Other visibility problem on the 2012 Ford Explorer
When other visibility problem gets reported
Owners of the 2012 Ford Explorer report other visibility problem at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 80,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 75,464 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
31% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,136 miles | 28,000 miles | 50,000 miles | 65,900 miles | 79,600 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 $150–$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 25 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2006, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 96; the 2012 has 21. 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 2012 ford explorer. The contact stated the speedometer design does not show you the lower range while driving and that caused the contact to exceed the speed limit. The higher numbers were on the top of the speedometer which were shaped like a "c" and the numbers should be at the bottom to avoid speeding. The vehicle was not taken back to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The ford manufacturer was notified, a claim was filed and they informed her to contact NHTSA. The failure mileage was 78. Updated 12/28/11*lj the consumer also stated it was extremely difficult to see out of the rear window, as the window was too small. Updated 12/28/11
This form does not allow entry of multiple dates. There is an issue with myfordtouch with this vehicle that is continual. Putting in one date is pointless. The climate (defroster, etc) system and the navigation system are part of this module, along with phone and audio features. This module locks continually and it is dangerous because you can't control the defroster or navigation system manually when this occurs. Repeated trips to the dealer have been fruitless and my wife was in dangerous situations several times in heavy traffic corridor conditions in northern new jersey. It is unconscionable that ford is selling these vehicles for nearly $50,000 that are defective and they know they are defective.
Slush on the windshield pulled the wiper from the wiper arm on the passenger side making me pull over on a busy street. The manufactured arm is the cheapest and most unreliable arm I've ever seen. I checked with other 2012 ford explorers and they have the same arm. The 2013 and 2014 have different style arms that hold the wiper on securely. I'm going back to the dealer to see if they can put different arms on but this definitely is a safety issue. Just by raising the wiper arm up and grabbing the bottom of the blade the wiper snaps off. I was lucky not to be on the interstate hwy when this happened. *tr
Also reported on the 2012 Ford Explorer
Other steering problem
Other body or interior problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other engine problem
Loss of power steering
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 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 other visibility problem happen on the 2012 Ford Explorer?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other visibility problem on the 2012 Ford Explorer?
21 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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