Complete transmission failure on the 2007 Ford Explorer
When complete transmission failure gets reported
Owners of the 2007 Ford Explorer report complete transmission failure at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 70,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 115,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 45,718 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70,400 miles | 73,700 miles | 85,399 miles | 113,000 miles | 116,118 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 $2,800–$8,000 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 286; the 2007 has 11. 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.
I have a 2007 for explorer. While I was driving on the interstate the vehicle went from 65 MPH to 20 MPH. I took the vehicle to the ford dealer who advised that the transmission went out. That this is a know issue with the explorer from 2002 to 2008. I contacted six other independent transmission shops who also advised that this is a know issue for ford explorers year 2002 to 2008. I then contacted ford customer relationship center 800-392-3673 who advised that even though its a know issue with ford that only dealer repair reports count towards a recall with NHTSA not independent transmission company's repair of the problem. I explained to them that I had a two year old in the vehicle with me not only my life was in danger but a child also. The response from fords customer service group was regardless no one got hurt. *tr
I have a 2007 for explorer. While I was driving on the interstate the vehicle went from 65 MPH to 20 MPH. I took the vehicle to the ford dealer who advised that the transmission went out. That this is a know issue with the explorer from 2002 to 2008. I contacted six other independent transmission shops who also advised that this is a know issue for ford explorers year 2002 to 2008. I then contacted ford customer relationship center 800-392-3673 who advised that even though its a know issue with ford that only dealer repair reports count towards a recall with NHTSA not independent transmission company's repair of the problem. I explained to them that I had a two year old in the vehicle with me not only my life was in danger but a child also. The response from fords customer service group was regardless no one got hurt. *tr
Transmission began to slip and make a loud thud sound when putting the car in gear. Took it to the dealership and they said the 3rd and 4th gear was damaged. I always took the vehicle to get serviced by the dealership when needed and now that the transmission went out they take no responsibility and won't fix the defective transmission. *tt
Also reported on the 2007 Ford Explorer
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 11 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 complete transmission failure happen on the 2007 Ford Explorer?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is complete transmission failure on the 2007 Ford Explorer?
11 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 524 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