MODEL-LEVEL RESEARCH

Ford Explorer Reliability & Problems by Year

Is This A Good Car? currently researches 10 Ford Explorer model years from 2015 through 2024. Compare NHTSA owner complaints, safety recalls, manufacturer communications, defect investigations, documented vehicle systems, and available data coverage across supported years.

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2024 · RESEARCH CATALOG

SUPPORTED MODEL YEARS2015–202410 researched model years

CHOOSE A MODEL YEAR

Research the Ford Explorer by year

Each model year opens its own official-source evidence page. Raw record counts are descriptive, not a best-year ranking.

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2024 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2024Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2023 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2023Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2022 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2022Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2021 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2021Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2020 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2020Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2019 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2019Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2018 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2018Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2017 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2017Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2016 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2016Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

Is This A Good Car?APPROVED IMAGE NOT YET AVAILABLE

Ford Explorer2015 · RESEARCH CATALOG

MODEL-YEAR RESEARCH

2015Ford Explorer

Complaints, recalls, communications, and investigationsOPEN RESEARCH

SUBJECTIVE OWNER FEEDBACK

OWNER EXPERIENCE

What it is like to live with the vehicle—kept clearly separate from official NHTSA evidence.

BUILDING THE COMMUNITY

Reviews stay tied to model year.

Choose a supported year when you contribute so different generations and model years are never blurred together.

YEAR CONTEXT REQUIREDMODERATED BEFORE PUBLICATIONNO OWNER CLAIM IS VERIFIED BY DEFAULT

OWNED THIS CAR?

Help the next buyer understand the real ownership experience.

Share what you liked, what could be better, and whether you would choose it again. Every contribution is moderated before publication.

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE Ford Explorer

INDEPENDENT EVIDENCE TYPES

NHTSA owner complaint records remain part of Official Vehicle Data. Subjective review contributions remain in Owner Experience. One does not validate or prove the other. Read the methodology.

SEPARATE, DESCRIPTIVE EVIDENCE

FORD EXPLORER RELIABILITY RESEARCH

CarIQ evaluates official data sources separately rather than reducing them to an unsupported single reliability score. Owner complaints, safety recalls, manufacturer communications, defect investigations, cross-source component patterns, Data Confidence, and verified production-normalized context—when available—describe different parts of the evidence.

NO BEST-YEAR RANKING

COMPARE FORD EXPLORER MODEL YEARS

CarIQ does not currently name a best Ford Explorer model year. The comparison below lets you review available complaint, recall, manufacturer communication, investigation, and Data Confidence information across researched years.

FORD EXPLORER PROBLEMS BY MODEL YEAR

In this section, problems refers to patterns documented in available official records. These counts are descriptive records, not failure rates. Older model years may have had more time to accumulate reports, and production volume may differ.

Year	Owner complaint records	Most represented complaint component	Recall campaigns	Manufacturer communications	NHTSA investigations	Data Confidence
2024	21	Unknown or Other	10	0	0	Limited
2023	109	Unknown or Other	15	0	0	Moderate
2022	267	Power Train	24	0	1	Moderate
2021	426	Power Train	26	0	1	Moderate
2020	1,215	Power Train	33	357	3	Moderate
2019	295	Structure	6	134	1	Moderate
2018	730	Structure	7	190	2	Moderate
2017	1,700	Structure	14	0	1	Moderate
2016	2,450	Structure	15	0	1	Moderate
2015	1,790	Structure	9	0	1	Moderate

OWNER COMPLAINT RECORDS BY YEAR

Bar length represents raw NHTSA owner complaint record count only. It is not a reliability comparison.

2024

2023

109

2022

267

2021

426

2020

1,215

2019

295

2018

730

2017

1,700

2016

2,450

2015

1,790

MOST DOCUMENTED VEHICLE SYSTEMS

Component names use the shared taxonomy. Source types remain separate and are never added into a combined problem count.

2024

Most represented complaint category: Unknown or Other
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Seat Belts

2023

Most represented complaint category: Unknown or Other
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Seat Belts

2022

Most represented complaint category: Power Train
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Engine, Seat Belts

2021

Most represented complaint category: Power Train
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Engine, Seat Belts

2020

Most represented complaint category: Power Train
Most documented communication category: Electrical System
Appears across 2+ sources: Engine, Power Train, Unknown or Other, Electrical System

2019

Most represented complaint category: Structure
Most documented communication category: Electrical System
Appears across 2+ sources: Structure:body:roof and Pillars, Structure, Unknown or Other, Power Train

2018

Most represented complaint category: Structure
Most documented communication category: Electrical System
Appears across 2+ sources: Structure:body:roof and Pillars, Structure, Unknown or Other, Engine

2017

Most represented complaint category: Structure
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Steering, Seats, Structure:body:roof and Pillars

2016

Most represented complaint category: Structure
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Seats, Parking Brake, Structure:body:roof and Pillars

2015

Most represented complaint category: Structure
Most documented communication category: None represented
Appears across 2+ sources: Parking Brake, Structure:body:roof and Pillars

COMPONENT DOCUMENTATION ACROSS YEARS

Air Bags

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Sources containing records: Owner complaintsComponent appears in CarIQ source records across 10 supported model years. This describes documentation presence, not failure frequency.

Back Over Prevention

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Sources containing records: Owner complaints, Manufacturer communicationsComponent appears in CarIQ source records across 10 supported model years. This describes documentation presence, not failure frequency.

Electrical System

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Engine

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Sources containing records: Owner complaints, Recalls, Manufacturer communicationsComponent appears in CarIQ source records across 10 supported model years. This describes documentation presence, not failure frequency.

Forward Collision Avoidance

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Latches/locks/linkages

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Power Train

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Seat Belts

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Sources containing records: Owner complaints, RecallsComponent appears in CarIQ source records across 10 supported model years. This describes documentation presence, not failure frequency.

Seats

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Sources containing records: Owner complaints, Manufacturer communications, RecallsComponent appears in CarIQ source records across 10 supported model years. This describes documentation presence, not failure frequency.

Steering

2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

COMMON RESEARCH QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FORD EXPLORER

Is the Ford Explorer reliable?

CarIQ does not currently assign an overall reliability score to the Ford Explorer. Review each supported year's separate complaint, recall, manufacturer communication, investigation, and Data Confidence evidence.

What problems are reported for the Ford Explorer?

The problems-by-year comparison identifies the most represented owner complaint component and keeps complaint, recall, manufacturer communication, and investigation records separate for each researched year.

How does Ford Explorer data differ by model year?

Use the year links and descriptive comparisons to examine available records for each model year. Differences in raw counts are not rankings and do not establish a best or worst year.

CONTINUE YOUR RESEARCH

Use model-year evidence carefully

Raw records are descriptive and should not be read as model-year rankings. Review source coverage and Data Confidence for each year, then organize the evidence around a specific used-car candidate.