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Complaints are consumer reports and have not been verified by NHTSA. Recall text is the manufacturer's Part 573 report as filed with NHTSA. Complaint file through 15 May 2019; recall file through 29 Sep 2026.

Recalls by model year:

Recall campaigns

1. 04V442000STRUCTURE:BODY:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTSReported 13 Sep 2004 · 955,732 units

   Defect, as filed: On certain sport utility vehicles, the liftgate glass strut may become disengaged or the hinge may fracture allowing the glass to fall and possibly break.

   Consequence: If the hinge should fracture, there is a potential for the glass to fall and ultimately break and personal injuries could occur.

   Remedy: Dealers will have the liftgate glass strut brackets and glass hinges replaced. For the vehicles built from august 1, 2000 through march 3, 2002, the dealers will replace the hinges and liftgate strut bracket. On vehicles built from march 3, 2002 through june 23, 2003, the dealers will only replace the hinges. The recall began on september 30, 2004. A postcard was sent to owners on december 27, 2004, advising them that parts are now available. Owners should contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.

   Filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY (manufacturer campaign 04S20).

2. 03V094000STRUCTUREReported 7 Mar 2003 · 3,674 units

   Defect, as filed: Certain pickup truck, van, and mini van conversions equipped with southern comfort built running boards that contain certain courtesy lights manufactured by american technology components, INC. These units contain a courtesy light or lights that might overheat when the wire harness is exposed to excessive moisture and road salt.

   Consequence: This overheating condition can cause the running board to melt or cause a fire.

   Remedy: Dealers will replace the wiring harness on these running boards. Owner notification began march 7, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact southern comfort at 1-800-745-6096.

   Filed by SOUTHERN COMFORT CONVERSIONS.

Each entry links to the NHTSA record. NHTSA states that safety recall repairs are free of charge at an authorised dealer; check a specific vehicle by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Complaints by component

Component mentions per 1,000 for the 2003 Ford Explorer (black) against all 2003 model-year vehicles in the file (yellow). A complaint can name more than one component.

1,124 unique complaints, 1,361 component mentions; 57 injuries and 2 deaths reported by complainants. Complaint narratives are not republished.

Complaints by year received

Investigations

Other Ford Explorer model years

Model years with a single campaign and fewer than 25 complaints have no page here; the NHTSA link opens the agency's record for that year.

All Ford Explorer model years · Ford: 201 model lines

Questions and answers

Provenance

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Defects Investigation flat files (recalls, complaints, investigations), public domain, files dated 29 Sep 2026 (recalls) and 15 May 2019 (complaints). Complaints since 1 Jan 1995. Counts are unique complaint numbers per make, model and model year; per-1,000 rates divide a component's mentions by all mentions for the same group. Errors in processing are corrected at the next daily build; see corrections and the methodology.