CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2004 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 2002-2005 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.
5.5
fairly significant
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,200
Average Mileage:
105,200 miles
Total Complaints:
8 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
not sure (6 reports)
installed bug deflector to hide the problem (1 reports)
I'LL REPEAT, MY 04 FORD EXPLORER IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF JUNK THAT I HAVE EVER OWNED. I WILL NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER PIECE OF SH*T FORD AGAIN.......EVER.
FORD SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SELL A PIECE OF CRAP LIKE THIS.
we try to keep are vehicle in good running condition so when the hood started to rust we were put out. we had the car hood fix , so now we looking for a bug guard to keep it looking new
The aluminum hood has corrosion bubbles and missing paint. I took it to the dealer where I bought it new about 6 years ago and they fixed it. It is now having the same problem. It looks like hell and the local body shop gave me an estimate of $1600 to replace it because they said it can't be repainted.
The paint job on the hood just started bubbling/peeling off and looks ugly. Needs new paint job. Not happy with this vehicle. Would not recommend this vehicle to others at all.
- cstork,
La Vernia, TX, US
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I didn't want to pay for the paint job so since the peeling was happening on the front edge I scraped the old paint off along the front edge of the hood, sanded a little, painted with spray paint and installed a bug deflector, can't even tell there was a problem. No issues on the rest of the hood surface.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I'LL REPEAT, MY 04 FORD EXPLORER IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF JUNK THAT I HAVE EVER OWNED. I WILL NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER PIECE OF SH*T FORD AGAIN.......EVER.
FORD SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SELL A PIECE OF CRAP LIKE THIS.
IT'S CHEVY'S FOR MR FOR NOW ON.
- Chris B., Saint Charles, MO, US