Complaint volume
102 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
102 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Ford Explorer, grouped by component category.
102 Total complaints
7 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
5 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, electrical system, structure. 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, 2 fire reports, 5 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 25 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 20,172 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, electrical system, structure?
- 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
2 Fire
5 Injury
0 Fatality
11 Towed
3 Medical attention
What are the most common 2023 Ford Explorer complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 16
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7
STRUCTURE 7
SUSPENSION 6
POWER TRAIN 5
AIR BAGS 4
BACK OVER PREVENTION 4
SEAT BELTS 4
VISIBILITY/WIPER 4
ENGINE 3
102 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST | 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:BODY | 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 | 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 |
| Dec 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Loose carpet under front seat. Could cause carpet on driver side to buckle up causing gas peddle issues. Had ford dealer look at it but refused to remedy issue. This could cause issues like Lexus had years ago with gas peddle sticking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | AIR BAGS | As the passenger, following a passenger side impact, (T bone) I sustained 1st and 2nd degree burns extending from my ribs to my hip. To my knowledge the only airbags that inflated were the curtain air bags. Immediately upon impact I had a burning sensation on my right side that slowly began to spread. Once out of the car it was discovered that something had burned through 3 layers of clothing with the singed edges sticking to my skin. My vehicle was not drivable and was towed to a body shop. I spoke to the insurance company about the incident as I am receiving medical treatment for the burns. No one was interested in investigating the air bag. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Every time i was traveling in sport mode, shifting was delayed & was very rough transition to next gear. Car was not accelerating or decelerating properly. Burning smell came from the engine. Car’s electrical momentarily went haywire. Wrench light came on. This happened within 18 hours of purchasing this NEW car. And several times over the subsequent week. Indicator light went on intermittently & so did same problems described above. My safety was put at risk because my car was not driving properly which caused distraction. I was confused about what to do. It also made it difficult to change lanes or speed up/slow down because it was jerky. The dealership i bought it from said a ford engineer came out to inspect the car & that several parts were ordered to fix it, including a battery for the electric motor & a wiring harness. They said it was a big issue and those parts were hard to come by, but i only learned this after 30+ days of the vehicle being under their control. I only dropped it off for a “test.” They did not make documentation of any of this work and would not release records to me. They also declined to release the car to me when i was tired of the lack of transparency. They said they couldnt give it back j til it was fixed but never provided work order with estimate or details of coverage. I never signed anything giving them permission to replace or repair the parts, especially because they would not disclose the ford engineer’s findings to me until a few weeks later after i threatened to invoke my rights under lemon law. They had already taken the car apart & ordered parts by then-without my informed consent. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA | The rear camera on my Explorer shows a blue screen most of the time and this has become a serious safety issue. A few weeks ago while backing out of a parking spot I almost hit a pedestrian who came out of a double-parked car because the pedestrian was in my rear view mirrors blind spot. Luckily a passenger in my car saw them and alerted me. The remedy for this recall was supposed to be available after August 7th. I have tried multiple times to get my vehicle in for repair. I have complained to my Ford dealer and opened a case with Ford customer service. They each told me something different and I'm not sure what to do now. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ENGINE | Vehicle purchased in May 2023 (51323) at koons silver spring. Vehicle had computer and 'random stalling' issues where the car would not start/stay on in August 2023. Called dealership, vehicle towed to Koons for repair. Service team said they could not replicate issue. Vehicle continued having intermittent issues, vehicle dropped off for repair in sept 2023 - service team repaired main computer system. Oct 3 2023 check engine light came on and vehicle continued random stalling/jarring/jerking forward for amount of time that vehicle had to be driven back to residence (<1.0 miles from time/location when check engine light came on) tech came out to the residence to check the engine system, they identified a misfire but unable to determine why?. as of 11/3/23 vehicle remains at dealership, notified that Ford Safety Engineers (FSE) was notified of the issue, and no solution is available at this time. Can is unusable and is under 9,500 miles. I have not been able to have consistent use of my vehicle and have continued payments as expected. Dealership has no anticipated return date or repair date for my vehicle and this seems to fit the maryland lemon law criteria (car purchased in maryland, resides in maryland). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | VISIBILITY | The contact was purchasing a 2023 ford Explorer. The contact stated that while reviewing the purchase agreement, it was discovered that the vehicle was not equipped with fog lights. The contact was concerned that without fog lights his visibility to the roadway would be impaired while driving at night. The vehicle was not yet in the contacts possession therefore it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue and referred the contact to call the NHTSA Hotline. The contact has not experienced a failure as of yet. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The rear side window just disintegrated. Was at the beach on Aug. 25, 2023 the car was parked in hot sun when I went out in the morning noticed the glass had just cracked around the corners. There was no evidence of a break-in attempt. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While on interstate at 70mph, the front sunroof exploded. Sounding like a gun going off.. was no vehicles in front of me to cause debris.. after pulling over to see what happened I could tell the glass was pushed up away from vehicle. Not only was this safety concern for me. But also the vehicles behind me that had to suddenly stop and avoid the flying glass.. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | New car has millions of tiny dots everywhere in the windshield placed in irregular pattern. Not visible at normal light they brightly shine when sun is low and shining. I almost can't see anything in front of the car. Here is someone else on internet having exactly same problem. https: [XXX] Windshield is clear, washed multiple times - it doesn't seem that it can be removed from outside. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V342000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that upon purchasing the vehicle, she was made aware that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V342000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The dealer confirmed that the parts were not available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I leased a brand new 2023 Ford Explorer. The day I was driving it home I noticed a distinct cracking/popping sound when I turned the steering wheel to the left while lifting my foot off the brake. It is not a series of pops. It’s just one pop when the wheel is turned. When I got home I took out the paper mat that was on the floor to make sure there were no other sounds in the car. The sound happens each time I am in my vehicle & it only happens when the wheel is turned to the left going less than 1 mph. I took it to a Ford dealership. The service advisor heard the sound when I drove a few feet & turned the wheel to the left in the parking lot. The service technician was able to reproduce the sound without driving at all. He turned the wheel, while in the park position, and reproduced it. There are no warning lamps. As of now, I have not been told what it is but it’s concerning knowing cracking sounds could be rack, steering, tie rod, ball joint or any number of steering or suspension problems. I’m now worried driving my new SUV. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | At 36-42 mph the vehicle vibrates underneath, not the stearing wheel, it is clear something is not right. The vibration goes away when you hit 43 mph it smooths out and you dont feel it. No lights come on, I have had it checked and because there is no recall or a faulty light coming on or a sensor in my computer module, there is nothing Ford can do they say. They did tell me that Ford is aware of this as there are about 8 other vehicles they have seen that have this same issue. I am thinking possiibly the drive shaft is not balanced properly, I have done some research online and otheres have complained about this too. Hopeing this will be looked into further, hate the spend all this money on a vehicle and find that by driving it we are ruining something else and then have to spend more money to fix it or it casues someone to get into an accident. Please look into this, my vehicle is not the only one out there and it is brand new. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING | -PARKING BRAKE IS AUTO ENGAGED 100% OF THE TIME AT START or WHILE SHIFTING OUT OF PARK or SHIFTING BETWEEN GEARS. DRIVE or REVERSE -TO DISENGAGE THE PARK BRAKE YOU HAVE TO DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. -PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR TO DISENGAGE IS INCONNSISTENT EVERY TIME. -VEHICLE LURCHES UNCONTROLLABLY WHEN RELEASING THE VEHICLE OFF THE EMERGENCY PARKING BRAKE SETTING. -THE JOLT OF THE VEHICLE FROM THE DEPRESS PRESSURE IS SO SIGNIFICANT AND DANGEROUS CAUSING THE RISK TO HITTING ANY PARKED VEHICLE WHILE PARALLEL PARKING OR HITTING STRUCTURE/GARAGE WHEN PARKING, JOLTING INTO TRAFFIC FROM A STOPPED/PARKED POSITION or TO PEOPLE WALKING NEAR THE VEHICLE WHILE TRYING TO MANIPULATE THE VEHICLE. -WHEN THE AUTO HOLD FEATURE IS TURNED ON, IT CAN BE ASSUMED TO BE ENGAGED BY PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL but IF THE PEDAL ISN'T ENGAGED WITH ENOUGH FULL PRESSURE THE AUTO HOLD WILL NOT FULLY ACTIVATE. IN NOTIFICATION WHEN ON IS IN SMALL GREEN TEXT THAT CAN BE EASILY MISSED/CONFUSED WITH THE GREEN SYMBOL SIMILAR IN SIZE TO THE GREEN AUTO HEADLIGHT SETTING IN THE SAME ZONE. THIS CAN CAUSE SOMEONE TO BELIEVE AUTO HOLD IN ENGAGED WHEN USING PERIPHERIAL VISION FOR THE INDICATOR QUE WITHOUT DIRECTLY TAKING EYES OFF THE FORWARD CONDITION. THIS GIVES THE DRIVER A FALSE CONFIDENCE TO REMOVE THEIR FOOT FROM THE BRAKE AND HAVE THE VEHICLE CREEP FORWARD AND CAN LEAD TO ACCIDENT OR INJURY. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I purchased a new 2023 Ford Explorer and during the finance process I found out it had a rear back up camera recall . I wasn’t able to take possession of my vehicle . It’s been sitting on the car dealership lot where I bought it . I bought it May 26th and the repair still hasn’t been resolved !! I want my vehicle !! I’m making a substantial payment on a vehicle I can’t have !!!! Please resolve this ASAP !!!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, she heard an abnormal noise. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated she was able to park on the side of the road and noticed that the sunroof had shattered independently. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and was informed that the sunroof needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,500. | Crash: No Fire: No | 2,500 |