2013 Ford Explorer
Complaints about this year name power steering far more often than the other years of this generation — 27% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 9%.
Generation 2 of the Ford Explorer, which began in 2011 and ran to 2019. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 2,228 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 416 |
| Involving a crash | 44 |
| Involving a fire | 11 |
| Recalls | 12 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 19.5 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- steering assist — 11% of complaints, 3× usual
- vin included — 6% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY MY POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILED MAKING MY CAR VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE.
THE VEHICLE STEERING ASSIST IS NOT FUNCTIONING. CAN'T DRIVE THE VEHICLE DUE TO NO POWER STEERING. UNSAFE TO DRIVE.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V435000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 17E048000 WHEELS
- 15V171000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 15V812000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 14V286000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V109000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 13V227000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 13V270000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 12. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2013 Ford Explorer? What happened to yours?
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