Recall Register

Ford Explorer: recalls and complaints by model year

NHTSA lists 142 recall campaigns for the Ford Explorer, model years 1977 to 2027. NHTSA has 34,535 complaints on file for this model line. 36 of the 45 model years have a page on this register.

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19770
  2. 19840
  3. 19850
  4. 19860
  5. 19870
  6. 19880
  7. 19890
  8. 19900
  9. 19918
  10. 19924
  11. 19936
  12. 19944
  13. 19955
  14. 19966
  15. 19977
  16. 19989
  17. 19999
  18. 20009
  19. 20016
  20. 20024
  21. 20032
  22. 20040
  23. 20050
  24. 20061
  25. 20071
  26. 20081
  27. 20090
  28. 20101
  29. 20116
  30. 20125
  31. 201311
  32. 20146
  33. 20158
  34. 201614
  35. 201713
  36. 20187
  37. 20196
  38. 202033
  39. 202126
  40. 202224
  41. 202315
  42. 202410
  43. 202520
  44. 202614
  45. 20271
Ford Explorer: recall campaigns and complaints for each model year, newest first
Model yearRecall campaignsComplaintsShare of the line averageUnits in the campaigns
2027 Ford Explorer NHTSA page100%76,748
2026 Ford Explorer14385%571,142
2025 Ford Explorer2010113%1,434,649
2024 Ford Explorer10213%1,814,933
2023 Ford Explorer1511014%3,599,589
2022 Ford Explorer2426735%4,646,746
2021 Ford Explorer2643056%5,838,416
2020 Ford Explorer331,223159%6,198,017
2019 Ford Explorer629839%3,848,705
2018 Ford Explorer773195%3,905,452
2017 Ford Explorer131,694221%6,354,133
2016 Ford Explorer142,455320%5,832,874
2015 Ford Explorer81,795234%5,716,171
2014 Ford Explorer61,678219%4,260,351
2013 Ford Explorer112,235291%5,100,891
2012 Ford Explorer5828108%3,607,517
2011 Ford Explorer61,197156%3,609,175
2010 Ford Explorer111515%33,256
2009 Ford Explorer0334%
2008 Ford Explorer114819%1,497
2007 Ford Explorer120827%11
2006 Ford Explorer163082%199,942
2005 Ford Explorer049765%
2004 Ford Explorer01,304170%
2003 Ford Explorer21,131147%959,406
2002 Ford Explorer43,295429%5,511,406
2001 Ford Explorer637549%10,104,564
2000 Ford Explorer9952124%10,560,697
1999 Ford Explorer91,348176%12,178,996
1998 Ford Explorer91,959255%9,567,644
1997 Ford Explorer71,731226%6,792,376
1996 Ford Explorer61,450189%5,543,470
1995 Ford Explorer5843110%5,837,982
1994 Ford Explorer41,207157%2,024,373
1993 Ford Explorer6939122%2,574,157
1992 Ford Explorer463382%1,267,784
1991 Ford Explorer860979%1,915,500
1990 Ford Explorer NHTSA page0122%
1989 Ford Explorer NHTSA page010%
1988 Ford Explorer NHTSA page041%
1987 Ford Explorer NHTSA page030%
1986 Ford Explorer NHTSA page030%
1985 Ford Explorer NHTSA page010%
1984 Ford Explorer NHTSA page010%
1977 Ford Explorer NHTSA page020%

The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.

A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Components in the complaints

43,421 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

Ford Explorer: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
ComponentPer 1,000Mentions
Power Train129.45,618
Structure1235,339
Tires96.44,187
Steering96.44,185
Unknown or Other72.23,135
Electrical System53.32,315
Engine and Engine Cooling49.52,149
Engine47.32,052
Suspension46.72,029
Vehicle Speed Control42.71,854

Counts by year

Recall campaigns that name the Ford Explorer, by the year NHTSA received the report. The largest year is 2026, with 20 campaigns.
Complaints about the Ford Explorer, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2000, with 3,898 complaints.

Other model lines of the make

Ford: all 202 model lines

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. Ford Explorer: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/ford/explorer/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
30 Sep 2026
Manufacturer in the recall file
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

Which Ford Explorer model years have the most recall campaigns?
2020 with 33, 2021 with 26, 2022 with 24. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
Which Ford Explorer model year has the most complaints?
The 2002 model year, with 3,295 of the 34,535 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
Which components do the complaints about the Ford Explorer name?
Power Train: 129.4 per 1,000 component mentions. Structure: 123 per 1,000 component mentions. Tires: 96.4 per 1,000 component mentions.
How many NHTSA investigations name the Ford Explorer?
64 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.