CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2002 Ford Explorer is hands-down our worst vehicle on record. "Avoid like the plague" is putting it lightly.
The 2002-2005 Explorer has a very well-established record of expensive transmission failure at under 100k miles. The Explorer has an enclosed transmission which is typically replaced with a rebuilt transmission at a cost of almost $3,000.
Another common problem for the 2002-2003 Explorer is wheel bearing failure at around 90k miles, with a typical repair bill of $500 to $1000 depending on how many wheel bearings failed.
Adding insult to injury, the 2002-2005 Explorer also has a massive problem with the rear panel cracking. While it's a minor annoyance compared to transmission failure, ironically the crack usually goes right through the Ford logo.
2.8
hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
50,821 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. While entering the vehicle, the interior lighting remained illuminated and leaked water into the vehicle. The contact noticed water stains by the visors. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 133,748.
The side curtain airbag spontaneously deployed upon side door closure of a Ford Explorer. The vehicle was sitting after re-fueling. Concurrent with and immediately prior to the deployment of the airbag, the door alarm system was chiming that a door was ajar, and after inspection by a mechanic it was determined that the security/door warning system module has failed. Ford was sent the airbag module for inspection, and has yet to provide the results of the module inspection - after a period of more than 5 months. Further problems persist with the electronic system. The door ajar alarm continues to sound at random intervals, the interior lights flicker on and off at random intervals, and the door locks repeatedly lock and unlock, all of which cause a distracting potential safety hazard while driving.
I bought my 2002 Ford Explorer used but also have a father-in-law with a Ford and he has the same problem. When we bought it the door ajar light was on all the time and the dome light would stay on but as we drove the light would turn off but the light would stay on. Recently last week the light stays on like normal but not the lights goes on and off, it dings constantly, and the doors lock and unlock while going down the road. It is very distractive as well as annoying. We got online to see what other people have done and there were lots of complaints. We tried the WD40 but they say that only works for a day or so.
Door ajar light comes on. Recycled engine checked all doors and again light comes on. Or while driving, the doors automatically unlock. The alarm sounds for no reason sometimes. Sometimes the interior lights comes on and stays on usually when I have trouble with the door ajar issues.
Dashlight illuminates, door chime sounds and automatic door locks engage intermittently while driving. I have taken the car to multiple dealers and have had multiple attempts to rectify yet the issue has yet to be resolved.
- Englewood, NJ, USA
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Two problems, one with transmission and one with instrument lights. 1) transmission would delay engaging into drive or reverse when being taken out of park (local dealer said this was "normal") but transmission would also "clunk" and "lurch" when climbing hills. Local dealer (vista Ford) adjusted with computer on three occasions, and improved the problem, but now there is still the occasional delay before transmission engages and an occasional "bang" (worse than "clunk") along with a violent "jerk" (worse than a "lurch") and this now happens during normal driving on level ground. 2) for the entire 300 days I have owned the vehicle the illumination of the "message center" display is so dim during the day that it is amost impossible to read (dealer says this is a known problem with no factory fix). The display is not controlled by the rheostat that adjusts the brightness of the general instrument array so the problem must be with the intensity of the led display itself.
Two problems, one with transmission and one with instrument lights. 1) transmission would delay engaging into drive or reverse when being taken out of park (local dealer said this was "normal") but transmission would also "clunk" and "lurch" when climbing hills. Local dealer (vista Ford) adjusted with computer on three occasions, and improved the problem, but now there is still the occasional delay before transmission engages and an occasional "bang" (worse than "clunk") along with a violent "jerk" (worse than a "lurch") and this now happens during normal driving on level ground. 2) for the entire 300 days I have owned the vehicle the illumination of the "message center" display is so dim during the day that it is amost impossible to read (dealer says this is a known problem with no factory fix). The display is not controlled by the rheostat that adjusts the brightness of the general instrument array so the problem must be with the intensity of the led display itself.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Belcamp, MD, USA