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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 0
Average Mileage:
105,461 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. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the transmission refused to shift gears. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that they could not diagnose the cause of the failure but the transmission need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 131,000.
My vehicle was parked in a driveway. I started the vehicle, depressed the brake, and attempted to put the gearshift lever into reverse. The gearshift lever would not move. Again, I depressed the brake and attempted to move the gearshift lever into reverse. The lever broke off at the joint where it comes out of the steering column. I had to hire a tow truck. The driver had to disengage the transmission to load it onto the bed of the tow truck. This has been a massive inconvenience both financially and strategically. I expected this issue to be in the recall mode as there are many incidents noted on this site. I feel the Ford Motor Company should be held liable for all my costs as this is obviously a flawed metal joint that should not fail with normal use. We reside in a mountainous state and use the gearshift lever to down shift on the same roads. This occurrence would have been disaster on floyd hill outside of denver. I guess I was lucky!
The dreaded gearshift in hand so well known by Ford and anyone with this model, and Ford wants big money from the consumer, for a terribly engineered part. Have you driven a Ford lately?
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the gear shifter fractured. The vehicle was not the taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 167,000.
Bearing keep have to be replaced, an the rear coil spring is cracked an the tire came off while driving my truck, have replaced the wheel bearing 3 times already. An I have replace the transmission 2 times.
- Atlanta, GA, USA
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Like many other frustrated Ford owners, I have had transmission problems with my Explorer. Its really frustrating when you take it to the repair shop and they don't even need to see it to know the transmission needs to be rebuilt, due to the track record of the faulty parts Ford has used. Its really sad when they know the transmission where not good and continued to install them for more years. I hope sooner or later they own up to their faults and do the right thing and recall the faulty transmissions. We spent good money for a quality american made car and did not expect to have to invest almost $3,000 in a new transmission the next year. Ford will lose a lot of loyal customers over this and needs to address this problem.
Bought a used 2002 Explorer with 116,000 miles on it, went through all the ware items and replaced with new. I drove this vehicle to work for a while, enough to get the mileage to 140,010 miles then suddenly started to slip into 3rd or miss all together 3rd gear. 1st to 2nd works fine, 2nd to 3rd is gone (engine raves like it went into neutral) when you let off the accelerator it goes into 4th gear on will pull again, O/D works also. Dangerous for anyone in vehicle, this is a very serious safety concern, if someone was to have to get into traffic and this vehicle was to this they could very easily be run over by a vehicle they are trying to stay ahead of or had pulled out in front of. Ford has known about this problem for years now and is doing nothing to make it go away are remedy the poorly designed transmission and it just ticks me off that the federal highway safety people don't make Ford do a recall to fix the affected vehicles before someone gets killed.
Pulled into park, went to shift vehicle into park (was fully stopped) and gear shifter broke off. I did not apply any force, just the normal typical action of shifting the gear. Good thing it was in neutral when it snapped. Took rubber seal off of the gear lever arm and the part which the lever arm was attached had totally broken off. The metal was not stripped or twisted but broken. Part #905-104: Column shift repair.
Pulling in driveway stopped the vehicle going to put it in park shift lever broke off inside of steering column went on internet found 146 complaints as the same thing happened to them on Ford Explorer carcomplaints.com.
My Ford Explorer has had so many ridiculous problems. This one is extremely inconvenient. The car has trouble shifting gears, it spins from 1st to 2nd gear and then I have to let go of the accelerator for it to shift again, it skips 3rd gear altogether and jerks into fourth after pressing and depressing the accelerator a series of times. Once it's in 4th gear, it doesn't go past 50 mph. My mechanic says his monitor detected a faulty solender and the entire pack has to be replaced, but that may not be the only problem. If that doesn't do the trick (even though it needs to be replaced regardless) he will have to open the transmission and possibly rebuild or replace some of the parts. I have encountered hundreds of other 2002 Ford Explorer owners with the same problem. Aside from this, I have a list of other dangerous issues that this car has had and that has endangered my family's and my life numerous times: - gear shift breaking off the steering column as I shifted from reverse to drive in the middle of a busy intersection. - ignition cylinder/switch breaking - possible spontaneous explosion recall related to the cruise control - rear latch breaking and inability to use the rear latch. - electrical system failure - doors not closing properly & draining the battery - faulty alarm system - faulty temperature gauge and radiator - Ford not allowing customers to buy just the parts needed for replacement and repair and forcing their customers to purchase entire packages only in order to get the necessary parts at extremely high prices. Ford should be incriminated for selling these vehicles knowing full well that they are flooded with life threatening issues to their customers.
I was driving my 2002 Ford Explorer about 25mph when I felt the rear end drop down. Pulled over to the side of the road and all 5 studs had sheared off. The second time it happened I was only backing out of my driveway when I put it into drive & started to accelerate the opposite side studs sheared off. This time only 4 studs broke so I limped the truck back onto my driveway. The third time this happened I was driving about 15mph going around a turn & 4 studs broke off again. If I was going any faster the truck could have flipped over.
Multiple issues with the transmission. From park, when shifted into reverse there is a surge that overcomes the brakes and causes the vehicle to move roughly 4-5 feet. Also, the transmissions shifts so hard that it shakes the entire vehicle. When shifting through the gears the transmissions stalls then shifts so hard it overcomes the steering wheel and sometimes causes a change of direction. When traveling at highway speeds 50mph + in overdrive the transmission will surge the vehicle violently as it attempts to stay in gear. After regularly scheduled service of the transmission and multiple discussions with the Ford dealership they have not offered a solution other than spend thousands of dollars on another transmission that may cause the same result. This is an unsafe vehicle and needs to be remedied before an accident or death occurs.
While pulling out from a stop sign the transmission was slipping causing the Explorer to barely pull out into a busy intersection in the path of oncoming traffic which had to stop to avoid hitting me. This was not the only time this has happened, and it happens with no warning.
Three months ago the overdrive light began flashing on my dashboard. The automatic transmission made a loud noise when changing gears. Sometimes the RPM's will rev but the car will not increase in speed.the light will not turn off and the transmission continues to shift harshly.
Merging into heavy traffic on US23 N. in Ohio, tried to accelerate just as I always do and the transmission decides it doesnt want to shift, then when it finally did (approx 5000 RPM) it slamed into gear. Narrowly avoided being rear-ended. Turned vehicle around, tried fluid/filter change with no success. Did a search on the net and found thousands upon thousands of the same problem. Checked for recall and to my surprise there was none.
Drive train, bucks, grinds, is slipping. Makes alot of noise. Had the rear end replaced and it did not work, paid $1000 or so and did not take care of the problem.
I just purchased the vehicle in a private sale on 11/09/12 and on 11/10/12 went to shift from park into reverse on a flat surface and my shift lever broke off and I am not able to shift my vehicle.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 2 mph and attempting to shift into park, the gear shift lever became detached, leaving the vehicle stuck in reverse. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the contact was awaiting diagnosis of the failure. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 167,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Clovis, CA, USA