10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 4 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 10 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 48,722 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
A little over a month ago the left rear toe link broke while driving. This caused the car to lose control and go into a sideways slide, breaking the wheel hub in the process. Smooth road going about 50 mph in good conditions. We got the car fixed and had to pay for the repairs since the car is no longer under factory warranty. After the Ford dealer in mchenry il had it for over a week, we got the car back, drove it for a few days and suddenly we had a cracked exhaust flex pipe. We had to pay several hundred more to get that repaired. Again, driven on smooth roads in the summer, nothing that would have caused this so suddenly. Got the car back again after several more days in the shop.. drove it for a couple more days and the left rear toe link broke.. again... dealer this time installed the "recall kit" on both sides. Luckily, this time it was at slow speeds coming into a parking lot. Had the car towed back to the dealer. Again.. we have had the car back for about 3 days now, and the left toe link has come loose.. again.. the car will be towed back to the dealer tomorrow because it is unsafe to drive. It was driven 3 times at low speeds around town since we got it back. My wife is now afraid to drive the car out of fear of it breaking again. This is a serious issue if the recall part doesn't work. When this part fails, this car has a severe loss of control and can very easily result in an accident. Ford needs to get to the bottom of this before someone gets killed.
- Johnsburg, IL, USA
As we were turning into a parking space there was a popping sound so I immediately took the car to the dealer. We were told that the rack and pinion was defective which is the second time this has happened in a Ford around the 40,000 mile mark. If the rack had failed at high speed it could well have been fatal.
- West New York, NJ, USA
I bought the car used in April 2019, it only has 25,000 miles. I was driving with my toddler when all of the sudden I could not steer the vehicle easily and warning lights started going off after I lost power steering. The lights were power assist fault and something about advancetrack system in which I noticed that my four wheel drive capability was not working. I was on a city street so I was able to pull into a parking lot. Once I let it sit for a few minutes and started up, everything was alright. This was the 2nd time this has happened the first time, I was just exiting off the highway when I lost power steering and warning came on but it only occurred for a minute and everything was back to normal. This is a safety risk and I am afraid to drive it long distance. Other than this I love this vehicle!
- St Louis, MO, USA
2015 Ford Explorer. Consumer writes in regards to power steering failure. The consumer stated while driving the steering service light illuminated and the power steering immediately went out. The vehicle was not included in the power steering recall.
- Simi Valley, CA, USA
50K only and the rack and pinion steering column is failing.
- Gilbert, AZ, USA
Noise when turning or backing up on drivers side. New shocks/struts have recently been put on the front.
- Channelview, TX, USA
I thought the vehicle was having struts issues in the front as well as a sway bar. However I finally got an appointment at the Ford dealership and they stated that the issue was caused by a failing electronic steering rack. This vehicle only have 42,524 miles on it and this should not be happening already. This could potentially fail causing you to lose power steering and cause an accident. The vehicle makes the noise when turning slowly to the right or when backing up. It will also make the noise when you are stationary and turn the wheel back and forth. The quote I received for the repair was $1,770. This is not something that should have to be repaired on a 2015 vehicle with low mileage.
- Hayesville, NC, USA
Noisy popping noise when steering left and right at a stand still or low speeds. This turns into a locked steering wheel in one position.
- Bowling Green, KY, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. While driving approximately 60 mph, the 'lane detection failure' message suddenly appeared and the power steering failed. The steering wheel became very difficult to turn in either direction. After stopping the vehicle and restarting the engine, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who found diagnostic code: C200D and advised the contact to take the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was taken to jones Ford of North charleston (5757 rivers ave, North charleston, South Carolina), but the code was no longer present after restarting the vehicle several times. The cause of the failure could not be determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 45,000.
- Mount Pleasant, SC, USA
Lane keeping steering assist is electric motor assist. The rack & pinion steering gear motor malfunctioned, leaving the steering without any assist, resulting in manual (extremely difficult to steer) steering. In this case, no crash resulted, but required rack & pinion required replacement. Replacement cost ~$2200 at a Ford dealership.
- Jensen Beach, FL, USA
Making slow right handed turns, clunking sound was detected in the front of the vehicle. The Ford dealer investigation revealed that the power steering rack needs replacement. The vehicle has only 61000 miles on it and the cost will be $1950.
- Neenah, WI, USA
Driving to work and received a "steering assist fault/service required" warning message. Took car to dealer, where they repaired a faulty steering gear assembly.
- Houston, TX, USA
When I drive at slow speeds to pull into a parking spot, garage, turn into a drive way and reversing out of these spots, there is a loud clunk noise. When turning the steering wheel to the right.
- Ft Pierre, SD, USA
80,000 mileage starting with steering noisy and click noisy sometime. Powertrain looses when parking and hard to shut off the engine.
- Jersey City, NJ, USA
While driving recently my car would 'sputter' while at a light etc. Well today it completely dies while driving (about 20mpg). It eventually restarted and I was able to drive to my mechanic. The vehicle completely died while pulling into the drive of the mechanic who will take a look on Monday. Also, had problems with steering unit that Ford said needed to be replaced. Said that would cost us about $1100 for a new module. At that time the car had 40,000 miles on it. Currently has 72,000. My husband was going to by a F150 now seriously considering going with Toyota. He's heartbroken as we both thought the Explorer would be a reliable car.
- Waynesville, OH, USA
On 4/14/19 we left for vacation and drove1,100 miles from arlington, va to key largo, fl and when we got to fl, the steering started making a clunking noise and got stuck when we were making a U-turn. After some research, I could tell it was the steering, could give out when driving and was a serious repair that could not wait until returning home in a week to get it repaired. We drove to lorenzo Ford in homestead, fl. On 4/16/19. Lorenzo Ford knew right away that the problem was the steering. Our Explorer had 41,339 miles on it and the mechanic said it was not unusual for the steering to give out. He actually said it was a problem but not a recall. The repair totaled $2,335.91. I thought we were driving a dependable and safe car on our vacation, but we got to spend a lot of time getting our car repaired on our vacation. I've had numerous Ford, and have always called myself a Ford person. Sadly, I don't like the direction Ford is going and this may be my last one. Thanks Ford for not making quality job #1 and wrecking my vacation. You need to recall this before someone gets hurt.
- Arlington, VA, USA
My wife was driving down the road when the power steering suddenly went out almost causing her to wreck. Shortly after a "steering assist fault service required" message popped up. After searching through forums and goggle it seems this is a common issue that Ford refuses to recognize.
- Alabaster, AL, USA
The power steering froze while driving on three separate occasions over the last two days. The first was while pulling into a parking space, the second time was while turning to merge onto a busy two lane highway and the third time was while driving 55 mph merging onto the freeway. The car was in motion in all three cases and had to be put in park and turned off before steering came back. My wife was unable to turn the car when it happened to her because she wasn't strong enough to overcome the force.
- Lakeland, TN, USA
Power steering stops working suddenly; due to factory mistake or faulty parts or manufacturing. Possibly causing loss control and crash occurrences. Unless you have upper body extreme strength you can't control the steering wheel due to this defect. There have been previous recalls but not for this year or my VIN number despite the issue being the same. Ford refuses to pay to repair it. Also, this once repaired can happen again.
- Stroudsburg, PA, USA
- Amelia, OH, USA