2005 Ford EXPLORER SPORT TRAC - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac has not been rated for overall safety by NHTSA. However, it received a 3-star rating for rollover possibility, indicating a moderate risk. This vehicle does not have electronic stability control, forward collision warning, or lane departure warning systems, which are advanced safety features that can help prevent accidents.

In terms of complaints and recalls, there have been 565 complaints reported and 3 recalls issued for this model. While the rollover rating is average, the lack of advanced safety features and the high number of complaints and recalls suggest that there may be safety concerns with the 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. To ensure the safety of passengers and drivers, it is recommended to drive this vehicle with caution and stay up to date on any recalls or safety issues.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

565

Recall Count

3

Investigation Count

2

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

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.

No
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.

No
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.

No

2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 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 2010 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2010 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2010 Score
Rollover Rating 3 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2005 Ford EXPLORER SPORT TRAC

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:
"the contact owns a 2005 ford explorer. the contact stated that there was a crack on the top panel of the rear liftgate. the contact was concerned that the rear liftgate would fracture if she opened the liftgate. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 120,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2022-01-09

Complaint:
"2005 ford explorer. frame is rotting along the welds. not up and down. length wise running with the frame. obviously a factory weld issue and a big issue at that as the issue could have the frame fail and entire hub/axle/wheel assembly rip right off the vehicle. this is also a very common issue with ford's in general from 02-2005. as you already know i'm sure. this vehicle was well maintained and taken care of and the frame issue has made an otherwise great running low mileage vehicle worthless. not to mention had the issue not been found very dangerous! please get these death traps off the road!! have pictures but the files are to large to send. thanks."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2018-03-08

Complaint:
"the back lift gate panel cracked on the back of our ford explorer and when we went to shut the lift gate the whole back window shattered. ford won't replace it because they say its not a safety issue and our year of our ford was not apart of the recall of these panels being cracked. please be aware that if you have one of these cracks that the back window can shatter when closing the lift gate."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2019-02-08

Complaint:
"we have a 2005 ford explorer and the back lift gate panel was cracked right by the ford symbol. when we went to open the back lift gate and the panel where it was cracked broke in half and shattered the whole back window and injured us. ford wants to charge me $140.00 to just look at it. come on ford do what's right! beware if you have a cracked panel on your ford! it can break in half and the glass can shatter."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2019-02-08

Complaint:
"i have a 2005 ford explorer and upon opening my rear tailgate, the screws on the two hinges broke from the glass. tthe only thing holding it halfway up is the hydraulic power lifters. glad i was parked and not on the highway"
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2017-08-07

Complaint:
"rear liftgate crack"
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2012-01-07

Complaint:
"cracked applique on rear lift gate."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2016-12-11

Complaint:
"peeling paint on my ford explorer sport trac. it is peeling mostly on the top and hood of the truck. i talked with someone on the ford website but they said there are no recalls. i talked with a paint and body shop and they said it was a bad paint job. the roof on my vehicle is now rusting and the body shop guy said it will cost over 2000$ to get it repaired. this vehicle was purchased in oklahoma. we also bought a cover for the back which had a frame around the bed of the pickup and was held together by some plastic clips. the clips broke before it was even a year old and the dealer said there was nothing they could do and we would have to buy a whole new cover which cost over 300$."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2006-02-10

Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford explorer. while the vehicle was parked, it was noticed that the liftgate was cracked. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 117,000."
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2015-05-12

Complaint:
"crack in rear hatch plate by ford emblem"
Components Involved: STRUCTURE
Date of incident: 2015-10-09

Recalls for the 2005 Ford EXPLORER SPORT TRAC

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"certain pro-a motors corner lamps, turn signals, and headlights sold as replacement lamps for use on certain passenger vehicles listed above. some combination lamps that are not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."
Consequence:
WITHOUT THE AMBER REFLECTORS, THE VEHICLE WILL BE POORLY ILLUMINATED, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.
Remedy:

PRO-A MOTORS WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER TO REPURCHASE THE LAMPS. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 3, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT PRO-A MOTORS AT 323-838-2988.

Component(s) Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2006-03-23

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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