- July 22: Ford EcoBoost Lawsuit Continues Even Though Recall Was Issued news | 0 days ago
- July 20: Cops Ordered to Pay Ford $12,000 in Explorer Carbon Monoxide Lawsuit news | 2 days ago
- July 6: Ford Appeals $1.7 Billion Roof-Crush Verdict news | 16 days ago
- July 5: Ford F-650 and F-750 Recall Issued Over Tie Rods recalls | 17 days ago
- July 3: Recall: Ford Mustang Steering Wheels Are Haunted recalls | 19 days ago
CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2003 Ford Explorer one of our worst vehicles 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.
8.0
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $3,080
- Average Mileage:
- 134,600 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 4 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- rebuild transmission (3 reports)
- not sure (1 reports)
transmission problem
Helpful websites
- No one has added a helpful site for this 2003 Explorer problem yet. Be the first!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Everyone on this site has described exactly what is going wrong, how it sounds and the fear of the unknown safety issues -- time off work and money spent trying to find out what the problem is...over and over again spending more money to get to the answer!!! urrggg. I have had several mechanics take a look and there is no getting around it now that i have spent a lot of money trying this and that...it is the transmission and it will not be a pleasant bill. Try to get interest free financing and pay it off as fast as you can.
I have a great distaste for FORD and would like to file a class action law suit -- NOT happy. I wish everyone safety as they chug and jump down the freeway to be able to get to a safe spot. SHAME ON FORD!!!
- 2003explorerblues, Poway, CA, US