1999 Ford Explorer Sport problems
Owners have filed 127 complaints with NHTSA about the 1999 Ford Explorer Sport. Seats is the most reported problem area, at 12% of complaints. After that come electrical system (11%) and cruise control (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 127 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Seats 12% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 9 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 72,000 miles 77 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 | 10 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 14 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 22 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 8 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Among the 77 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 72,000 miles. For seats specifically, the median reported mileage is about 70,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 9 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1999 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Ford Explorer Sport with enough data (59 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.
On 2/14/03, I woke up screaming that I smell smoke. My fiance jumped up, and we screamed for everyone to get out- because the house was on fire. The house burned down with me breaking both ankles and my 2 oldest children dying. For two years I never knew what happened. The cause was left undetermined. There were so many holes into what happened that night. Everything was investigated, even the stove. Nothing leads to the fire, except for the 1999 ford explore truck that was parked in the garage.
Roll over accident involving 1992 ford explorer. The consumers daughter was driving along with her grandson and lost consciousness while driving unexpectedly, hit a tree and the median, flipped over several times, landed on the roof and the air bags did not deploy.
I was in a single car accident and my car almost rolled over. I hit the highway railing and my car was damaged pretty badly in the front and side. The car was not in drivable condition however, no airbag came out. Three months later my airbag failure light unexpectedly turned on. The light remains on.
We were forced to take this vehicle from hansel ford in santa rosa when they felt we wouldn't be able to afford the 2004 ford f-150 we purchased they had sold my trade in hadn't made a deal with company for contract came a few day before first payment due and repoed it since we have had car nightmares the seat on driver side broke just regular time it does a lot of jerking and sputtering the light work when they want to etc..... Please get me a decent vehicle for after.
While driving, smoke started coming from the steering column inside vehicle. Contacted ford to see if part of recall to speed sensor switch. Ford motor co. States vehicle not part of recall, did not recommend anything. No response to steering column smoking or smelling of burning electrical wires.