Cruise control failure on the 2006 Ford Explorer
When cruise control failure gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Ford Explorer report cruise control failure at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 72,000 miles. It is the 14th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 95,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 41,400 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
11% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51,600 miles | 60,460 miles | 60,460 miles | 93,000 miles | 93,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $200–$1,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 22 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2014 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 1998 carries the most reports, with 67; the 2006 has 9. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 ford explorer. The contact stated that the engine stalls without warning, while the vehicle is in motion. The travel speed is not a factor. The failure occurs intermittently. When the engine stalls, the power steering fails. The vehicle is able to be restarted. The ford dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the engine stalling began once he started using the cruise control. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage is 22,000 and failure mileage was 18,000. Updated 02-01-08. *kb
I was driving my 2006 v8 explorer at 40mph using cruise control when the truck stalled. This happened once before in 2009, not sure if I was using cruise control at that time. Not sure what to do. *tr
Just recently noticed my 06 ford explorer having unexpected engine surges. Went to stop at an intersection and it felt like the vehicle was fighting me to stop. When the light turned green I gave it a little gas however the vehicle begin to maintain that speed like I had the cruise control on. I purposely did not give the vehicle any gas and saw that it just kept accelerating. Finally after breaking out I began to brake and again felt the vehicle accelerating. Since no one was in front of me I wanted to see what the vehicle did if I gave it a little gas in which it made a popping sound and did not respond when I gave it more gas but the engine still was running. I pulled over and put the vehicle in park. I tried to rev the engine but it did not respond. A wrench light came on during this process. I turned the vehicle off then on again in which it seemed there was nothing wrong. As I drove home it did fine except when stopped at the same intersection it died. I started it again and had no problems and I did make it home. After some research I found multiple similar problems like this with this vehicle however no recalls have been…
Also reported on the 2006 Ford Explorer
Other powertrain problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Other engine problem
Other brake problem
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does cruise control failure happen on the 2006 Ford Explorer?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is cruise control failure on the 2006 Ford Explorer?
9 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.6 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed