2006 Ford Explorer
This year drew an ordinary 635 complaints for a Ford Explorer — the model's median is 416. What they were about is the unusual part: 28.3% of them mention radiator, against 8.8% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Ford Explorer was redesigned for 2006. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 635 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 416 |
| Involving a crash | 13 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 15 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- radiator — 28.3% of this year's complaints, against 8.8% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: radiator, leaking, leak, radiator replaced.
- shifting — 14.5% of this year's complaints, against 5.4% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: shifting, gears, shifting gears.
- feels — 7.1% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the other years of this generation (4.9×). Owners wrote it as: feels, feels like, rear-ended.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
THE READING FROM THE [VIN] GAUGE INCREASED WHEN THE RADIATOR FAILED. THE RADIATOR LEAKED COOLANT DUE TO DEFECTIVE PLASTIC. THE RADIATOR WAS REPLACED THREE TIMES. THE [VIN] WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED A FOURTH. THE FAILURE MILEAG…
FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THE CONTACT NOTICED COOLANT LEAKING FROM THE VEHICLE. HE ADDED MORE COOLANT, BUT NOTICED THAT IT CONTINUED TO LEAK. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE RADIATOR FAILED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE RADIATOR AT THE COST OF…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 06E049000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 07E104000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 10E043000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 05V520000 VISIBILITY
How this was worked out
Every year of the Ford Explorer was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2006 Ford Explorer? What happened to yours?
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