2018 Ford EXPEDITION - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 Ford Expedition SUV 4x2 boasts an impressive overall safety rating of 5, the highest possible score. This means that the vehicle excels in various crash tests, including front and side crashes. Additionally, it comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances the car's ability to maintain control on the road. While forward collision warning and lane departure warning features are available as optional upgrades, they can provide additional peace of mind for drivers.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the Ford Expedition has had 179 complaints reported and 7 recalls issued. It's essential for car manufacturers to address these issues promptly to ensure the safety and satisfaction of their customers.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

179

Recall Count

7

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2018 Ford Expedition SUV 4x2 Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 Ford Expedition SUV 4x2

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Optional
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2018 Ford Expedition SUV 4x2 Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 Ford Expedition SUV 4x2 Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2018 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2018 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2018 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 3 3
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2018 Ford EXPEDITION

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"at around 55,700 miles the transmission started slipping. within a few days (less than 100 miles), the transmission would thud and lurch as well. on 2 occasions, one while accelerating at a traffic light and one while making a left hand turn), the vehicle lost power and would not continue celebrating from 3/4 gear. during both instances, my children were also in the car. the second occurrence almost resulted in us being t-boned by oncoming traffic. we took the vehicle to ford and they acknowledged the problem and stayed there was a tech bulletin about it. however we were 2.5 months (but not miles) outside of warranty and the repair was several steps and would result in costs up to $15k! we attempted to call ford as during the time of we were outside the warranty, i had a baby (high risk pregnancy) and then had to wait several weeks for an appointment as well. corporate ford flat out ignored us as well as the dealer who tried to advocate on our behalf as this was such a severe and dangerous issue."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-05-01
Complaint:
"about two weeks ago my 2018 ford expediton max platinum 4x4 started exhibiting harsh shifting from 3 to 4 gear. since then it has gotten worse. harsh shifting, delayed shifting, harsh engagement of gear, or sometimes not engaging at all leaving me in a a very unsafe position on the road. it appears ford is very aware of the danger and issued multiple tsb's about this issue. vehicle has not been inspected by ford as the service time is over 6 weeks long due to the very same issues are widespread. there were no warning lamps or messages before the failure began happening."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-03-01
Complaint:
"in looking up recalls for my vehicle i see several relating to transmission issues with the 2018 ford expedition. i contacted ford they said there were not any recalls for my specific vehicle, however my transmission is experiencing problems i see in other recalls. specifically when the car is put in park and it rolls forward or back depending on the angle. the other issue is the transmission did not engage when accelerating then it made a noise like something was loose in the transmission. i backed off the accelerator and the transmission engaged again. a warning light came on briefly when it made the noise then disappeared. ford took down my information the case # is cas47105525"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-03-01
Complaint:
"i turned onto a road and when i pressed the gas to accelerate, the vehicle wouldn’t move. i put the vehicle in park, turned it off and back on and into drive and it let me accelerate. when i got to the red light, i stopped then went to accelerate when it turned green and the vehicle went in reverse and the engine light turned on. both incidences could have resulted in an accident if there were other vehicles on the road at the time. the dial that changes gears and/or the transmission abruptly stopped working. i took it to the dealership and do not have the diagnostic results yet. they have confirmed issues with shifting gears so far."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-04-01
Complaint:
"gears are slipping, vehicle loses power, clunking noises, ghost spanner icon on dashboard, jerks heavily sometimes when going from park to drive, shift system displays on dash after noises."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-01-07
Complaint:
"the transmission will drop to 1st gear from 3rd or 4th gear. the rpm’s will rev high, the vehicle will not accelerate. this is available for inspection if you’d like to see it. i was almost rear-end when i couldn’t get the vehicle to accelerate. another time i was on the interstate and in 10th gear, i let off the accelerator pedal and the gear went to 9th gear, as i went to push back on the accelerator to speed up and the vehicle wouldn’t shift to 10th gear and again started to slow down, i immediately got over to head towards the side of the interstate. this is going to cause me to be rear-end if i can’t accelerate when i intend to accelerate. i can recreate this issue once the transmission is over 200 degrees (operating temperature). i have talked to several dealerships and transmission technicians. they believe the cdf drum clutch hub bushing has slipped. the is a 2018 model, so this was before ford motor company made the updated design to stop the bushing from slipping by create a “lip” to stop the bushing. this has not be officially inspected as most dealers are telling me 30-40 days and 7-12 weeks before they can even look at it. they say their transmission tech is booked way out. this makes me wonder why… upon my research these 10r80 transmissions have this problem. ford even corrected the design (becuase obviously it was a faulty design, otherwise ford wouldn’t have made this updated change). it does have a code saying “engine not in park”. but displays no check engine light. it throws lights and warnings when it starts to rev high and says to “see manual”. someone needs to do some research on these 10r80 tranmissions and ford needs to correct this faulty design on models that have the bushing slipping. it’s not right that ford corrected it for the latest models to only leave the older model customers high and dry and in the way of danger. ford can make this corrective action, but what will it require from the public?"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-07-10
Complaint:
"i have had issues with my expedition not shifting gears properly/slipping gears. this usually happens during acceleration. rpm will rise but act as if i’m in neutral and significantly reduce my speed, then with a hard thunk it will jerk my car into gear. this has happened twice on the freeway, once almost causing me to be rear-ended with my children in the car. the other car had to swerve off to the side to avoid hitting me. the dash will flash a shifting warning light and go away almost as soon as i get the chance to look at it. the other times have happened on main roads in town. thankfully where it’s easy enough to pull off to the side when this happens. but even so, it’s starting to happen more often and at slower speeds where i’m accelerating maybe 5-10 mph faster. just today, and the reason i am finally posting a complaint, my car slipped out of gear and when it finally slammed back into gear, the force was so strong that it whipped me forward and caused me to brake in the middle of rush hour traffic. not only that, but it went out 2 more times on my way home and now i’m hearing a rattling noise under my car (which is probably metal shavings). the only thing on the dash this time was a yellow warning reading ‘see manual.’ this is my family vehicle that i use to transport my kids to school, sports, etc. so they are in the vehicle with me about 95% of the time. i am honestly afraid this will happen again at the wrong time while they’re in the car with me. is ford waiting for a death to happen before they address this issue? just do a basic search on expedition transmissions and it’s all over the place. so many people are having the same issue and forking out so much money to replace or have their transmissions rebuilt. i have taken my vehicle in just for them to tell me they can’t recreate the issue and therefore nothing can be done. no codes are pulling and it drives fine. ford needs to address this and recall their 10r80 transmissions!"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-03-07
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2018 ford expedition. the contact stated while driving 25 mph, the transmission was slipping, and the vehicle failed to exceed 25 mph while depressing the accelerator pedal. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed. the contact stated that the dealer replaced the valve body instead, because the manufacturer warranty department declined to cover the transmission replacement. the failure persisted. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 36,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2021-06-11
Complaint:
"in july of 2023, while driving on the highway and depressing gas pedal, the transmission seemed to disengage from engine. the vehicle lurched, making control difficult and putting me in a position of being unable to get a response when steering vehicle. the vehicle rapidly lost speed making a rear end collision possible. the engine began racing forcing me to release gas pedal completely until i could gently depress pedal hoping the transmission would reengage. the transmission finally chose a gear and i was able to accelerate avoiding a collision and reach a safe speed. no lights or codes showed after the event. this was my first time driving the vehicle on a highway after purchasing it used, 2 weeks prior, from a local ford dealer, who certified the vehicle as safe to drive. a second incident happened sept. 2023 under similar circumstances."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2025-07-07
Complaint:
"the auto-start/stop is malfunctioning as follows: when i am stopped at a stop sign, when the auto-start/stop is engaged, the engine will shut down when fully stopped. when the engine re-engages (by even letting off the brake a small amount), the car transmission jolts the car forward very aggressively even thought the brakes are still pressed. it does this every time that the auto on/off is engaged. it is very dangerous! this is because the car will move a full foot, or more, forward when the engine reengages. i took my expedition to the ford dealer and the code is "tsb 23-2250" my understanding is that this code is for "automatic transmission - harsh/delayed engagement and/or harsh/delayed shift". the dealership said that the expedition needs a new "valve body" and that it would be on back order or they can overhaul it for about the same price and they can do that soon. the quote is for $1,400 to fix this issue. i have found out that the part is on back-order from the manufacturer and that they have ordered a significant number of this part -- clearly there are a ton of people needing to fix this part right now. this is significantly dangerous because when the engine reengages and the transmission has a harsh engagement at that exact same moment, i have come close to rear-ending vehicles several times. this is a significant safety issue and not my fault and should be immediately fixed and paid for by ford. you can contact me in any manner: [xxx] - [xxx] -- [xxx] -- [xxx] . information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-07-09

Recalls for the 2018 Ford EXPEDITION

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain 2018 lincoln navigator, and ford expedition vehicles. the second row center seat track assemblies may be missing one or both of the j-channel reinforcement brackets, possibly allowing the seat to move in the event of a crash."
Consequence:
In the event of a crash, a seat that moves may not properly restrain the seat occupant, increasing their risk of injury.
Remedy:

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the second row center seat for any missing J-channel reinforcement brackets, replacing the center seat frame assembly as necessary, free of charge. An interim owner notification was sent on December 21, 2018. A second letter will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 18S37

Component(s) Involved: SEATS > MID/REAR ASSEMBLY
Date of incident: 2018-11-14
Recall:
"ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain 2018 expedition vehicles. the second row outboard seats may have excessive forward adjustment capability and/or may have an improperly installed bolt that secures the seat back to the seat base. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) number 202a, "head restraints", number 207, "seating systems", and number 210, "seat belt anchorage system.""
Consequence:
If the seat back is not adequately secured, and/or the seat occupant is improperly positioned, there can be an increased risk of injury in a crash.
Remedy:

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the second row outboard seats for proper seat adjustment travel, replacing the seat frame assembly if necessary. Dealers will also inspect the bolts attaching the seat back to the seat base for the proper installation, correcting it as necessary. These repairs will be made free of charge. The recall began on January 10, 2018. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 17C20.

Component(s) Involved: SEATS > MID/REAR ASSEMBLY
Date of incident: 2017-12-01

FORD Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

FORD ranks 1 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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