2010 Ford Explorer problems
The 2010 Ford Explorer has 155 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (17%) concerns drivetrain & axles. Next are seats (13%) and engine (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 155 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Drivetrain & axles 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 13 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 14 and 50
- Typical mileage
- 48,000 miles 121 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 | 38 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 18 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 16 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 15 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 10 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Of the 121 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 48,000 miles. For drivetrain & axles specifically, the median reported mileage is about 81,000 miles (21 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 13 complaints mention a crash; 14 injuries reported; 50 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2010 ranks 32nd most-complained-about out of 36 model years of the Ford Explorer with enough data (93 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
Bought car from bates ford in lebanon, tn new. Within the first 1500 mile I experienced at least one incident where I tried to stop but the vehicle continued to accelerate. The car has about 36000 miles now and both my wife and I have had numerous incidents of this the last resulted in a traffic accident in plano, texas. There were 3 vehicles involved.the plano, texas police officer who drove the car to a safe location found no problem with the brakes.
I was stuck in traffic and as I was at a full stop, I saw that the car in front of me had moved. So I began to accelerate. When I saw the car in front of me had stopped, I went to hit the brakes and nothing happened. I hit them again and still nothing, my car kept on going. By the third slam on the brakes it finally took however I ended up hitting the car in front of me and her the car in front of her. This is not okay!!! My vehicle is only 2 years old and I'm not the only one who has experienced this.
Coming to a complete stop with my foot on the brake, the engine all of a sudden surged forward. I was not able to stop it with the brakes. It surged so fast and hard that it rear ended a yukon which was parked about 10 feet in front of me , which forced the yukon forward approximately 7 feet which then broadsided a parked pickup. This accident happened in a parking area, adjacent to a gas station.
A failure of the electric interlock between the ignition and the "park" position occurred which makes it possible to move the shift from "park" to some other position without pressing on the brake pedal. This can result in someone sitting in the passenger seat moving the shift from "park" while the vehicle is on an incline. This has been such an extensive/ongoing problem with this vehicle, that the parts to repair it are on back-order for up to 6 months!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 ford explorer. When the vehicle was engaged in park, the key became stuck inside the ignition. The contact mentioned that he manually pushed a pin in the shifter to remove the key. The contact also mentioned that the gear was able to be removed out of park without the key being in the ignition. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for repairs. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 127,000.