2001 Ford Explorer problems
The 2001 Ford Explorer has 503 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (13%) concerns tires. Next are suspension (9%) and engine (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 503 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Tires 13% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 82 and 30
- Injuries and deaths
- 89 and 9
- Typical mileage
- 91,000 miles 150 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 | 12 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 22 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 15 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 20 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 19 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 20 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 11 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 6 |
What the data shows
Of the 150 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 90,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 82 complaints mention a crash; 30 complaints mention a fire; 89 injuries reported; 9 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 94% 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 2001 ranks 25th most-complained-about out of 36 model years of the Ford Explorer with enough data (310 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
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.
I am not the owner of this vehicle, nor the driver. My brother-in-law was a passenger in the ford explorer and was killed at the scene. There is a question of whether he was wearing a seat belt and if it failed during the rollover of the vehicle. There is also a question of firestone tire failure. Both of the rear tires were missing the valve stems. We do not know if this occurred during the accident or if they blew out previously and that is what contributed to the accident.
My daughter's 2001 explorer sport was traveling south on I-75 diped to the right returned to the road and traveled aprox 1/2 mile and then rolled left to right and tumbled end over end killing both passangers. The air bags never deployed, and there seems to be no apparrent reason my daughter lost control of the vehical and it rolled.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford explorer. The contact heard rattling noises in the engine and the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was taken to a body shop and the mechanic stated that she needed a new transmission. The contact got a second opinion and was informed that a new engine was needed. A third repair shop stated that the timing chain and camshaft were the causes of the failure. The contact was informed that the parts were modified and were defective; therefore, entirely new parts were needed.
I have a 2001 ford explorer and at first the truck would slip in and out of gears so I took it to a certified mechanic and was told I needed a neutral safety switch. I had that replaced about a month ago. Yesterday, I was driving and the truck slipped out of drive.... And it would not accelerate. I pulled over and attempted to restart the vehicle and the o/d off light started flashing. This truck is going to cost me over 2,000 dollars to fix and it seems as if I am not the only one experiencing the same problems.