2019 Ford Explorer
This year drew an ordinary 290 complaints for a Ford Explorer — the model's median is 568. What they were about is the unusual part: 13.4% of them mention exterior, against 5.2% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Ford Explorer ran from 2011 to 2019, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 290 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 568 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- exterior — 13.4% of this year's complaints, against 5.2% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: exterior, pillar, 24s02.
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
EXTERIOR A-PILLAR TRIM PART DETACHED, NOW CAUSED CRACKED WINDSHIELD WHERE TRIM WOULD HAVE BEEN. THE PART HAS BEEN DETACHED FOR MONTHS AND MY LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP HAS NO TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT SOLUTION. MY WINDSHIELD NOW HAS A SPIDERING CRACK WHERE IT WOULD HA…
Passenger side exterior B pillar trim came off while driving on highway on July 3, 2026. Trim was on vehicle when it left home. It was not on it when it arrived at destination. Possible danger to other drivers from flying trim component. No inspection or any s…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V316000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 19V633000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 24V031000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 26V012000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 26V101000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 26V448000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
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 2019 Ford Explorer? What happened to yours?
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