2008 Ford EXPLORER - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2008 Ford Explorer 4-DR. w/SAB has received high ratings in various crash tests, with a 5-star rating for both the front and side crash tests on both the driver's and passenger's sides. The rollover rating is 3 out of 5, indicating a moderate risk of rollover. Additionally, this vehicle comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, enhancing its overall safety features.

While the car does not have forward collision or lane departure warning systems, it does provide electronic stability control to assist the driver in maintaining control of the vehicle in challenging situations. In terms of complaints and recalls, there have been 144 complaints and 4 recalls reported for this model. These numbers should be taken into consideration along with the safety ratings when evaluating the overall safety of the 2008 Ford Explorer.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

144

Recall Count

4

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2008 Ford Explorer 4-DR. w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 Ford Explorer 4-DR. w/SAB

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.

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

2008 Ford Explorer 4-DR. w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 Ford Explorer 4-DR. w/SAB 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 2008 Score 2022 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 5 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2022 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2022 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 3 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Complaints for the 2008 Ford EXPLORER

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:
"stopped at the 4 way ..and my turn to go..my car goes maybe 2 seconds then it revvs when i pressed the pedal bit mycar doesnt engage . the tool light and engine light on. i rode it to the side ..turned it off. then started it again..getting back on the road again..and once again i move some..then the engine revvvs but the car doesn t fo..twice i almostgot side swiped by on coming vars up behind me. i talked to the mechanic..as i just bought this car in july last year..hesaid its a ford thing..commom.. but no one has the correct answer..trial and error..or spend thousands on a new transmission. a few people said its the transmossion wire harness??"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2020-02-07
Complaint:
"transmission going out at 100,000miles and cooliant problems."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2020-04-06
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford explorer. while depressing the accelerator pedal to accelerate from a stop, the vehicle failed to accelerate. the wrench warning icon illuminated. the contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road, turned off and restarted the vehicle, and was able to drive normally. after driving a block, the failure recurred. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but was not diagnosed or repaired. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer. the manufacturer stated that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 07v453000 (power train). no further assistance was offered. the approximate failure mileage was 147,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2017-08-09
Complaint:
"while driving down the street my suv completely shut off, steering wheel locked up and i couldn't steer it and the brakes locked up. the suv stopped dead in it's tracks. i drive 95% on the highway and had this happened on the highway i wouldn't be here today to write this. took it to a repair facility and had to pay $1200 to replace the pcm ( powertrain control module) or the brain to my suv. this is what tells the truck to run basically. terrified me to think i could have been killed."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2018-02-09
Complaint:
"transmission keeps trying to downshift, this was a problem a few years ago. fredrick ford in seaford delaware had to reprogram the computer. now it's starting to do the same thing again. i see where there are some recalls on later models, for the same problems."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2016-01-03
Complaint:
"vehicle lurches in and out of gear. vehicle lurches into reverse from park, and is delayed from park to drive. vehicle feels like it has been bumped hard from behind as it is downshifting. in snow especially, this can cause a significant sdafety hazrd and risk of accident. these events occur when vehicle is staionary, and while in motion there is a significant delay in transmission engagement, which can cause a collison. definite hazard when pulling out in traffic, when it does not respond normally. the fix for most units is expensive, requiring replacement of valve body in the transmission. my particular vehicle was 5 years old and had 63000 miles on it when the problem occurred. ford refused to assist with this repair."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2015-03-10
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford explorer. while driving at 35 mph, the vehicle jerked violently when shifted into gear and decelerated when shifted into drive. the engine warning light illuminated. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the shift solenoid needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred two months later. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 78,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2017-02-05
Complaint:
"transmission shifts into neutral as 40 mph and will not accelerate further. rpm will max out until vehicle is slowed to lower gear. unacceptable on freeways at high speeds. dealer claims transmission needs to be rebuilt at 44,000 miles at my own expense. this is a known problem according to service reps at the dealer but no recall has been issued. *tr"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2015-01-10
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer and the mechanic stated that the transmission had to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileage was 82,649."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2013-12-09
Complaint:
"my 2008 ford explorer transmission started lurching when shifting gears while driving. also when i would put the car in reverse it would hesitate and roll back a few seconds and then "slam" into reverse. i expected to see my transmission laying on the ground. i have also had a 2005 ford explorer and it did the same thing. this is my only car and i am very disappointed with ford. my last explorer also had to have all four wheel bearings replaced under 75,000 miles and my 2008 had to have two replaced before it was 2 yrs old. this is crazy! too expensive to have these things happen so frequently!! will not be buying another ford. *tr"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2013-04-06

Recalls for the 2008 Ford EXPLORER

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"certain curved tempered replacement glass manufactured by hangzhou safety glass ltd and supplied to safelite by auto temp inc., identified as dot-430, and sold for use on certain domestic and foreign vehicles may not break into small pieces as expected of tempered glass and fails to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 205, "glazing materials.""
Consequence:
IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH, THE OCCUPANT(S) MAY BE SERIOUSLY INJURED BY SHATTERED GLASS.
Remedy:

SAFELITE WILL NOTIFY ITS RETAIL CUSTOMERS AND REPLACE THE GLASS FREE OF CHARGE. RETAIL CUSTOMERS CAN CONTACT SAFELITE TOLL FREE AT 1-888-843-2906. SAFELITE WILL NOTIFY ITS WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS AND REIMBURSE WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS FOR CURRENT INVENTORY AND AT A SPECIFIED RATE FOR REPLACING THEIR CUSTOMER'S GLASS. WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS CAN CONTACT SAFELITE'S WHOLESALE DIVISION, SERVICE AUTOGLASS TOLL FREE AT 1-888-246-6298. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 15, 2008.

Component(s) Involved: VISIBILITY > GLASS, SIDE/REAR
Date of incident: 2007-12-11

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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