Ford transmission problems
Across all Ford models in NHTSA's complaint database, 13,669 complaints involve transmission. The Explorer accounts for the largest share (18%). The single worst model year is the 2002 Explorer with 982 transmission complaints.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 13,669 about transmission, all Ford models
- Most affected
- Explorer 18% of these complaints
- Typical mileage
- 65,000 miles 6,477 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 460 and 155
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Which Ford models
Worst model years for transmission
- 2002 Ford Explorer982 complaints
- 1995 Ford Windstar824 complaints
- 2004 Ford Freestar554 complaints
- 2005 Ford Freestar421 complaints
- 2004 Ford Explorer331 complaints
Transmission complaints by model year
View the numbers
| Model year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 132 |
| 1991 | 439 |
| 1992 | 367 |
| 1993 | 446 |
| 1994 | 672 |
| 1995 | 1,470 |
| 1996 | 689 |
| 1997 | 631 |
| 1998 | 759 |
| 1999 | 743 |
| 2000 | 719 |
| 2001 | 580 |
| 2002 | 1,284 |
| 2003 | 605 |
| 2004 | 1,118 |
| 2005 | 865 |
| 2006 | 470 |
| 2007 | 261 |
| 2008 | 199 |
| 2009 | 51 |
| 2010 | 157 |
| 2011 | 170 |
| 2012 | 102 |
| 2013 | 122 |
| 2014 | 111 |
| 2015 | 80 |
| 2016 | 115 |
| 2017 | 76 |
| 2018 | 75 |
| 2019 | 63 |
| 2020 | 57 |
| 2021 | 23 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2024 | 2 |
Among the 6,477 of these complaints that report mileage, the median is about 65,000 miles.
Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles each brand sells, so large brands naturally have more complaints.