2019 Ford Explorer
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Structure is the leading concern among 298 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 18th highest complaint count among 26 Explorer model years with reports.
Of the 2019 reports, 2 involved a crash. 6 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Structure, bodyJul 14, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Explorer vehicles. The roof rail covers may come loose and detach from the vehicle.
A detached roof rail cover can create a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect the roof rail covers and as necessary, repair or replace the push-pins, rail clips, or roof rail covers, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed August 28, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated in January 2027. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S54. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 21V316. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on July 16, 2026.
Campaign 26V448000 on NHTSA.gov
Suspension, rearFeb 20, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Explorer vehicles. The rear suspension toe links may fracture.
A rear toe link fracture can result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will replace the toe links, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 16, 2026. Owners may contact Ford Customer Service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S08. This recall is an expansion of previous NHTSA recall number 21V537. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning February 25, 2026.
Campaign 26V101000 on NHTSA.gov
Equipment, electrical, engine block heaterJan 15, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Focus, 2019 Explorer, and 2024 Explorer vehicles. The engine block heater may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short circuit when the block heater is plugged in.
An electrical short circuit can increase the risk of a fire.
Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded blanking plug, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed February 13, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated in October 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA4. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on January 16, 2026. This recall expands previous recall number 25V685.
Campaign 26V012000 on NHTSA.gov
Structure, body, roof and pillarsJan 19, 2024
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Explorer vehicles. The A-pillar trim retention clips may not be properly engaged, allowing the trim to detach.
A detached trim piece can fall off the vehicle, becoming a road hazard and increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect and replace the A-pillar trim as necessary, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model years. Owner notification letters were mailed between July 18, 2024 and December 16, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S02.
Campaign 24V031000 on NHTSA.gov
Structure, bodyMay 5, 2021
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Explorer vehicles. The retention pins could loosen and allow the roof rail covers to detach from the vehicle.
A detached roof rail cover can create a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will install push-pins and replace any damaged rail clips and roof rail covers, as necessary, free of charge. The interim owner notification letter was mailed on June 22, 2021. Owner notification letters (remedy available) were mailed on October 1, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S22.
Campaign 21V316000 on NHTSA.gov
Seats, front assembly, reclinerAug 28, 2019
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2018-2020 F-150 and 2019-2020 F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 Super Duty pickup trucks, and 2018-2019 Ford Explorer, 2019-2020 Expedition, and 2020 Escape vehicles equipped with driver and/or passenger's manual front seat back recliner mechanisms. Also included are certain 2020 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles equipped with rear outboard seats and manual seat back recliner mechanisms. The recliner mechanisms may be missing the third pawl required for seat back strength, resulting in a loose seat back. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 202, "Head Restraints" and 207, "Seating Systems."
A seat back with an improperly assembled recliner mechanism may have reduced strength and may not adequately restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Ford will notify owners, and Ford and Lincoln dealers will inspect the seat structure and replace them, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 21, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19C07.
Campaign 19V633000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: power train
35 reports, newest first. Show all
Power train, Jan 4, 2024
My 2019 Ford Explore XLT wouldn’t shift right, kinda hesitated to lock. My RPM were jumping like crazy. My mechanic replaced my torque converter and throttle body. Now my vehicle drives fine but when you stop at a stop light it shakes you to death. Then it sputters when trying to accelerate. So back to the shop it went because that can cause an accident. Not to mention if it stalks while driving. My mechanic says my torque converter is [XXX] again. After paying $4000 to have my transmission basically rebuilt a year later I’m back in the same boat. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Power train, Oct 22, 2023
coolant leaking into engine 2.3l eco boost
Power train, Sep 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shuddered while shifting gears. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the power transfer unit (PTU) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to the Customer Satisfaction Program: 20B27. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
Power train, Jun 25, 2023
I bought Ford Explorer 2019 brand new. I think first week of January 2023 My wife mention 3 times the car lost power and powertrain light on. She was afraid this happens in the freeway so I took to Ford dealer and they took around 3 month to repair.
Power train, May 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shuddered. The contact stated that while coming to a stop the vehicle shuddered and hesitated to resume driving. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to TSB Number: 20N07 (2.3L Engine and 6F35 Transmission). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 82,000.
Power train, Apr 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at a complete stop, the vehicle shuddered. Additionally, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate while driving. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but confirmed that the VIN was not included in Customer Satisfaction Program: 20N07 (Transmission Extended Warranty Coverage) and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Power train, Electrical system, Structure, Feb 24, 2023
I saw an article about the a pillars coming off while driving and wanted to report my story/experience with this problem vehicle! I pay wayyyy too much for this vehicle to be a 2019 and still have low miles (46,700) for it to be such a safety hazard for my family, I definitely expected more for such a big first Ford purchase. Very very disappointed. I don’t have all the receipts together right now to take pictures at this time but they are at my house if needed. -the a pillars have flown off the vehicle while driving down the freeway even after being fixed, even most recent fixes will not completely stay down and could still come off again. This has led to the window trim being ripped off with them and it all causing wind issues and allows stuff to catch on the windows while driving or build up underneath for weather conditions. -there is something within the vehicles power train that will not take alignments and has a very bad shimmy/sway within the wheels while driving. This is very very unsafe at any speed but quite bad at highway speeds, especially with wind because of the a-pillars issue. The way it moves while driving it feels like you’re not in control of the vehicle. Multiple alignments have been attempted, tire swaps and brand new ones have been put on and it continues to get worse. Nobody can figure out what’s causing this. -there are some electrical and heating shortages within the vehicle and intermittently these futures will glitch out and won’t work. Sometimes the display screen won’t come on or shut off, sometimes all the wipers will stop mid swipe and not fully stay down, sometimes the mirrors won’t adjust, some sensors barely work, there are times the seat warmer doesn’t work or does partially, the floorboard heat will only put out cold air unless it’s on auto and high, some lighting functions glitch out, same with the radio, sometimes the auto start don’t work, sometimes the seat positions will stop in mid move and won’t reposition
Power train, Dec 25, 2022
The torque converter on my 2019 Explorer is messing up. Causing a stutter while driving and an extremely rough idle when trying to stop at a stop light/sign. This stutter happens intermittently and unexpectedly weather driving at a high rate of speed or low. A light never came on and no codes were able to be read. The last day I was able to dive my car the idle suddenly dropped so low mid driving. Thankfully I was going at a low rate of speed and able to get my vehicle off the road. I took my vehicle back to the Ford dealership and asked that they re-evaluate as the problem had gotten worse. That’s when I was informed my torque converter had malfunctioned. Not only did the dealership provide me with that information, but they also informed me that this is a known issue and has affected so many Explorers in this way, Ford had issued multiple TSBs to their service departments notifying them of this issue. I have attached screenshots of TSB 20-2271 and 22-2287, showing Ford is aware of these issues being reported on the 2016-2019 model Explorers. In my research, I’ve also found that the NHTSA has had a previous case, 17S16, showing Fords directive to replace faulty Torque Converters back in June of 2018. It is clear that Ford has not taken this issue seriously and continues to produce and sell vehicles with this bad part. This stutter and sudden decrease in idle could cause a wreck. Thankfully it did not with me, but it is an ongoing issue that could in the future. Ford has acknowledged there’s a problem but has not yet issued a recall on this part, for my VIN or cars like mine. I urge the NHTSA to investigate and encourage Ford to make this right and improve the quality of the torque converters they’re producing and selling to consumers.
Steering, Power train, Nov 17, 2022
When I took a left hand turn coming from a stop-sign the control arm on my front right passenger side busted. I did not hit anything or cause the damange instead this was in part of failure of the product. I was traveling approximately 3 mph on a flat surface with no traffic exiting an industrial park. Because the control arm broke, it caused significant other damage to my vehicle due to the inability to steer my vehicle and the wheel to no longer be controlled by the steering wheel. There were no warning signs and nothing to signal to me that my car was in fact having issues. If I would have been traveling on the hwy during this incident chances are I would have been severally hurt or even killed. I had just dropped off my husband and child at an event where we were traveling on a hwy. Luckily I was traveling at a slow speed during this incident and nobody was injured. The vehicle has been inspected and based on the significant damage (fender, door, mechanical) there has been nothing but challenges getting the issues fixed. My car is still covered under warranty because it's new however between my car insurance and the warranty nobody wants to help cover the cost of the damage that was cause at no fault of my own. Finally, this is a known issue with Ford vehicles. Research shows many, many other complaints just like mine where faulty control arms are breaking at no fault of the driver. As a matter of fact, 3 days ago there was the same incident at a round-about where another Ford Explorer was sitting in the middle with it's control arm broken. Same issue, same scenario.
Power train, Sep 29, 2022
Transmission torque converter and transmission clutches malfunctioning. Yes it's available for inspection if needed. Safety is an issue because car shudders when driving. Yes, problem has been observed by a dealer. And has been inspected with an estimated cost of $5,100+ No warning lights come on to know to assess the issue.