Complaint volume
93 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2023 Ford Explorer Complaints
93 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Ford Explorer, grouped by component category.
93 Total complaints
7 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
4 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are unknown or other, structure, steering,suspension. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 7 crash reports, 1 fire report, 4 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 23 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 18,318 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, structure, steering,suspension?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2023 Ford Explorer?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2023 Ford Explorer
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2023 Ford Explorer complaints?
7 Crash
1 Fire
4 Injury
0 Fatality
10 Towed
3 Medical attention
What are the most common 2023 Ford Explorer complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12
STRUCTURE 8
STEERING,SUSPENSION 5
BACK OVER PREVENTION 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4
POWER TRAIN 4
SEAT BELTS 4
STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE 4
VISIBILITY/WIPER 4
AIR BAGS 3
93 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | SEAT BELTS | The seatbelt in the middle seat of the middle row twisted and my 8 years old son got stuck. He struggled to breathe, and we had to cut the seatbelt. This situation was extremely dangerous and needs further explanation. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | STRUCTURE | While driving the vehicle, I noticed a sound like something was flapping in the wind. I checked around and under the vehicle and noticed the bottom of the back bumper was loose. I took the vehicle to the dealership where it was purchased. They told me there was nothing broken or loose. They also told me the stabilizing piece that is usually on the bumper is taken off to install the hitch and nothing is put back on the bumper to secure it. The hitch on my vehicle was factory installed. This is a safety issue in that the bumper, or pieces of it, could break off while driving causing an accident or injury. In addition, the damage to my vehicle could be substantial. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | VISIBILITY,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The driver side windows control buttons are breaking off for no apparent reason. Ford refused to fix faulty windows controls which could cause harm to a person attempting to roll windows up or down. Two buttons have broke off within a matter of a week and are in the shape of a W which could lead to injury. A 3rd button appears damaged as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, road debris was kicked up by the vehicle ahead and cracked the windshield. The contact stated that the windshield was replaced by a glass repair shop. The contact stated that on another occasion while driving on the highway, road debris was again kicked up onto the windshield, and the windshield cracked. The contact asked the glass repair shop if the windshield was replaced with an OEM windshield and was informed that the windshield was an OEM part. The contact stated that while looking at the windshield from the left or right side, and at a right angle of light, there was a wavy imperfection running from the left to the right and in the middle of the windshield. The contact stated that the windshield had been replaced five times. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 21,000 |
| Sep 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE | At a stop light and all of the power in the vehicle went out and Explorer would not start. Hazards would not turn on and doors (besides driver door) would not unlock. Got out of the vehicle to try the fob and white smoke came billowing out from engine. Fire department and police were called. No warning lights or messages were seen on vehicle. Vehicle only has 10K miles on it. Vehicle was taken to dealership for diagnostics. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH on the expressway in the center lane, the Forward Collision Avoidance system engaged, and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop and failed to restart. After several minutes the vehicle restarted, and the contact was able to continue driving. Additionally, while in a parking lot, the vehicle shut off and failed to restart. After several minutes, the vehicle restarted. The Forward Collision Avoidance warning light illuminated while driving with no other vehicle nearby. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the tailgate warning light illuminated. The contact checked the tailgate and attempted to close the tailgate. There contact was able to place her fingers between the tailgate. The contact depressed the release button, but the tailgate failed to respond. The contact climbed into the vehicle and pushed the tailgate closed, but the tailgate reopened. The tailgate came partially downward. After several attempts, the tailgate was closed. While her husband was driving, the cruise control was inoperable. The contact stated that all the buttons on the steering wheel were stuck. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, who opened a case and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 6,700. | Crash: No Fire: No | 6,700 |
| Aug 2024 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at approximately 80 MPH, the driver's side exterior A-pillar trim dethatched from the vehicle. Additionally, upon inspection, it was discovered that the passenger’s side A-pillar trim was loosened and unsecured. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 60,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 60,000 |
| Jul 2024 | SEAT BELTS | 2nd row seat belt was not Installed at the factory. The bolts were loose. If I was hit in the side and someone was sitting in the seat there would be a high probability of ejection. Has been taken to a dealer and confirmed. No warning lights. Found the problem when body shop was fixing hail damage | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | AIR BAGS | Side seat airbag has exhaust port facing inwards, instead of outward, towards the door of the vehicle, that caused the hot chemical from the airbag to push out all the gas at the left side of my body, melting my clothes and causing chemical burns to my side when it deployed upon a wreck. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 2 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Was driving and my transmission skipped an entire gear went from 1 to third gear and it felt like my transmission was going to fall out of the bottom of my explorer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the wheel well inner liner fell onto the tire. The wheel well liner was rubbing on the tire. The tires were rubbing with ice, mud, and snow in the wheel well. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the bracket and bolts for the wheel well liner were missing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that there was no repair coverage on the vehicle for the failure. The failure mileage was 4,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 4,000 |
| Jun 2024 | SUSPENSION | The right front suspension collapsed after crossing railroad tracks at less than 10 mph, causing the vehicle to collapse and deploying all four airbags causing Minor injuries . A higher rate of speed would have caused severe injuries and possible fatalities. Ford has sent field engineers to examine the vehicle and pulled data from the rcm stating starting speed of 4.4 mph and 17.7 mph at time of impact. No collision and nothing in road way. THE Insurance company has the vehicle at a total loss and initially denied my claim, stating manufacturer defect, which I agree with. Ford has since denied my claim returning the liability to the insurance. No warning lights, or symptoms before the incident | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | SEAT BELTS | The seat belt minder is not working. it works when you are at park and dont put the seat belt and start driving. but if you are buckled, start driving and then while driving take the belts off, no warning sound is provided. this problem is not yet reported to the dealer. no warnings or problems noted prior. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The first two gears while coming from a stop shift extremely rough causing foot to bounce off accelerator pedal. This has been happening since vehicle was purchased at approximately 4000 miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | Tether, Lower Anchor (on car seat or vehicle) | I have had to re-install the seat multiple times in the last 2-3 weeks because it keeps coming loose in rear facing mode. I installed the seat in early to mid-March. I first noticed it was loose on 4/26/24. I had it installed with the seatbelt at that time. I re-installed with the seatbelt and continued checking it daily until I noticed it being loose again within about a week. I again re-installed with the seat belt so it was secure and moving less than 1 inch side to side and front to back and continued checking for excess movement. I attended a CPST training the week of 5/6/24 and had my seats looked at by an instructor who told me it was done correctly. For the sake of practice, I installed it with LATCH instead and had an instructor confirm it was correct. That was all on 5/9/24. On 5/13/24 I had to re-install it yet again as the latch had loosened. I used the seatbelt that time and submitted a complaint to Graco. Today, 5/15/24, I had to re-install twice, first with seatbelt and then with LATCH (around 6 pm) which at the time of this writing (8 pm) has held. The seat has repeatedly become loose after a proper install, putting my child at risk because of the seat moving more than one inch side to side which does not meet Graco or CPST installation requirements. The remedy supposedly provided by Graco to others is to use LATCH. However, in my situation that has not helped and in general that is not a long term solution since LATCH has weight limits. I’ve also heard from others that Graco just tells them their seatbelt or vehicle is incompatible and nothing can be done. From what I can tell, it’s a known issue that Graco hasn’t acknowledged. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the transmission slipped and unexpectedly downshifted to first gear, causing the vehicle to jerk. The contact pulled to the side of the road and parked the vehicle. The contact revved the engine, shifted the transmission to drive(D), and drove to the destination. Additionally, on a separate occasion, the vehicle lost motive power while driving. A bystander helped the contact by pushing the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred and later the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but no diagnostic trouble codes were retrieved. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The contact was informed that assistance would be provided with the release and substitution of the collateral agreement. The failure mileage was approximately 1,200. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 1,200 |
| Apr 2024 | SUSPENSION | There is a load knocking noise coming from the front suspension. I have taken the vehicle in 3 times to Ford and after I drive off the lot the issue is gone. But after driving for a few days the issue returns. There is a loud clicking noise as well when you back up the vehicle coming from the front suspension. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | The lane assist system put the vehicle into a skid on snowy road with no markings on roadway. The vehicle is available to inspect but insurance company is pushing to pickup vehicle as it was totaled. The system put vehicle into a skid that resulted into going into the ditch and hitting a power pole. As far as we know nobody has looked into system failure we did report it to sheriff and insurance company. This is the first time the lane departure turned on a snow covered road | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | STRUCTURE | For a week before 3/19/24, the driver door made increasing crunching noises when opened and closed. On 3/20/24 the driver door would not open and was subsequently left at Dean Sellers Ford for diagnosis and repair. The dealer relayed that there was a repair advisory on this issue which related to closed investigation / action PE23-013. On 3/21/24, the repair was completed and paid even though Ford Motor has previously agreed to announce a recall by March 2024. As on 4/2/24, no recall notification has been announced or received. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Vehicle wouldn't start using push button start, several modules/components reported errors: traction control, parking break, steering, shifting. The vehicle drove fine less than 24 hours prior to 3/3/2024. Following a week at the dealership, Ford Motor Company and the Ford dealership determined the main wiring harness was the culprit. If the wiring harness fails while the vehicle is in motion/operation, that could result in a serious safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated there was an unknown part loosened at the front of the vehicle. While driving at unknown speeds, there was an abnormal rattling noise detected from the strut that had become louder over time. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the front-end bolts were tightened. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted, opened a case, and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V091000 (Suspension, Steering). The approximate failure mileage was 3,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 3,000 |
| Feb 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Excessive wind noise at highway speeds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | SEAT BELTS | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the seat belt warning light failed to illuminate while the seat belt was manually unlatched. The contact stated that the seat belt warning light was only illuminated during the initial start-up of the vehicle and then deactivated after the seat belt was latched. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 5,000 |
| Jan 2024 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES | There seems to be two issues of concern; 1. Braking system .. when you are in your car, you can hear constant clicking from the engine and the brake light keeps turning and on and off. The light keeps indicating that the brake is on. This happens continuously every day. 2. Steering… when you are switching lanes, it’s not a smooth transition. It feels like a jerk each time and feels like if you were to put the brake, the car will flip over. Very concerning. Happens all the time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | On 11/27/2023, my family and I were in this vehicle as I was driving on a side street. Suddenly the engine shut down while I was driving. I was fortunate enough to pull the car into a parking lot to be towed to a nearby Ford dealer. After a week of research the problem, they could not find anything wrong and returned the car to me. A week later, as I was driving to a major intersection, it shut down again. I called for a tow truck and was able to bring it to a Ford dealer nearby in Greer, SC. Again, they could not find out what the problem was and returned the car to me. I am currently driving the car but I am fearful for my life because I dont know of when this engine shut down would happen again? What if it could happen while I am driving in the middle of a major national highway? If it shuts down on a highway while an 18-wheeler truck behind me, I do not think that I will be alive to write this report. I urge your office to review this matter with the Ford corporation for me to return the car to them. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |