LIVE Global accident monitoring — updating every 15 minutes
Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2019 Ford Explorer — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 299 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

299
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
2
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
0
Involved Fire
owner-reported
6
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

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.

829 complaints

2,237 complaints

1,680 complaints

1,808 complaints

2,460 complaints

1,710 complaints

732 complaints

299 complaints

1,233 complaints

445 complaints

269 complaints

111 complaints

21 complaints

104 complaints

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Structure 150 reports
Unknown Or Other 47 reports
Power Train 35 reports
Electrical System 20 reports
Engine 19 reports
Fuel/propulsion System 14 reports
Suspension 11 reports
Steering 9 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Seat Belts ODI 11499642 12/31/2022

2nd row seat belt malfunctioned during when rear ended recently. Seat belt came unlatched on my niece throwing her towards the front passenger seat. Car has been totaled. Injury was to driver.

Structure ODI 11707486 12/29/2025

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver's side door exterior B-Pillar trim clip attachment detached. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (Structure); however, the dealer informed the contact that the driver's side door exterior B-Pillar trim failure wa…

Structure ODI 11707584 12/29/2025

The contact owns a 2019 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

Unknown Or Other ODI 11385154 12/27/2020

LAST 2 TIMES I HAVE DRIVE THE VEHICLE MORE THAN SEVERAL HOURS, A BURNT ODD SMELL HAS COME FROM THE ENGINE HOWEVER THERE HAVE BEEN NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS, ONLY AN ODOR OR CHALKY BURNT SMELL. I HAVE 3 YOUNG KIDS AND THEY SMELLED IT AS WELL. IT HASNT HAPPEND ON SHORT TRIPS I NOTICED AFTER LONGER TRIPS OF DRIVING

Structure ODI 11632480 12/26/2024

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the A-pillar trim on the driver’s side of the windshield started to detach. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (Structure) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2019 Ford Explorer, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2019 Ford Explorer reliable?
Owners have filed 299 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2019 Ford Explorer, most often about structure. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Ford Explorer years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.