I was sitting in my car prior to starting the engine when the seatback suddenly collapsed without warning. The dealer stated they have seen this type of failure before. I am conncerned that my seat could fail again while driving. The part that failed is 1/4 inch bolt that was inside the seat back and not subject to any water or rust damage. I see where a number of complaints have been filed regarding the same area.
1998 Ford Explorer seats complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 70 of 70, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On two separate occasions driver's seat has collapsed backwards while parking in reverse. Dealer notified. Feel free to provide any further information.
When making turns, especially right turns, vehicle slides and almost turns over.*ak. Consumer states vehicle is experiencing acceleration problems,and there was a humming noise coming from the engine, signals are not working, dealer replaced a defective connector and multi-function switch, firestone tires have experienced tread separation, which were replaced in july 2001, the rear seats move/bounce when driving, the rear seat belts were inoperative, the dealer replaced the buckles, there was smoke coming from the steering column, dealer replaced the multi-function switch, the windshield was chipped, the alarm would not chut off at times, dealer replaced a bad loose wire.
When driving on highway I went to adjust the drivers seat recliner. The recliner metal latch broke off and in the process the drivers seat went backwards and almost cause me to get into an accident. I was able to get the seat back into position. I understand that ford has changed the metal thickness on the recliner metal latch assembly but won't replace it at no charge. Cost can be $50- $70 plus service charge. I consider this a defect and should replace at no charge to me.
While driving, the left side driver's seat retaining bolt (that holds the seat back to the base of the seat) sheared causing the seat back to fall backward into the rear seat. The driver fell back also causing him to run off the edge of the road. Local dealer has been notified and wishes to charge for a complete seat replacement.
Electrical problems with the electric door locks on drivers side has broke 3 times. Gas pedal sheared off while driving down the road. Heater went out; mechanic said there was a 1997 ford part on the 1998 truck. Face plate for the radio, time is out. Lever for the passenger seat broke off. All of this happened at 25,000 miles. This is the first ford I ever owned and unfortunately the last!
The seat lever broke, where do I complain to.
Driver's seat latch broke due to metal fatigue and rust, and passenger's side latch is cracked. Dealer has been notified. Please provide additional information.
Vehicle was rear ended. Upon impact, driver's seat collapsed, resulting in minor injuries to passenger sitting in seat. Dealer has been notified.
This was second time that seat has reclined back while consumer has been driving. First time being at 26,400 miles. This time consumer was traveling at 55mph, and seat reclined straight back, and wouldn't go back into postion. Consumer called dealer, and they couldn't give any information without seeing vehicle.
Driver's seat back broke while driving 55 MPH.
Drivers side door does not catch properly. Nlm
Rear seats, 2 door model does not lock in place. Anyone exiting the vehicle is vurtually ejected out of the car. Entering the car the person could be on the floor if they use the seat for leverage.I notified ford in the beginning but got no response.
Hit from rear and pushed into car in front of me driver's seatback did not stay upright - it reclined all the way back upon impact.
A 'bolt' failed in the driver seat, allowing the seat to fully recline without any method of stopping the recline. Fortunately, I was stopped when this happened. Since the part failed at two years and 48000 miles, this seems like a part that may fail on other vehicles. If the seat had reclined 3 minutes earlier or later, the outcome could have been tragic. The dealer charged $100 labor to change the $2 bolt.
We were stopped and another car hit us in the rear. Passenger front seat slid forward on impact although prior to being hit it was locked in place. The driver side back seat fell back (lounged back) on impact.
I wrote to ford motor co. To inform them that the rear seat bottom on the 2 door explorer does not lock into position. Everytime you apply the brakes or stop if someone is sitting in the rear the seat moves forward. It also happens when you are getting out of the car. I understand all 2 door models have the same problem. Ford had no comment to my letter. Thank you.
These defects happens just months after warranty was out live far from dealership but I tried to get it there as soon as I could being that it was my only source of transportation. I felt that capital ford should of still honored these defects and try to at least offer to help me in anyway they could I feel that they didn"t care about it all they had to say to me that the warranty is out and it's going to cost a lot to have these defects fix they wouldn't even give a price all they said is it's going to be a couple of hundred of dollars. I was very dissapointed in their service and the way they handled this situation. If something isn't done, then I plan to return my SUV at the end of it's lease and go elsewhere to buy my next usv. I hope that you can resolve this problem I purchase several ford in the past years and have never had any problems with them so I hope you will honor these defects . I look forward to hearing from this request thank you time. No safety defect (s) listed in summary.
When getting into vehicle and starting it up, throttle sticks. Consumer has to press the gas pedal real hard to stop the throttle from sticking. Also, passenger's side seat belt won't come out, and front passenger's seat keeps sliding forward whenever consumer is driving.
Brother was checking underneath vehicle & noticed the under carriage was rusty. Contacted dealer & manufacturer & was informed it's normal due to heavy road salt that was used. Also, seat & anchor attachments were rusty. Vehicle sold as new due to low mileage, according to dealer.
Power seat. Rocked back and forth and got worse. Dealer replaced. Seat started to get loose again and dealer replaced it again. Also seat belt was not retracting back in. Dealer replaced. Additional defect not noted was the 5 speed manual transmission having to be rebuilt at 22,868 miles. Would be glad to fill out additional form or provide service records etc. If needed. Thanks for your time. Keith
Design of the arm rest assembly is weak which resulted in collapsing under weight of consumer. Mjs
No summary.
Center armrest failed. Yh
Rear windshield wiper failed. Yh
The driver's seat mechanism cannot move back more than 10 inches which put the consumer in danger of the airbag if it was to deploy. Mfr cannot solve the problem. Please provide further information.
Seat belts continually get stuck in the door due to design.
While making a left at 10 MPH vehicle was struck in the rear by another vehicle traveling 50 MPH, causing both driver's and passenger's seatbacks to recline. Cause unknown.
Vehicle struck in rear by another vehicle traveling at low speed. Driver's seat failed, and rear portion of the seat collapsed. The back of the seat landed in rear seat, causing major injury to driver.
During rear impact at 20 to 25 MPH, the driver's side seat frame broke, causing the seat to collapse backward. Please describe details.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1998 Ford Explorer?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history