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 passenger seat belt (behind the driver) has locked up and we are unable to lock the seat belt in place. It locked up from the top side - not the bottom side. Since it is locked up, it will not allow anyone to sit in the seat since it can not be locked in place. Due to the electronics in the seat belt, a body shop owner advised we contact Ford directly. There are no recalls on this issue and we were advised from Ford to report this to the National Highway Safety traffic division.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that there was an abnormal grinding noise detected while making a turn. There was a crunching noise detected while entering the driveway. The contact stated that the passenger's front seat was not moving. The driver-??s side rear inflator seat belt failed to latch. The rear seat belt warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who informed the contact the seat belt buckle needed to be replaced. The track on the seat needed to be replaced. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the steering failure. The vehicle was not repaired. While driving at unknown speeds, the steering wheel seized. While making a turn, the driver had to pull the steering wheel to correct the steering. The steering power assist fault message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the seat failure was due to the motor. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.
2nd row seat belts, outer right and left have broken buckle. Part is on national back order and is not available. Ford does not have a recall or TSB active on this problem. Parts guy said this is a common problem, reflects on why part is on back order and not available. Cant put kids in vehicle due to defective seat belt. No have not contacted insurance or contacted police, I am a certified State Safety Inspector in Virginia and a Fleet mechanic for PWC GOV [XXX],-. Seat belt broke and will not lock buckle in place. Left side is starting to not latching anymore also. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The left rear seat belt buckle/receptacle broke in early 2023. Ford told me the part is on backorder. Every time I have checked with Ford, they continue to say the part is on backorder. I can't use the vehicle as intended while Ford refuses to supply the safety parts necessary.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was discovered that the cause of the failure was related to the rear middle row seat belt assembly. The air bag light was illuminated due to the seat belt assembly faulty wiring. The defect was initially repaired under warranty; however, the failure persisted, and the warranty expired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact of a Customer Satisfaction Program related to the failure; however, the vehicle was not included in the program. The contact was then given a case number. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 13,681.
- Oconomowoc, WI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the second-row driver-??s and passenger's side seat belt buckle covers had detached, causing the air bag warning light to illuminate. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21B11 (2nd Row Inflatable Seat Belt); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that he received notification of Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP): 21B11 (Second Row Inflatable Seat Belt); however, the part to do the repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The local dealer and two unknown dealers were contacted several times and informed the contact the part was not yet available for Customer Satisfaction Program. The dealer later informed the contact that the Customer Satisfaction Program had expired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist because the Customer Satisfaction Program had expired. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the seat belt and air bag warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed and the contact was informed that the seat belt wiring harness located in the second-row seat had failed. The wiring harness was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The contact was informed that the seat belt wiring harness needed to be replaced; however, the parts were on backorder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the rear passenger's side seat belt buckle retractor was stuck and failed to release as needed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
Air bag light comes on intermittently. Current mileage 62,094. Noted 21 prior complaints on your site. Brought to dealer who told me the problem was with a wire harness failure. None of the safety air bags will operate/deploy when this light is on. A faulty harness that had failed will put me and my passengers in serious jeopardy of injury or death in the event of an accident. This diagnosis cost me $149 only to find out it would cost hundreds of dollars more to have the problem fixed. Internet research reveals this problem was addressed in a 2016 technical bulletin 16-0001; Code B141B. We purchased this vehicle as a certified pre-owned vehicle after Ford issued the technical bulletin. No mention of Ford's internal bulletin was made by the dealer at the time of my purchase. Ford has been aware of this problem for years. According to the dealership technician there is no formal recall to have this manufacturing defect corrected by Ford at no cost to the purchaser of the vehicle. Didn't fully functional air bags come as part of my certified pre-owned purchase? I expect the manufacturer's safety equipment to be fully functional. Please review 2015 Explorer Owner's Manual as follows: Child Safety (pages 18-37), Safety Belts (pages 38-48) Personal Safety System (page 49) and Supplementary Restraints System (pages 50-61) with particular attention to page 49 bearing in mind that NONE of these safety features work when the air bag light is on. What good are safety features that are disabled by a manufacturing defect in the wiring harness? Ford has not only disappointed its customers, it has put them in serious jeopardy when using their product. Your rating system notes Crash, Fire, Injuries and Deaths. Do not wait for a positive notation in any of these categories before you act on safety recommendations, including a mandated recall, which is your primary tool for preventing future civil transportation accidents.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his daughter was seated in the rear passenger-??s side seat, the seat belt failed to latch securely. The contact stated that the seat belt casing had fractured. The contact then stated that the failure reoccurred while his daughter was seated in the driver's side rear seat. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the rear passenger-??s and driver-??s side seat belts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and the contact was advised to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 28,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the contact seat belt warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the seat belt sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle had exceeded the warranty extension and was no longer covered. The contact researched online and related the failure to Ford Customer Satisfaction Program: 21B11 (Seat Belts). The failure mileage was 64,710.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the driver-??s and passenger-??s side middle row captain chair inflatable seat belt receivers had malfunctioned and were inoperable. The contact indicated that the passenger-??s side seat belt receiver housing and the internal clip had initially fractured and later the driver's internal clip had fractured making the seat belts unusable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the seat belts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 106,000.
My child was trying to buckle her seatbelt (right seat, middle row) and the part that you insert the metal into snapped apart. HUGE safety issue. What if it broke during an accident. We were sitting still (car in park) in our driveway thankfully.
My family and I planned to go to town one day. The vehicle was parked in my driveway at the time and all seat belts were working the night before as my family and I had went to town the night before for dinner with out any problems with the seatbelts. When my daughter got in the back driver seat and attempted to put on her seat belt it was in a locked position. My wife and I attempted to get the seatbelt to unlock but it would not. I took it to the dealership bill talley Ford in mechanicsville Virginia. They looked it over and said that the mechanism had became locked up (something I was already aware of). And according to them it would need to be replaced because it is the only way to unlock it. I was not in any accidents and the rear seat belts that are installed on my Ford Explorer also have built-in airbags. My personal belief is it has to do with the airbag system built into the seatbelt why it has become locked. The dealership explain to me it would cost me $700 to have it repaired. Which I responded I didn't believe I should have to pay anything considering that it is a safety device and the vehicle hadn't been any accidents. My personal opinion is a car manufacturer/dealership should replace any broken safety devices without question and without charging. Especially when it wasn't the owner's fault. To this day the seat belt stays in a locked unusable position which luckily I have third row seating in my Explorer so my children can sit in the third row rear seats where the seat belts work but it would be very unfortunate if my family of four or any family of four who didn't have the third row seating. If someone could please look into this and get back to me it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and help. I also did some research on a few Ford online forums and seen that there have been hundreds of people with the same complaint/problem.
Frayed wiring under the passenger side second row seating. This is causing the airbag light to be on and will not allow that airbag to deploy in an accident. Ford is aware of the problem and that it is a common issue that they do not know what causes it. Completely unacceptable for a family vehicle to have this issue and the manufacturer not take care of it. We do not believe this vehicle I safe to Transport or have passengers in the back seat now.
I bought this veh. In 2016 when it had 17,000 miles on it. Within 2 weeks I got a warning light for the air bag system. Took it to the dealer and was advised that the sensor giving trouble was in the seat belt airbag for the rear passenger seat. I was repaired under warranty for technical service bulletin tsb-0001 published January, 2016. I have had trouble off and on ever since with the airbag warning light. It would stay on for a little while and then go off. I had the dealer check it and they could not find a problem without the light being on. This week it stayed on so I had the dealer check it. It had the code B141B which was the same code repaired in 2016. Since the repair was warranteed for 12 months the dealer wants $797 to fix the current issue, which is the same one from 2016. I very seldom use the back seat as I have no children in my house. I would rather not spend that money, since I am retired, but if I don't get it fixed all of the other air bags in the vehicle will not work. I confirmed with a service advisor that none of the airbags in the vehicle would deploy if that light is on. I asked him if there was a way to by-pass it in the system so the light would go off and he said it is a FMVSS that could not be modified and must be fixed the right way. I feel like I am being held hostage in an unsafe vehicle unless I pay the $797 to get it fixed (again).
Slowly pulling out of narrow parking lot exit lane, through opened gate. Rapid unexplained acceleration, seemed to launch car across one way city street into restaurant building. Passenger seat belt (fastened, left bruises) released upon impact; passenger dash board airbag did not deploy; drivers' airbag weak. Passenger hospitalized from lower airbag, broken leg, severe laceration.
The airbag warning light came on without warning or incident (no accident or impact, just started my car one day and the light stayed on). Per research done online with same warning light, make and model of vehicle, issue appeared to be with the rear/2nd row seat belt airbags disengaging and this causes none of the airbags to work in the vehicle in the event of a crash. At the time the light initially came on I had about 72K miles on my car, and it appears this is about the same mileage of all other Explorer owners with this issue. I took it in for service for the light and incurred repairs totaling just under $1,000 to have the parts replaced and the airbags function again. The fact that I did nothing (other than turn on my car when it was approaching the 70-75K mileage mark) to cause malfunction of the airbags but had to pay $1,000 to fix it and have airbags work in my car in the event of an accident is disappointing. Ford needs to issue a recall for this, it's unacceptable to have owner and passenger safety compromised through no fault of the owner, and have to incur costly repairs to make this right. I kept my receipts available to prove cause and cost of airbag light issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Reidsville, NC, USA