all vehicles · every Explorer year · method

Ford Explorer 2017

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

1.56 per 1,000

1.7 times this nameplate’s own median · from 405 complaints filed in the first three years, of 1705 ever. 95% lower bound 1.41.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.26	20
2009	0.11	7
2010	0.81	46
2011	1.92	259
2012	0.92	138
2013	1.30	231
2014	1.14	229
2015	1.93	443
2016	2.70	672
2017	1.56	405
2018	0.45	119
2019	0.18	41
2020	1.64	339
2021	0.70	156
2022	0.60	129
2023	0.39	77

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Structure 662 complaints

trim	374	56%
pillar	314	47%
pillar trim	223	34%
trim detached	120	18%
exterior pillar	74	11%
structure structure	71	11%

Unknown Or Other 378 complaints

trim	67	18%
carbon	47	13%
carbon monoxide	45	12%
monoxide	45	12%
pillar	43	11%
headaches	37	10%

Engine 241 complaints

water	54	23%
exhaust	53	22%
water pump	52	22%
cabin	29	12%
carbon monoxide	18	8%
monoxide	18	8%

When it breaks

36% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 50,000 miles, from 856 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

2 investigations covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Exhaust Odor in Passenger Cab

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10906040 · 10908380 · 10913513 · 10916675 · 10924396 · 10924538

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is verified against a published figure.