2012 Ford Explorer — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 829 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Ford Explorer — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
115 complaints
1,196 complaints
829 complaints
2,237 complaints
1,680 complaints
1,808 complaints
2,460 complaints
1,710 complaints
732 complaints
299 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the molding around the driver's side windshield was detaching. The co…
AFTER A RECALL FREE FIXED, THE CAR ITS SHOWING THE SAMETHING PROBLEM, BUT THE DEALERSHI SAY NOW I SHOULD TO PAY BECAUSE 4 YEARS AGO WAS FIX IT....
THERE IS A STRONG SMELL OF CARBON MONOXIDE WHEN THE ENGINE IS REVED OVER 3000 -3500 RPM THIS HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE TIME. IT SEEMS TO BE ON PAR WITH THE OTHER COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS ISSUE WITH THE EXHAUST SYSTEM. I NOTICED THIS ISSUE SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR FROM THE USED CAR LOT.
THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE - AIR BAGS COULD MALFUNCTION AT ANYTIME DUE TO MISCOMMUNICATION WITHIN THE SYSTEM. AIR BAGS CAN DEPLOY AT ANYTIME OR CAN FAIL TO DEPLOY WHEN NECESSARY. AIR BAG LIGHT TURNS ON AND STAYS ON. ACCORDING TO FORD DEALER THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE BUT HAS NOT YET BEEN RECALLED. SEAT BELT BUCKLE REPLACED, AIR BAG DIAGNOSTIC MODULE REPLACED, PROGRAM CONTROL MODULE…
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the steering wheel was locked. The message "Power Steering Assist Fault" was displayed. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle per the owner's manual; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering gearbox needed to be re…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Ford Explorer, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.