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BrakesPart report

2025 Ford Explorer Brakes Problems

Complaints
19about this part
Share
18%of 107 total for the year
Median mileage
20,000miles
Trend
Too newThis model year is less than 4 years old, so a trend is not meaningful yet.

NHTSA recorded 19 complaints about the brakes of the 2025 Ford Explorer, 18% of the 107 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 20,000 miles. 5 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers. 1 recall campaign on record is filed under a similar system.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“Ever since I bought that vehicle, it's had system malfunctions. I received three letters directly from Ford explaining the problems this vehicle had or could have. But he and the dealerships, where I took my vehicle for repairs, never did them. They always denied that it had any problems and said that my vehicle was new and had nothing wrong with it.”

NHTSA complaint #11715207, filed 2026-02

“I bought the car in December and I was only able to take it out on the road in January, when it started to have problems with the software and brake system. I brought it to the dealer's workshop where I bought it, but they haven't solved anything and they say that the faults the car presents are normal.”

NHTSA complaint #11654765, filed 2025-04

“I was driving at approximately 5mph when my car suddenly slammed on breaks. The pre collision warning popped up. There was no obstical in site. Happened approximately 30 mins ago. Had immediate pain in my shoulder, neck and head.”

NHTSA complaint #11771498, filed 2026-10

“My remote start would not work from inside of a restaurant so I went out to manually start the car. It started fine. It was very cold out so I thought that I would drive up next to the building to get close to the entrance. The parking lot was not slippery at all , when I applied the brakes I had absolutely no brakes and the car bumped into the building. No damage to the building but my license plate bracket was broken and the bumper had minor damage.”

NHTSA complaint #11704952, filed 2025-12

“On repeated occasions the vehicle’s braking system has malfunctioned without driver input, including uncommanded automatic brake engagement at highway speed and, most recently, a failure of the braking system to respond as commanded. These malfunctions occur without warning and directly impede my ability to control and safely operate the vehicle. On at least one occasion the malfunction occurred while I was driving on the highway with my three minor children in the vehicle and nearly resulted in a major collision.”

NHTSA complaint #11754676, filed 2026-08

Related recalls

Related service bulletins

Brakes: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
202625%
20251918%
202365%
2022135%
2021245%
2020887%
201941%
2018112%
2017221%
2016191%
2015342%
2014272%
2013402%
2012213%
2011282%
20101513%
200926%
200885%
2007126%
2006417%
2005184%
2004534%
2003454%
20021324%
2001339%
2000647%
1999695%
1998945%
1997966%
19961329%
1995809%
199426122%
199324426%
19929916%
199112320%
1990217%

Other parts of the 2025 Ford Explorer

Electrical system
23 complaints
Other or unknown
19 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
16 complaints
Forward collision avoidance
15 complaints
Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
13 complaints
Steering
9 complaints
Engine
8 complaints
Body and structure
7 complaints
Vehicle speed control
7 complaints
Air bags
5 complaints
Exterior lighting
5 complaints
Fuel system
3 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2025 Ford Explorer

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 30, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology