2021 Ford Explorer — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 444 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.
1,680 complaints
1,808 complaints
2,460 complaints
1,710 complaints
732 complaints
299 complaints
1,233 complaints
444 complaints
269 complaints
111 complaints
21 complaints
104 complaints
0 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
When given gas to move from a complete stop, vehicle lost all power. After vehicle lost all power to rear wheels, warning lights flashed on cluster. Manually moved vehicle to side of road and checked under SUV to see rear axle was at a unusual angle and later discovered rear axle bolt on road. Vehicle was towed to dealership, which originally completed recall repair in July of…
11/9/23 our still under warranty, 2021 Ford Explorer Platinum with 20,152 miles on it died at stop sign and would not start. Locked in park and had to be towed to dealer who worked on it for one week and claimed it was fixed. Same problem second time a few days later and dealer claimed it was lose wires and returned to us on 11/28. This last time (happened at a very dangerous…
The fabric from the moonroof has come loose on the sides and blocks rear visibility if open. This is apparently an issue with many vehicles.
Recently brought my 2021 Ford Explorer with 100,000 miles in for what I thought was a wheel bearing issue. The mechanic reports the entire rear end is gone and needs to be replaced. I’ve owned at least 4 Explorers all driven well over 170,000 without ever having this issue. This car also spent the first 3/4 months I owned it at the Ford garage getting the electrical replaced a…
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that he recently had a manufacturer recall performed on the vehicle for Ford Customer Satisfaction Program Number 22N06 (Rear Axle Bolt Replacement). The contact stated that the dealer re-programed the E-brake to engage automatically when the vehicle was placed in park(P). The contact stated while reversing out of his d…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2021 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.