Federal complaint record · Ford Explorer · model year 2016

2016 Ford Explorer

Owners submitted 2,430 federal complaint reports about this model year, placing it at the 99th percentile for complaint intensity within its 2014 to 2018 midsize suv cohort. The largest reported component group is structure. Sample sizes and limitations are shown below.

Structure · 19% · group n = 579Steering · 18% · group n = 534Engine · 16% · group n = 494Other · 14% · group n = 427Powertrain · 7% · group n = 215
2,430
Complaint records on file
48,500
Median mileage at the reported problem · 1,495 complaints reported mileage
19%
Of classified component reports name structure · group n = 579
99th
Complaint-intensity percentile in a cohort of 40 model years

Structure · 2 in ten classified complaints

Where this record concentrates

All failure files
Component group 01 · Structure19%

Structure reports

Ford Explorer · model year 2016

Reports in this group579
Share of classified reports19%
Component groups on file6
Open the failure files

Adjacent model years · same badge, different data

The complaint signal has a shape

Compare model years
2015
0.7complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years
1,752 matched incidents
This car
2016
1.0complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years
2,430 matched incidents
2017
0.7complaints per 1,000 estimated vehicle-years
1,662 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
Steering effort · 447 reports

Reports describe steering effort or control concerns

Cluster 1 of 32016 Ford Explorer
Stalling or shutdown · 102 reports

Reports describe the vehicle stalling or shutting off while driving

Cluster 2 of 32016 Ford Explorer
Loss of propulsion · 100 reports

Reports describe reduced power or hesitation while driving

Cluster 3 of 32016 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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