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CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2002 Ford Explorer is hands-down our worst vehicle on record. "Avoid like the plague" is putting it lightly.

The 2002-2005 Explorer has a very well-established record of expensive transmission failure at under 100k miles. The Explorer has an enclosed transmission which is typically replaced with a rebuilt transmission at a cost of almost $3,000.

Another common problem for the 2002-2003 Explorer is wheel bearing failure at around 90k miles, with a typical repair bill of $500 to $1000 depending on how many wheel bearings failed.

Adding insult to injury, the 2002-2005 Explorer also has a massive problem with the rear panel cracking. While it's a minor annoyance compared to transmission failure, ironically the crack usually goes right through the Ford logo.

2.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
67,000 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2002 Ford Explorer wheels / hubs problems

wheels / hubs problem

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2002 Ford Explorer Owner Comments

problem #1

Feb 012007

Explorer 4WD 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 67,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

- the contact took the 2002 Ford Explorer to get new tires where she observed that two of the rims were cracked, the passenger side front and the rear driver's side. The crack almost dissected the rim. Kmc the specific wheel she had was the king pin 20 inch chrome wheel. She called the distributors for kmc wheels and they stated if she didn't have the original receipt there was nothing they could do. They faxed her the warranty. Structural damage would only be covered if she had a receipt. The name of the distributors waswheel pros 562-921-1237.

- Saugus, CA, USA

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