Worst Complaints About the Ford Explorer

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Explorer owners are having the most trouble with the transmission (28%), body (23%), and the interior (9%). We've listed the most common owner complaints below. The full list is available on CarComplaints.com.

  1. Transmission Lunges, Hard Jolt When Shifting 236 complaints at an average of 49,408 miles in the 2006 Ford Explorer.
  2. Transmission Slipping, Shifts Hard 393 complaints at an average of 74,387 miles in the 2004 Ford Explorer.
  3. Transmission Jerking, Slipping and Not Shifting Right 49 complaints at an average of 74,095 miles in the 2007 Ford Explorer.

What's Wrong with the Explorer?

You should avoid the 3rd generation (2002–2005) Explorer because of its overall PainRank™ of 123.49.

Generation Model Years Reliability Complaints PainRank (?)
5th Gen Explorer 2011–2019
1520 34.76
4th Gen Explorer 2006–2010
1117 41.64
3rd Gen Explorer 2002–2005
9078 123.49
2nd Gen Explorer 1995–2001
939 28.81
1st Gen Explorer 1991–1994
98 7.01

The most common Explorer problems

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