on file: front sway bar link (00V402000, 1995-1997), throttle body on 4.0L SOHC (00V422000, 1997-1998), brake tube routing (95V052000, 1995) | Free at a Ford dealer when open | 00V422000: engine deposits can bridge a too-narrow gap in the original throttle body. 00V402000: a front sway bar link can fracture. Confirm each by VIN. |
No year in this generation was flagged. A year is flagged by our rule only when all three hold: (1) its NHTSA complaints per catalog listing is at least 2.0x the median for its generation, (2) the share of ads that mention a problem is above the generation median, and (3) we track at least 30 listings for that year. The cutoff was fixed before we looked. Ad mentions are not failures, and a flag is a reason to inspect harder, not a verdict on any one car. We also re-ran the ad test with the 'rust' flaw left out, because the ad reader counts phrases like 'no rust' as mentions, and publish a flag only if it passes both ways.
| Year | Complaints | Top components | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 843 | Tires, Power Train, Suspension | |
| 1996 | 1,450 | Tires, Vehicle Speed Control, Power Train | |
| 1997 | 1,767 | Tires, Vehicle Speed Control, Engine And Engine Cooling | |
| 1998 | 2,079 | Tires, Vehicle Speed Control, Engine And Engine Cooling | |
| 1999 | 1,440 | Tires, Visibility, Vehicle Speed Control | |
| 2000 | 1,023 | Tires, Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control | |
| 2001 | 563 | Tires, Power Train, Suspension |
source: NHTSA complaints database (api.nhtsa.gov). Complaints are owner reports, not confirmed failures.
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We don't tell you to skip a year; we flag by a fixed rule, and it flags 2002 and 2011. Third-party lists commonly name 2002 to 2006 (CoPilot, Road Ethos), the whole 2002-2005 generation (CarBuzz), and 2016, 2017 and 2020 (Road Ethos). 2002 has 40.31 NHTSA complaints per catalog listing (3,426 complaints across 85 listings) against a 2002-2005 median of 13.92. 2011 has 17.60 (1,197 complaints across 68 listings) against a 2011-2019 median of 5.61. 2006 has 9.00 (630 complaints across 70 listings) against a 2006-2010 median of 1.74, but its ads do not mention problems often enough to flag it.
CarBuzz says every model year of the 2002-2005 generation had transmission complaints, and quotes CarComplaints at a typical $2,840 repair. CoPilot adds a 2006 with a lunging shift at 49,000 miles costing about $1,800. Mister Transmission puts a full replacement on Ford vehicles at $3,000 to $7,000, which is not an Explorer-specific price.
RepairPal puts it at $1,253 to $1,617. The Weekly Driver reports quotes of $1,500 to $3,000 on 2011-2019 cars with the 3.5L V6, and EngineNeeds says dealers often charge $1,500 to $2,500, because the pump is inside the engine.
Yes. Consumer Reports covered a free fix Ford offered on 2011 to 2017 Explorers in 2017, which was not a recall. CBS reported a 2015 deposition in which a Ford representative called it a design issue, and Ford told CBS the odor poses no safety risk. If you notice an exhaust smell on a test drive, have it looked at before you buy.
Ford recalled 238,364 2020-2022 Explorers because the rear axle horizontal mounting bolt may fracture and disconnect the driveshaft (Car and Driver, NHTSA 23V675000). The repair is free. A second recall, 23V199000, covers cars whose earlier software fix left out the automatic parking brake in Park.
No. The Sport Trac is a pickup truck with its own NHTSA model name. We excluded it. NHTSA's search for 'Explorer' also returns Sport Trac complaints in 2002 to 2005, so we removed them by product name.