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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
16 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
26 / 0
Average Mileage:
122,939 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 morning of the incident my wife turn the car on to warm it up before taking the kids to school and she was sitting in the driver's side when the airbag pop by it self she hurt her left arm and right arm called Ford the same day of the incident and they told me to wait a couple of days for they could send a letter to me for I could take it to a dealer waited and took it they took a look at it and pulled the restraints control module and installed a new one and waited for Ford to look at the module they pulled they send me a letter saying nothing was wrong with the module and they could not tell me why airbag pop.
Driver #1(me) was traveling South on statesville rd. Driver #1 stated that she was initially a few car lengths behind vehicle #2. driver #1 stated that vehicle #2 made a sudden stop. Driver #1 stated that she could not stop in time and struck vehicle #2 in the rear. Driver #2 stated that he stopped to turn into center and was rear ended by vehicle #1. witnesses, stated that the driver of the Honda (vehicle #2) appeared to have over shot his turn, and slammed on his brakes to make a right turn into the pva.
With no warning or abnormal instrument indications, both side air bags inadvertently deployed during vehicle operation. Vehicle was on a level paved state highway, between intersections, operating between 30-35mph.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. The contact was driving 65 mph when a crash occurred. The air bags failed to deploy and both the driver and passenger were injured. The passenger was ejected through the windshield and injured. The vehicle was destroyed. Prior to the crash, the brakes, rotors and wheel bearings were repaired. The VIN was not available. The police were notified and a report was filed. The failure mileage was 85,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. While driving 45 mph she hit a deer. The air bag only opened in the column of the steering wheel. Powder residue came out of the air bag but the air bag did not come out at all. No one was injured; yet, there was damage to the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was drivable to her residence. The dealer was contacted and informed her to bring the vehicle in for inspection. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 109,000.
- Rockport, ME, USA
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On 1-17-2010 @ approx 5:30 am I was enroute to work, it was raining heavily, I hit a puddle of water in the road, hydroplaned and hit head-on with a large tree. My 2004 Ford Explorer received over $12000 in damages and was totaled. I received chest/breast injuries. No air bags ever deployed. I contacted Ford motors who stated they would respond to me within 15 days regarding this defect. To this date I have not received any response.
The consumer was involved in a single vehicle rollover accident in his 2004 Ford Explorer limited in which the seat belts failed to properly restrain him. The air bags also did not deploy. The seat belts had been recalled and fixed prior to the accident. The consumer was not seriously injured and only sustained minor scrapes.
Consumer was hit head on by another driver that was heading South and went left of center, hitting consumer who was headed North. This caused consumer's vehicle to become airborne, flipping, rolling and landing on passenger side.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Las Vegas, NV, USA