10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 80,569 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
2005 Ford Explorer. Frame is rotting along the welds. Not up and down. Length wise running with the frame. Obviously a factory weld issue and a big issue at that as the issue could have the frame fail and entire hub/axle/wheel assembly rip right off the vehicle. This is also a very common issue with Ford's in general from 02-2005. As you already know I'm sure. This vehicle was well maintained and taken care of and the frame issue has made an otherwise great running low mileage vehicle worthless. Not to mention had the issue not been found very dangerous! please get these death traps off the road!! have pictures but the files are to large to send. Thanks.
- Burlington, ME, USA
The back lift gate panel cracked on the back of our Ford Explorer and when we went to shut the lift gate the whole back window shattered. Ford won't replace it because they say its not a safety issue and our year of our Ford was not apart of the recall of these panels being cracked. Please be aware that if you have one of these cracks that the back window can shatter when closing the lift gate.
- Arvada, CO, USA
We have a 2005 Ford Explorer and the back lift gate panel was cracked right by the Ford symbol. When we went to open the back lift gate and the panel where it was cracked broke in half and shattered the whole back window and injured us. Ford wants to charge me $140 to just look at it. Come on Ford do what's right! beware if you have a cracked panel on your Ford! it can break in half and the glass can shatter.
- Arvada, CO, USA
I have a 2005 Ford Explorer and upon opening my rear tailgate, the screws on the two hinges broke from the glass. Tthe only thing holding it halfway up is the hydraulic power lifters. Glad I was parked and not on the highway
- Neillsville, WI, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that there was fracture in the rear hatch above the rear windshield wiper and all the way down to the bottom of the hatch. The failure allowed moisture to enter the door. The contact was concerned that the fracture would cause the rear windshield to shatter, causing serious injuries or worse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be inspected. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 138,000.
- St. George, UT, USA
Rear liftgate crack
- Omaha, NE, USA
Cracked applique on rear lift gate.
- Ormond Beach, FL, USA
There are two cracks on the back top lift gate which allows water to get to the electric locks and it opens by itself when wet. The wheels bearings have to be replaced about every 3 months. The passenger front belt tightens and will not loosen.
- Morristown, TN, USA
While parked in the driveway, we found that the back window of the hatch was completely broken and the body in the back was lifted off the car. It looks as if the hydraulic arm malfunctioned overnight.
- Rochester, NY, USA
Crack in rear hatch plate by Ford emblem
- Fairport, NY, USA
Crack on back panel from window down around Ford emblem literally just appeared one day. My Explorer was purchased new in 2005 and is in excellent condition except for this mystery crack that I am now noticing on a lot of Explorer around the same age. It is an obvious defect! when is Ford going to take care of this?....updated 11/13/15
- Watertown, CT, USA
The rear lift window started cracking multiple times and the open button stopped activating.
- Sunrise, FL, USA
Walked out to my garage and noticed a cracked had showed up overnight. It goes from the back eindow, by the right edge of the Ford logo, to the bottom of the lift gate. It is almost perfectly vertical, I have seen a ton of these on xlts. I thought I was lucky, I was wrong.
- Bruin, PA, USA
My 2005 Ford Explorer has multiple paint problems peeling all over the car, ,the dealer said its any after market paint job I bought the car used from dave smith Ford in 2008 they are trying to say that the car was completely repainted within the first 3 years of the cars life.
- Alden, NY, USA
I have a cracked tailgate that is a defect. I have seen this same crack on numerous Ford Explorer's 2002-2005. I have contacted Ford and have gotten no where with this problem.there are numerous complaints of this same problem. I thought the door was closed to hard, that is not the case until I kept seeing the same crack on every Ford Explorer 2002-2005 then a light bulb went off there's something wrong with the tailgate, that makes it eventually crack. This has not been fixed on our vehicle, we worry the glass could shatter while continuing to close it as I have read with some owners. Please help us solve this problem.
- Cheraw, SC, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Explorer. While opening the rear door, the contact noticed a large crack on the rear panel that extended from the rear window vertically all the way down to the end of the panel where the Ford emblem was located. The vehicle was inspected by the insurance adjustor. The vehicle was not diagnosed by an independent mechanic nor the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000.
- Mt Vernon, IN, USA
Typical Ford problem with 2002-2005 Explorer/Mountaineer. Rear tailgate cracked all on it's own because it's cold here, and because it's a defect Ford should have fixed when they knew of the issue. I am not the only one (of many) with this problem.
- Weston, WI, USA
The rear lift gate trim panel split vertically from the glass to the bottom of the lift gate. The crack runs adjacent to the Ford emblem on the lift gate. I see a lot of this occurring on similar year models and consider that this is a design defect that should be addressed.
- Charlotte, NC, USA
First noticed what appeared to be a scratch underneath rear window. Grew into a crack which runs from the bottom of the rear window down around the Ford emblem to the bottom of the window hatch. Crack has widened to about 1/8 inch. Vehicle purchased my myself brand new.
- Ada, OK, USA
- Normal, IL, USA