"How reliable is the 2018 Ford Explorer?"

"Based on 819 NHTSA complaints, the 2018 Ford Explorer has a median complaint mileage of 42000 miles. The most common issue is STRUCTURE."

"What are common problems with the 2018 Ford Explorer?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2018 Ford Explorer is STRUCTURE, accounting for a significant portion of the 819 total complaints filed."

2018 Ford Explorer: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 819 complaints

819

Total Complaints

42,000mi

Median Mileage

STRUCTURE

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

14,500 25th Percentile

42,000 Median Mileage

78,948 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

STRUCTURE

166

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

153

STRUCTURE:BODY

ENGINE

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

POWER TRAIN

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

SUSPENSION

STEERING

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"THE CAR INTERMITTENTLY WREAKS OF GAS FUMES (NOT CARBON MONOXIDE) ON THE INSIDE OF THE CARE. THIS PRIMARILY HAPPENS BETWEEN 1/4 TO TO A FULL GAS TANK. THE SMELL ALWAYS OCCURS AFTER A GAS FILL UP. THE GAS TANK IS NEVER OVERFILLED. IT ALSO HAPPENS WHEN TAKING A SHARP TURN AFTER A STOP SIGN/LIGHT..."

"GO TO FORDEXPLORERNIGHTMARE.COM, READ THE 2 KEY DOCUMENTS, OTHER STORIES AND SHARE YOUR STORY. CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING FROM THESE VEHICLES."

"THE INTEGRATED BLIND SPOT MIRROR ON BOTH THE DRIVER SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE IS MOUNTED AT THE WRONG ANGLE. IT DOES NOT SHOW THE BLIND SPOT OF THE CAR. YOU CAN NOT SEE ANY PORTION OF LOW PROFILE CARS IN THE BLIND SPOT MIRROR AND YOU CAN NOT SEE THE HEADLIGHTS OF MOST VEHICLES AT NIGHT. IT DOES SHO..."

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.

STRUCTURE 166 complaints

25th: 50,000 mi Median: 73,000 mi 75th: 91,000 mi

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 153 complaints

25th: 225 mi Median: 3,400 mi 75th: 25,000 mi

STRUCTURE:BODY 94 complaints

25th: 10,458 mi Median: 21,000 mi 75th: 54,500 mi

ENGINE 88 complaints

25th: 8,500 mi Median: 30,000 mi 75th: 81,135 mi

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 50 complaints

25th: 5,750 mi Median: 25,000 mi 75th: 46,793 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

TX: 90 CA: 81 FL: 76 MI: 34 OH: 32 AZ: 31 MO: 30 PA: 29 NY: 26 NC: 25

Who Files Complaints?

0.7%

Original Owners

99.3%

Second+ Owners

Ford Explorer — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1991	764	113,804	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	70
1992	848	125,000	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	54
1993	1151	107,248	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	98
1994	1531	97,541	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	124
1995	1048	125,000	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	107
1996	1818	127,000	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	248
1997	2149	100,000	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	180
1998	2374	100,000	TIRES:TREAD/BELT	219
1999	1737	80,000	TIRES	143
2000	1203	77,938	TIRES	115
2001	500	90,500	TIRES	82
2002	4095	79,000	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	178
2003	1368	74,000	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	70
2004	1647	65,000	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	69
2005	604	70,000	STRUCTURE:BODY	30
2006	788	60,000	POWER TRAIN	18
2007	271	69,000	POWER TRAIN	14
2008	215	78,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	8
2009	49	67,000	VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	8
2010	155	48,000	POWER TRAIN	13
2011	1481	65,000	STEERING	48
2012	1013	62,000	STEERING	14
2013	2757	74,000	STEERING	61
2014	2011	64,000	STEERING	48
2015	2138	54,600	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	52
2016	2940	45,647	STEERING	56
2017	1927	45,000	STRUCTURE	53
2019	306	50,000	STRUCTURE	2
2020	1544	12,600	POWER TRAIN	50
2021	492	38,400	POWER TRAIN	21
2022	308	28,000	POWER TRAIN	25
2023	126	8,500	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	11
2024	21	5,080	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	0
2025	111	2,289	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	11

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