1998 Ford Explorer Sport problems
Owners have filed 145 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Ford Explorer Sport. Latches & locks is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. After that come electrical system (12%) and seats (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 145 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Latches & locks 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 100,000 miles 85 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 18 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 12 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 16 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 13 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 8 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 85 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 100,000 miles. For latches & locks specifically, the median reported mileage is about 88,000 miles (18 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 80% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Ford Explorer Sport with enough data (50 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My husband, nine year old nephew and I were driving back from our summer vacation. The night before our actual accident, our front right tire had tread separation. My husband put the spare on and we went on to our hotel. The next day our left rear tire had tread separation and forced my 1998 ford explorer sport onto the median. Somewhere during that our right rear tire blew out. Then we rolled over three times. We were traveling the speed limit at 70 MPH.
The consumer swerved to avoid an oncoming car, after the vehicle was back on the road the right rear firestone (wilderness at p235/75r15) tire blewout causing the vehicle to rollover three times, one passenger was treated for contusions and a severed finger, the other three occupants were treated for minor contusions. Nlm
I was in an automobile accident 12/2003 my seat belt did not restrain me, I was the passenger in my 1998 ford explorer sport. The car ran into a telephone pole. At the time of impact both air bags went off. At impact I flew up from my seat, didn't touch the air bag but I hit the overhead console with my face. I broke the overhead console, rear view mirror, stereo, two air vents, and the counsel between the front seats.
While driving 98 ford explorer sport .after about 2 hours of highway driving at 65 MPH the rear passanger side tire blew out.tire was a goodyear wrangler rt/s 255/70r16.tire seperated from sidewall 3/4 of the way around.had ragged edge like it was pulled apart.tire defective ? Looked like dry rot.98 explorer has 49,000 miles on it .not sure if tires were original eguitment.bought car used.
In 2007, my 1998 ford explorer driver door lock stopped working. It really didn't bother me all that much until one day by accident the door locked and would not come open. I had to push with all my force and pull up on the interior door handle at the same time. Finally it came open but the door handle broke. Now it was to the point of disgust. Didn't have the money to fix it so we waited until we did. In 2008, I took my explorer to the local dealership.