Problems by system, one model year at a time

1,242 pages on 540 model years, and one page per system across each nameplate’s years: what owners filed with NHTSA about one system — the count, the mileage they reported it at, their own words — beside every recall, investigation and manufacturer bulletin filed under the same heading. A page exists only where the record is deep: at least 50 complaints naming the system, and a filed document about it.

engine 325 electrical 289 transmission and drivetrain 215 fuel system 88 brake 78 steering 57 automatic emergency braking 44 airbag 32

What these pages are, and are not

Source: NHTSA complaint database, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communications

Every other page about “2018 Explorer transmission problems” is a forum thread, a scraped list, or a repair-cost guess. These are the federal record, joined: the complaints owners filed with NHTSA about that system on that model year, the mileage they gave, and the documents the manufacturer and NHTSA filed under the same heading — each one linked, each one dated.

Three things they never say. A failure rate: NHTSA publishes the complaints and nothing about how many vehicles were sold, so a count is a count. A repair cost: no federal record carries one. A verdict on any one car: a complaint is one owner’s account, not a defect finding, and whether a recall applies to a particular vehicle is a matter of its VIN. NHTSA groups complaints coarsely — “Power Train” is the transmission and the driveline — and every page says which heading it is reading.

Every nameplate with a page

Source: every model year together, most complaints first

Filter these nameplates159 nameplates

One page per system across all of a nameplate’s model years — “Explorer transmission problems” without the year — and an index of every system for the nameplate. Type a nameplate to narrow the list.

Every model year with a page

Source: most complaints first

Filter these model years540 model years

33 makes. Type a nameplate or a year to narrow the list.

Common questions

Source: NHTSA files

Why does a model year have a page for one system and not another?

A system gets a page only where at least 50 owner complaints name it and the manufacturer or NHTSA has filed a bulletin, recall or investigation under the same heading. Below that, the model year's own page carries what there is.

Are more complaints worse?

Not on their own. NHTSA publishes complaints and nothing about how many of a vehicle were sold, so a best-selling truck will always out-count a rare one. Read the share of a model year's complaints that name one system, the mileage owners reported, and what was filed about it.

Where do the owner accounts come from?

NHTSA's complaint database. They are quoted as written, with anything identifying removed, and they are unverified — what was said, not a finding that it was true.