What are the common problems with the 2009 Ford Explorer?
Owners of the 2009 Ford Explorer have filed 33 complaints with NHTSA, most often about speed control (5) and the engine (4). In NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, 26 of them list a mileage; a complaint is an owner's report, not a proven defect.
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See what the paid report includes →NHTSA's file holds 33 owner complaints on the 2009 Ford Explorer. Owners named speed control most often: 5 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 33 complaints, 5 report a crash, none reports a fire and 4 report an injury (5 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
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Common problems with the 2009 Explorer
NHTSA's file holds 33 owner complaints on the 2009 Ford Explorer. Owners named speed control most often: 5 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Speed Control | 5 | 4 | Under 5 mileages |
| Engine | 4 | 4 | Under 5 mileages |
| Power Train | 3 | 3 | Under 5 mileages |
| Seats | 3 | 2 | Under 5 mileages |
| Wheels | 3 | 2 | Under 5 mileages |
Of the 33 complaints, 5 report a crash, none reports a fire and 4 report an injury (5 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Mileage when owners reported a problem with the 2009 Explorer
The 26 mileages owners gave run from 60 to 184,494 miles. A quarter are at or under 42,000 miles, half at or under 76,000, three quarters at or under 100,000 and nine in ten at or under 140,000; 6 (23%) came after 100,000 miles, 2 (8%) after 150,000 and none after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2009 Explorer wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 20 of the 26 came at or under 100,000 miles, so they say nothing about how many miles a 2009 Explorer can cover.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 60 miles |
| 25th percentile | 42,000 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 76,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 100,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 140,000 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 184,494 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 6 (23%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 2 (8%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | none |
Every model year together: Half of the 16,183 NHTSA owner complaints on the Ford Explorer that list mileage came after 68,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Ford Explorer last? →
Is the 2009 Explorer a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2009 is a good or a bad Explorer: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2009 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 33 complaints, the 2009 ranks 35th of the 37 Ford Explorer model years from 1990 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2002 (3,295). The fewest: the 1990 (12).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 Explorer | 12 | 1 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1991 Explorer | 609 | 34 | 113,804 |
| 1992 Explorer | 633 | 33 | 111,130 |
| 1993 Explorer | 938 | 40 | 115,000 |
| 1994 Explorer | 1,203 | 67 | 98,083 |
| 1995 Explorer | 843 | 96 | 121,170 |
| 1996 Explorer | 1,450 | 150 | 120,000 |
| 1997 Explorer | 1,731 | 230 | 99,000 |
| 1998 Explorer | 1,959 | 305 | 100,000 |
| 1999 Explorer | 1,348 | 303 | 82,201 |
| 2000 Explorer | 952 | 326 | 77,150 |
| 2001 Explorer | 375 | 113 | 90,000 |
| 2002 Explorer | 3,295 | 2,521 | 79,000 |
| 2003 Explorer | 1,131 | 914 | 73,000 |
| 2004 Explorer | 1,304 | 1,086 | 65,000 |
| 2005 Explorer | 497 | 430 | 70,000 |
| 2006 Explorer | 630 | 546 | 55,000 |
| 2007 Explorer | 208 | 184 | 67,000 |
| 2008 Explorer | 148 | 128 | 77,000 |
| 2009 (this page) | 33 | 26 | 76,000 |
| 2010 Explorer | 115 | 95 | 40,707 |
| 2011 Explorer | 1,198 | 877 | 70,000 |
| 2012 Explorer | 831 | 566 | 70,000 |
| 2013 Explorer | 2,239 | 1,531 | 76,439 |
| 2014 Explorer | 1,684 | 1,017 | 66,500 |
| 2015 Explorer | 1,820 | 1,164 | 57,000 |
| 2016 Explorer | 2,467 | 1,503 | 49,000 |
| 2017 Explorer | 1,706 | 852 | 50,000 |
| 2018 Explorer | 736 | 290 | 50,000 |
| 2019 Explorer | 303 | 119 | 54,271 |
| 2020 Explorer | 1,256 | 417 | 24,000 |
| 2021 Explorer | 463 | 110 | 45,000 |
| 2022 Explorer | 277 | 59 | 38,000 |
| 2023 Explorer | 115 | 25 | 17,000 |
| 2024 Explorer | 21 | 4 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2025 Explorer | 113 | 16 | 3,000 |
| 2026 Explorer | 44 | 5 | Under 10 mileages |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Explorer year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Ford Explorer years to avoid →
2009 Ford Explorer recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 1 recall campaign that names the 2009 Ford Explorer (0 vehicle campaigns and 1 equipment or tire campaign that names this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 10E043000 | Sep 3, 2010 | EQUIPMENT |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2009 Explorer lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2009 Explorer.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 7 of the 33 complaints on the 2009 Ford Explorer give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: EXPLORER and EXPLORER HYBRID. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: EXPLORER, EXPLORER HYBRID and EXPLORER PHEV.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2009 Ford Explorer questions
What are the most common 2009 Ford Explorer problems?
NHTSA's file holds 33 owner complaints on the 2009 Ford Explorer. Owners named speed control most often: 5 complaints. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 33 complaints, 5 report a crash, none reports a fire and 4 report an injury (5 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
At what mileage do owners report problems with the 2009 Ford Explorer?
Of the 26 complaints on the 2009 Ford Explorer that list mileage, the middle half came between 42,000 and 100,000 miles; 6 (23%) came after 100,000 miles, 2 (8%) after 150,000 and none after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem; they do not say how many miles a 2009 Explorer can cover.
Is the 2009 Ford Explorer a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2009 is a good or a bad Explorer: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2009 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 33 complaints, the 2009 ranks 35th of the 37 Ford Explorer model years from 1990 to 2026 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2002 (3,295). The fewest: the 1990 (12).
How many recalls does the 2009 Ford Explorer have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 1 recall campaign that names the 2009 Ford Explorer (0 vehicle campaigns and 1 equipment or tire campaign that names this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2009 Ford Explorer before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2009 Ford Explorer.