Federal complaint record · Ford Explorer · model year 2003

2003 Ford Explorer

Owners submitted 1,131 federal complaint reports about this model year, placing it at the 82th percentile for complaint intensity within its 2001 to 2005 midsize suv cohort. The largest reported component group is structure. Sample sizes and limitations are shown below.

Structure · 27% · group n = 366Powertrain · 26% · group n = 357Engine · 7% · group n = 91Suspension · 5% · group n = 69Visibility · 5% · group n = 62
1,131
Complaint records on file
73,000
Median mileage at the reported problem · 915 complaints reported mileage
27%
Of classified component reports name structure · group n = 366
82th
Complaint-intensity percentile in a cohort of 31 model years

Structure · 3 in ten classified complaints

Where this record concentrates

All failure files
Component group 01 · Structure27%

Structure reports

Ford Explorer · model year 2003

Reports in this group366
Share of classified reports27%
Component groups on file6
Open the failure files

Adjacent model years · same badge, different data

The complaint signal has a shape

Compare model years
2002
0.5complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years
3,293 matched incidents
This car
2003
0.2complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years
1,131 matched incidents
2004
0.2complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years
1,304 matched incidents

The line compares submitted complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years, not failures per 1,000 cars. Vehicle-years use compiled US sales, a 0.25 prior-calendar-year plus 0.75 current-calendar-year model-year allocation, and the shipped survival curve. Rates appear only where estimated vehicles in operation are at least 5,000.

From the record · recurring narrative clusters

What recurring complaint clusters describe

How clusters are built
Transmission behavior · 214 reports

Reports describe harsh shifting, slipping, or shuddering

Cluster 1 of 32003 Ford Explorer
Brake performance · 69 reports

Reports describe braking performance concerns

Cluster 2 of 32003 Ford Explorer
Stalling or shutdown · 69 reports

Reports describe the vehicle stalling or shutting off while driving

Cluster 3 of 32003 Ford Explorer

Cluster summaries paraphrase recurring symptoms reported to NHTSA. They are aggregate descriptions, not individual verbatim reports.

Records through 2026-07-19Published 2026-08-02 · Updated 2026-07-19

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NHTSA consumer complaint records can reveal recurring patterns across published model years. MotorCensus summarizes those records as one complaint-signal index, with a 95% interval and sample size, updated with each data snapshot.

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