Other steering problem on the 2015 Ford Explorer
2 crashes 3 injuries 5 of the 159 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2015 Ford Explorer report other steering problem at a median of 61,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 41,000 miles and a quarter after 88,000 miles, from 111 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 114,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 88,764 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
20% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25,236 miles | 41,170 miles | 61,243 miles | 88,490 miles | 114,000 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
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 3 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 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 26 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 2,000 miles, and latest on the 1998 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 480; the 2015 has 159. 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.
Ford motor co. And worthington ford of long beach, ca are selling vehicles with damaged/defective steering and refusing to fix the defect(s). 1/25/2015 purchased ford explorer (8 miles on vehicle); day after purchase, 1/26/2015, noticed problem with steering, parked vehicle, would not drive or let wife drive. Returned vehicle immediately to dealer via armstrong towing (flatbed) for repairs/evaluation. Worthington ford of long beach: [xxx] all accused me of causing the damage; said it isn't under warranty service and wanted to charge me $600.00 to fix the damaged steering. They all refused, including [xxx], service mgr., to give me a written work order/invoice when vehicle was picked up 1/30/2015. Vehicle is remains in an unsafe condition. Do not know full extent of damage caused by ford motor co. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr
Upon starting vehicle steering system was unresponsive and a warning notice "service advance track" appeared on dash. Dealer had vehicle for several days and could not duplicate malfunction. Returned without repair. Fault recurred after approximately one week and dealer again could not duplicate fault. Replaced one element of electronic steering system and returned vehicle as repaired. Fault recurred a third time and a different dealer service department replaced a second element of the electronic steering system and claimed issue was resolved. Fault continues to recur without notice and vehicle is unreliable. Problem has been reported to ford customer relationship center on several occasions but response has been very limited.
While driving 35 MPH on straight on major arterial street lost power steering control. Steering wheel immediately became extremely stiff and I struggled to pull to right hand lane and was barely able to pull over onto side road. Three warning messages showed up on dash board, "service advance trac", "steering assist fault service required" & car icon with trac swirls trailing car and "off". Photos attached. Turned car off, restarted and same dash board images appeared. Took to dealership for repair. Dealership tested and said could not duplicate response. Documentation attached. Dealership gave rvc # and dealership contacted ford hotline assist. No repair made. Advised to return if problem occurs again.
Also reported on the 2015 Ford Explorer
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other powertrain problem
Other fuel system problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 159 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 steering problem happen on the 2015 Ford Explorer?
Across 111 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 61,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 41,000 miles and a quarter after 88,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2015 Ford Explorer?
159 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.8 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