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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2025 Ford Explorer — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 105 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

105
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
8
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
0
Involved Fire
owner-reported
7
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.

732 complaints

299 complaints

1,233 complaints

445 complaints

269 complaints

111 complaints

21 complaints

105 complaints

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Electrical System 23 reports
Unknown Or Other 18 reports
Service Brakes 18 reports
Power Train 15 reports
Forward Collision Avoidance 14 reports
Visibility/wiper 10 reports
Steering 9 reports
Engine 8 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Structure ODI 11707558 12/29/2025

I brought my 2025 Explorer in on 12/19/2025 for a recall check. I mentioned to the Service Advisor that the left rear inner wheel well skirt was detached from the quarter panel. After the car was looked at, he came to me and said that they can be replaced at a cost of $600...XXX. He said it is from the snow and ice tearing them because of the larger tires on the vehicles now..…

Communication ODI 11632855 12/28/2024

Software for phone has failed 6 times. In the repair shop at dealer 7 out of 9 weeks owned. Dealer couldn't replicate until this visit. Couldn't use law required hands free system because people could not hear me while I could hear them perfectly

Air Bags ODI 11706328 12/20/2025

Front and side curtain air bags failed. Was side swiped and hit a guard rail head on at 60-70 mph. I was going on the far left lane on the interstate 85. When a lady in the center lane hit the side of my car not paying attention that I was in my lane.

Unknown Or Other ODI 11631832 12/20/2024

Hands free connection from cell phone to vehicle speakers and mic won't work properly. I consider this a safety issue as it requires me to pickup phone and turn off Bluetooth and work phone manually, looking at it, rather than hands-free. Dealer says corporate has no resolution. Ford consumer line said they're aware but no idea when or if a resolution will be available.

Service Brakes ODI 11704952 12/14/2025

My remote start would not work from inside of a restaurant so I went out to manually start the car. It started fine. It was very cold out so I thought that I would drive up next to the building to get close to the entrance. The parking lot was not slippery at all , when I applied the brakes I had absolutely no brakes and the car bumped into the building. No damage to the build…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2025 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 2025 Ford Explorer reliable?
Owners have filed 105 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2025 Ford Explorer, most often about electrical system. 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.