2015 Ford Explorer

2015 Ford Explorer recalls (9)

• SUSPENSION:REAR

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2017 Explorer vehicles. The rear suspension toe links may fracture due to stress on the rear suspension.

  Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear suspension toe links, and inspect both rear toe link ball joints, replacing the rear wheel knuckle(s), if necessary, free of charge. The recall began June 26, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S17.

• WHEELS:HUB

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain Wheel Hub Bearing assemblies, part number HB5Z-1104-C, incorrectly listed as being for installation on the rear axles of 2011-2017 Ford Explorer 4X2 vehicles. These bearings assemblies were manufactured without a self retention feature, possibly resulting in the separation of the wheel or wheel end.

  Remedy: Ford will notify the distributors of the hubs specifying that they are to only be used on drive axles. It is believed that none of the hubs were purchased from Ford dealers for the incorrect application. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332.

• PARKING BRAKE

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2015 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, and Lincoln MKS vehicles manufactured May 4, 2015, to May 23, 2015, Lincoln MKT vehicles manufactured May 4, 2015, to May 21, 2015, and 2015-2016 Ford Explorer vehicles manufactured May 4, 2015, to May 23, 2015. The affected vehicles have a parking brake that may not fully engage when applied. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 135, "Light Vehicle Brake Systems."

  Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will test the operation of the parking brake system, and if necessary, replace the parking brake control assembly, free of charge. The recall began on September 4, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15C07.

• SUSPENSION:REAR

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Ford Explorer vehicles manufactured January 17, 2014 to May 31, 2014. The affected vehicles may have improperly welded rear suspension toe links that may fracture.

  Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear suspension toe links, free of charge. The recall began on November 18, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S18.

• POWER TRAIN:AXLE ASSEMBLY:AXLE SHAFT

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Explorer, 2014-2015 Taurus and 2014 Edge vehicles equipped with 2.0L or 2.3L engines and front wheel drive. The support bracket for the front drive axle halfshaft may fail.

  Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the link shaft bracket, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. Owners received an interim notification detailing safety risk December 8, 2020. A second letter will be mailed when parts become available in January 2021. The recall began February 2, 2021. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S63.

• SUSPENSION:REAR

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Explorer vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Exposure to road salt can cause the cross-axis ball joint to corrode and seize, resulting in a fracture of the outboard section of the rear suspension toe link.

  Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace as necessary, the cross-axis ball joint (CABJ) knuckle, and replace the rear suspension toe links, free of charge. This recall is an expansion of previous NHTSA recall numbers 16V-245, 19V-435, and 20V-675. Certain vehicles previously repaired will need to return for the new remedy. An interim notification letter notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on September 10, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 16, 2022. Owners may contact Ford's customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 21S32.

• SUSPENSION:REAR

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Explorer vehicles originally sold, or currently registered in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin that were previously repaired under a prior recall numbers 16V-245 or 19V-435. The outboard section of a rear suspension toe link may fracture.

  Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the cross-axis ball joint (CABJ) knuckle attached to the rear suspension toe link and replace it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 27, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S62.

• STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS

  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.

  Remedy: 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. Interim owner notification letters informing owners of the safety risk were mailed Feburary 16, 2024. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 18, 2024. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S02.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

  Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Flex, 2015 Explorer, Lincoln MKT, Lincoln MKZ, 2015-2016 C-Max, Escape, Taurus, 2016 Fusion, 2018-2019 Taurus, 2019 Lincoln MKT, Fiesta, and 2020 Mustang vehicles. The rearview camera may display a distorted, intermittent, or blank image when the vehicle is in reverse.

  Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera as necessary, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model and model years. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on October 25, 2025. Additional letters will be mailed once the final remedy is available on each phase. Mustang owner notification letters were mailed January 2, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA9. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 14, 2025.

2015 Ford Explorer safety ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP ratings.

2015 Ford Explorer owner complaints (15)

• STEERING

  Total loss of Power Steering ! Warning light display: "Steering Assist Fault", "Service AdvanceTrac", turn signals unable to lock and release. Hard Fault codes present: U3000 96-C8, C200D, 49-48 C1B00, 64-48. This problem started somewhere in the last quarter of 2025, it started with intermittent and sudden loss of power steering, while driving, which is very much a safety issue, especially when my wife does not have a lot of strength in her arms while trying to maneuver a vehicle with manual steering only. It has happened to me as well. It used to be that when you get to a save pull over point, shut vehicle off and do a restart, it would reset back to normal operation, most of the time, until it would go into fault mode again. As of about XXX, 3 weeks now, the (EPAS) steering, has been in permanent fault or fail mode and will not reset. With all my research on this, I can't believe Ford has not extended model year and or VIN's, from the previous recalls on this very same issue that the Explorer has. Again, based on research, it appears the complete steering rack would need replacing. That is a very very expense repair, that is just not in our budget. So we still drive it, because we have to, I try to drive it mostly other than my wife, but it is still a bit scary. We have had this vehicle since new, it now has 112000 miles. Thank you for reading and accepting my compliant on this issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

• STEERING

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the power steering feature was intermittently inoperable. There was no warning light illuminated. A technician attempted to diagnose the vehicle, but no diagnostic trouble codes were retrieved. The contact was informed that the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the failure had progressively worsened, causing the power steering to become inoperable. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 123,000.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera displayed a distorted image. In addition, the contact stated that the rear-view camera displayed images with lines and an inverted image. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the failure was confirmed to be consistent with an unrepaired recall repair. In addition, the contact was informed that parts were unavailable to repair the vehicle. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the parts were unavailable. The contact stated that the failure was a persistent failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his son was reversing, the vehicle crashed into a stop sign. The contact stated that the back over prevention camera was inoperable during the crash. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were no reported injuries. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention). The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 155,000.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NTHSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera occasionally displayed an inverted image or a black and white, distorted image. The failure mileage was unknown.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while in reverse(R), the rearview camera was inoperable. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was unreachable via the number provided in the recall letter. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

• UNKNOWN OR OTHER

  The B pillar plastic trim pieces are detaching from the vehicle on both sides. If these plastic pieces become dislodged at high speeds on a highway if could potentially cause damage to another vehicle/ cause a crash. There is a recall for the 2017 Ford Explorers for the same problem (25S53) however Ford refuses to cover this in that recall.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not yet available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that while reversing, the back over prevention camera image failed to display as needed and the message “Camera not Detected” was displayed on the screen. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The failure mileage was 100,000.

• STRUCTURE

  The Trim piece that has the keyless entry pad on it that was attached to the drivers door came off while driving down the interstate.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention). The contact stated that on several occasions while in reverse(R), the rear-view camera image was inverted. The contact placed blue tape over the rear camera to prevent a possible crash. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while in reverse(R), the back over prevention camera displayed a distorted image, or a green or black screen. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the contact was informed that the recall repair could not be performed because the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was not informed of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 240,000

• STEERING

  This 2015 Ford Explorer XLT - The power steering goes out. Multiple times. No recall with many many of these vehicles reporting to have the same problem. I was 200 miles away from home when this happened. The steering becomes extremely stiff and jerks. Making it very dangerous.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that occasionally while in reverse(R), the rear-view camera went black and failed to display a clear view image. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.

• BACK OVER PREVENTION

  The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NTHSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back over prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated the vehicle had experienced the rearview camera failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

• UNKNOWN OR OTHER

  Tried countless times to have a recall repaired at this facility, at my convenience. Set up an appointment to stay with car, when that time came, the service department didn't know who I was or what the recall was about. This was a RED flag for me, my Vin# brought this part to this place, looking for a more reliable dealership.