1999 Ford Explorer Sport: Reliability Data

127
Total Complaints
71,900mi
Median Mileage
Recliner
Top Issue
7
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

50,800 25th Percentile
71,900 Median Mileage
102,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Recliner
11
Electrical System
10
Cruise Control
5
Air Bags
4
Vehicle Speed Control
4
Seats
4
Automatic Transmission
4
Interior Lighting
3
Structure
3
Tires
3

Severity Assessment

7
Crashes
5
Fires
9
Injuries
2
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CONSUMER STATES VEHICLE STALLS. *JB"
"CONSUMER EXPERIENCED A TIRE BLOW, HE THEN PURCHASED ANOTHER TIRE EXACTLY LIKE THE BLOW TIRE, CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THAT ONLY THE FIRESTONE TIRES WITH THE VD SERIAL WERE UNSAFE, ONE MONTH LATER AN ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE NOT TO PURCHASE ANY OTHER FIRESTONE TIRES, WHICH INCLUDED THE TIRES THAT CONSUMER ..."
"ENGINE CHECK LIGHT STAYING ON. DEALER NOTIFIED. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS MATTER.*AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Recliner 11 complaints
25th: 55,450 mi Median: 70,000 mi 75th: 83,816 mi
Electrical System 10 complaints
25th: 68,750 mi Median: 80,250 mi 75th: 96,948 mi
Cruise Control 5 complaints
Median: 76,655 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 23 FL: 13 IL: 11 VA: 11 PA: 8 NY: 7 GA: 6 TX: 5 NJ: 5 AR: 4

Who Files Complaints?

22.8%
Original Owners
77.2%
Second+ Owners

Ford Explorer Sport — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
1997444
19981455
20001026
200124323
200216012
2003854
2004235

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28