What goes wrong with a 2016 Ford Explorer?
Owners and drivers have submitted 3,053 complaints about this vehicle to NHTSA. They are reports, not confirmed defects, and here is what they are about.
Owners and drivers have submitted 3,053 complaints about the 2016 Ford Explorer to NHTSA, spread across 39 component categories. The most reported category is structure, with 584 reports. A complaint is somebody telling the federal government what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect, not a manufacturer finding, and not a failure rate.
- Complaints submitted
- 3,053
- Component categories
- 39
- Most reported
- Structure
- Latest report
- July 27, 2026
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, as ingested August 17, 2026
What these numbers are, before the table
These are complaints submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. They are reports, not confirmed defects and not a manufacturer finding, and they are not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no other reason than that more people own it.
The component category is chosen by the person filing, out of NHTSA's own list, which is why one of the largest categories on almost every vehicle is "unknown or other". Read the table as a map of what owners chose to report rather than as a ranking of what breaks.
All 39 categories.
Most reported first. Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths are counts of reports that also mentioned one, as recorded by the person filing.
| Component | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | Latest report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | 584 | 4 | 1 | 6 | July 17, 2026 |
| Steering | 535 | 10 | 0 | 5 | June 25, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 425 | 9 | 2 | 18 | July 27, 2026 |
| Engine | 380 | 3 | 3 | 6 | July 3, 2026 |
| Power train | 216 | 6 | 4 | 0 | July 26, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 128 | 1 | 6 | 2 | July 3, 2026 |
| Engine and engine cooling | 115 | 0 | 0 | 4 | May 20, 2026 |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 104 | 1 | 1 | 4 | July 3, 2026 |
| Air bags | 99 | 7 | 1 | 5 | May 13, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 76 | 1 | 0 | 0 | April 2, 2026 |
| Suspension | 74 | 8 | 0 | 3 | May 15, 2026 |
| Wheels | 50 | 2 | 0 | 2 | May 15, 2026 |
| Seat belts | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 14, 2026 |
| Visibility | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 2, 2026 |
| Seats | 33 | 0 | 1 | 4 | March 26, 2025 |
| Visibility/wiper | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 27, 2026 |
| Electronic stability control (ESC) | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | August 13, 2020 |
| Service brakes | 17 | 3 | 0 | 1 | March 15, 2025 |
| Tires | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 1, 2025 |
| Unknown or other | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | September 12, 2017 |
| Forward collision avoidance | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | March 4, 2026 |
| Lane departure | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | March 4, 2026 |
| Fuel system, gasoline | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | August 26, 2025 |
| Back over prevention | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 3, 2026 |
| Exterior lighting | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 2, 2026 |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 28, 2026 |
| Structure | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 1, 2019 |
| Engine | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 17, 2018 |
| Electrical system | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 10, 2019 |
| Power train | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | August 23, 2020 |
| Steering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 26, 2024 |
| Traction control system | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 14, 2024 |
| Equipment | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 31, 2021 |
| Equipment adaptive/mobility | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | August 31, 2015 |
| Fuel system, other | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 16, 2022 |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 16, 2018 |
| Parking brake | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 2, 2025 |
| Seats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 1, 2017 |
| Service brakes, air | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 14, 2023 |
Of the 3,053 complaints filed about this vehicle, 57 mentioned a crash, 21 a fire and 61 an injury. These are counts of what reporters wrote, not findings, and NHTSA does not verify them at the point of filing.
What to do if your car is doing one of these
A category on this page is not a diagnosis. If your car is making a noise, showing a light, or leaking something, the useful question is what that symptom means and whether it needs the shop tonight or next week.
The symptoms guide works the other way round from this page: it starts with what you can hear, see or smell and says whether it is roadside, a tow, or a booking. If what you are seeing matches a recall campaign on this vehicle, the repair is free at a franchised dealer.
Who works on Explorers in Brooklyn?
We do, at 619 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218, family owned since 1977. Diagnostics first, then the work, and a flatbed if it will not start where it sits.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, owner-submitted complaints. Anyone may file one, they are published as filed, and NHTSA opens an investigation only when a pattern in them warrants it. A complaint that led to an investigation and a complaint that did not look identical in this table.
Registration counts: New York State DMV registration file, five New York City counties, August 17, 2026 snapshot. A registration is a record in a state database, not a car on the road, and the borough is where the registrant receives mail rather than where the car is driven. How we counted.
Fuel economy: EPA and DOE ratings published at FuelEconomy.gov, unaveraged, so each configuration is its own row. Recalls and complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, the agency's own wording, as ingested August 17, 2026. Complaints are reports members of the public filed, not confirmed defects. The NYC registration study is the analysis these counts sit on top of.
234 vehicles in this directory, covering 520,848 registered cars. Data as of August 17, 2026.