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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.
7.4
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $2,670
- Average Mileage:
- 152,900 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 7 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- not sure (6 reports)
- transmission rebuilt (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
Car whines when I speed up. First I thought it to be the wheel bearings which I had already replaced 3 times in under 100,000 miles all four of them, but when I let off on the gas the noise goes away. They said I may need to have something in the back of the tranny fixed, and said maybe a bad gear. Now its making the whine noise. Never buy a ford again, 2003 was a bad year. Now the back plastic is broken by the logo and no help from ford, said should of got it fixed when the recall came out, but never saw or got any info from ford about it. They want almost 400 to replace the plastic by the back window, crazy. And the worst of it, they don't give a damn about me or anyone else.
- Frank D., Plainville, MA, US