I purchased a 2015 Ford Explorer in May of 2018 with 19,800 miles on it. I have had this car in the shop more than I had my 2008 Ford Escape in the first 6 years I owned it. Car was making a clunking noise when it was making hard turns or backing out of the driveway. I called the dealership I purchased the car from and they couldn't see me for over 2 weeks. I took it to another dealership and they could get me in right away.

I had the car diagnosed and it was the Rack and Pinion, which had to be completely replaced... $2000.00 plus the $179.00 diagnostic fee. Fortunately, I purchased the extended warranty and it is fully covered. Seems to be a lot of issues with this in these vehicles. You would think they would have issued a recall on this. This car only has 32,000 miles on it, it's barely broken in.

We first noticed a popping sound while turning right backing out of a parking spot. It came on so suddenly, with no additional signs of anything wrong. It continued to grind/pop with every right turn on the drive home. My husband refused to let me drive it so it stayed parked for a few days until we could get it to our mechanic.

The mechanic said the steering gear or rack and pinion needed replacing and we’d have to take it to Ford to do it. Ford has me looking at a $2,500 charge due to “wear and tear” BS. My car has 90,000 miles. It is driven maybe 80 miles a week. Wear and tear is a bullshit ass excuse. I’ve discovered hundreds of complaints about the same issue. Steering gear going out on Explorers from 2015-2018 with approximately <110,000mi, within the past year, even causing safety problems.

Why isn’t it recalled?! I filed a complaint with NHTSA. How many complaints do they need? Are they waiting on a lawsuit? A death? Ford better get this recalled and quick!

Loud popping/clunk noise when turning right/left during reverse from my pariking.. Sound is coming from front driver side.. Very annoying... And its getting worse the sound like its bones stretching in the morning at a young age... Also after that.. New noises i hear through hitting bumps even smoothly on them... Front Suspension noise... At 50,000km like their hitting each other... This coming from a guy who drives a car very smooth and chill... Also cleans and maintain car all the time... Im a filipino and we are known to take care of cars well.. But this explorer dissapoints me... I mean the car is literally brand new but making weird noises... This is my last purchase of ford thats it.. Shifting to toyota suvs.

Roughly in the month of May, I started hearing a popping noise occasionally when I would turn either left or right. At this point I knew that this is not normal plus the vehicle is not even old. As I am typing this complaint my vehicle is currently being serviced. I took it to the dealership on Monday, 6/17/19 and was told on yesterday, 6/19/19 that the steering gear is broken which is the cause of the popping noise. Fortunately, it is covered under my extended warranty and I won't be out of any money besides my deductible.

Own a 2015 Ford Explorer Sport with approx 53,000 miles. Several months ago started hearing, and feeling through the steering wheel, a popping sound when turning the wheel to the right. Took the vehicle to the local Ford Dealer, and was told the upper strut mounts needed replacing. Had the work done, and $700 later, the sound did not go away. Took the vehicle back to Ford, and am now told the steering gear assembly (part number EB5Z-3504-N) needs to be replaced, at a cost of approx. $2,000. Reading through other posts, it is apparent that this is a known problem with the Ford Explorer power steering system.

Less than 30K on my 2015 Ford Explorer Sport and I hear and feel a tire rub at slow maneuvering speeds, almost always after a fresh start (it's not a tire rub). Turns out this is my electronic steering unit starting to go bad. Quoted $2,600 to fix. Was told the worst that could happen is I would lose my power steering - which depending on your level of driving experience and road conditions could mean something as minor as having to limp to the dealership, or death. Ever play Russian Roulette? Me either. But I don't have $2,600 either. The good news is that is hasn't happened for a month or so now...

So Ford recalls the 2011-2014 Explorers with this exact problem, but not the 2015. Thanks. I'm sure they used the excuse that they'd fixed the problem by 2015. Obviously not.

Vehicle has been making clunking noises from the front end when turning the steering. It started with probably 25K miles and has become worse over time. Over the past two months, the problem has magnified, with the sound becoming greater. Twice over the past week, my steering locked up while turning. It was not a loss of power steering, but an actual locking of the wheel. I had to use physical force to unclinch the steering and it clunked back to straight. Nearly got in an accident due to it. I can't believe Ford would not cover this obvious defect.

Car have a noise when steering to the right. I always took my car to a Ford authorized dealer for all it’s maintenance and notify them about an oil leak in the right side. They never found anything in every scheduled maintenance I left the car. Now I have this problem and they told me rack and pinion is damaged and the warranty expired. The cost to get repaired at the Ford dealer is around $1,900. I didn’t repair it yet because of the cost. They told me the steering eventually will stop working and I could have an accident.

Bought this car brand new in August 2015 from Al Packer Ford in Maryland. Not a great dealership but regardless they had the car/color/package combination I wanted. Actually the only dealer within 1000 miles of me. Anyway the car had 73 miles on it when we bought it. No problems until about the 5k mile mark. Started hearing popping when turning hard left or right. Not a continuous problem but an intermittent one. Never the less brought it to dealer. Couldn't replicate per dealer. Picked up car, carried on with using it. Noise occasionally showed it's ugly head. Meanwhile, the hood started to blister along the lip. I believe they call it "aluminum oxidation". Took to dealer, they took pictures, sent to Ford. Ford gave ok. Dealership took car for 2 days to paint hood. No rental/loaner(cause I bought car elsewhere, bs!). That problem was solved. Paint kind of looks shi*y. Back to steering issue. Fast forward to August 2017. This car has been maintained as per Ford. We took a 2 hour trip to Philadelphia. Made it there, made it home....almost. Got off exit about 4 miles from my house. Pulled into a Wendy's for a couple burgers and that's where the fun started. Got a fault code on dash "steering assist failed". Shut off car, called dealer. Explained situation. Asked what he thought about driving it. He said it was a personal choice but if I wanted to drop off and leave it, he would try to expedite it. Started the car back up to leave, fault code came back and now I had NO steering. This was like driving a rig with no power steering, it took two of us to get to dealer. Went by dealer today. Tech did oil change and tire rotation. I asked what about the steering? He said car is getting a whole rack and pinion, coming in tomorrow. WHAT? This car is kept immaculate, serviced correctly at dealer. I'm waiting for service guy to call. I couldn't go in and talk to him, I was pissed. What will be the icing on the cake is if he tells me Ford wont cover it. This dealership is pretty fair so I'm hoping were all good. The point of my rant is paying $45k for a car and the s*t box just falls apart is ridiculous. I'm a loyal Ford guy but idk for how much longer. Btw. Dealership is Barber Ford in Exeter Pa(by Scranton). Idk if anyone care or it matters but the aren't as#holes like a couple other local Ford dealers in my area.

Basically, whenever I would turn - left or right - I'd hear this clicking or popping sound., Went to the dealer who basically had a Service Bulletin on it and said BOTH Axles need to be replaced. I've taken GREAT care of the car, having Ford do ALL scheduled maintenance. I expressed to them that an AXLE, (never mind 2), should not be failing after 45-50k miles. I feel as since there's a service bulletin, they KNEW about it but did no recall, as they are just waiting for whoever reports it. They said I was over my 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty, BUT since I bought if from their dealership and had ALL my maintenance done there, they would waive the cost. I'm going there tomorrow to get them replaced....We'll see how that goes...Stay tuned.