In-car Electronics
CD or DVD players, radio, speakers, GPS, communication system (e.g., OnStar), display screen freezes or goes blank, phone pairing (e.g. Bluetooth), voice control commands, steering wheel controls, portable music device interface (e.g., iPod/MP3 player), backup or other camera/sensors.
What Owners Say
"One of the sensors used for park assist went out and had to be replaced"
Edward B., TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Camera failed"
Anonymous, IL (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"System quite working. The camera had to be replaced"
Anonymous, CA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Back up camera stopped working and had to be replaced"
V H., CA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Took the car to the dealer for an intermediate failure and was told they would have to change the camera at over $900. I can live with it working most of the time. The marker lines do not work now at all. They had no solution."
Terry W., MI (2011 Ford Explorer 3.5-L V6)"It randomly stopped showing the backup camera picture on the dash screen - it just displays an error message stating "Camera is unavailable. Please contact your dealership""
Anonymous, MO (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Failure of back up camera. Required replacement"
Anonymous, TX (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"The backup camera quit working and had to be replaced"
Anonymous, TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"The backup camera had to be replaced. Does not seem like that would happen"
L G., MO (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"The video in the backup camera is reversed from the actual scene. In other words, traffic actually coming from the right is shown as coming from the left."
Anonymous, (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Backup camera system did not function properly and the camera had to be replaced."
Anonymous, (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"This was part of the electronic unit. The radio, back up screen, etc.. all apps that would be on the screen"
Anonymous, WI (2011 Ford Explorer Unsure 3.5-L V6)"by time the car was 3 years old and had under 24000 miles the CD player wouldn't eject. I was told it wasn't covered and sent to an independent stereo company. they looked at it and said contact Ford. I have finally given up after months of asking an"
Tom M., VA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Screen totally failed while driving after two years of ownership. Complete unit, with computer electronics, required replacement under warranty. Vehicle difficult to operate without screen since it controls EVERYTHING"
Anonymous, WI (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Almost without fail, I have an annual tune up that includes my Sync system that will randomly shut down entirely when driving or not turn on completely when turning the car over. After this tune up, it seems to stabilize for 6-9 months"
Evan S., OH (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Screen does not respond when touched"
Anonymous, MO (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"The display screen went blank. It was replaced under warranty"
Anonymous, TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Entire SYNC system had several issues. Ford/Microsoft installed parts and major update. Problem has been resolved"
Paul M., IL (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Warranty replacement of APIM"
Anonymous, WI (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Goes blank while rebooting"
Paul U., MA (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"I have a friend who is a mechanic for the city. He fiddled with the wiring behind the car and got it working. He has had to do that twice."
Anonymous, CA (2011 Ford Explorer Base 3.5-L V6)"Module failed, screen went completely blank, couldn't control any heating/cooling/radio, nav, etc. Had to be replace, $1200"
Anonymous, TN (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"FORD replaced the Microsoft system since an update crashed it up. It is still terrible. Other then that, the car is great and I would get another one. But because of the terrible Nav system, I will be going elsewhere."
Anonymous, AB (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"The emtire electronic unit failed and had to be replaced"
Anonymous, WI (2011 Ford Explorer Unsure 3.5-L V6)"The car gets lost. The gps shows the car in a location other than the actual location,"
Edward B., TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"nav had the actual location of my vehicle different that location on gps screen - diff ranged from a few yards to several blocks"
Frank H., GA (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Takes too long to capture satellite sometimes"
Yoshie S., CA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Location of car inexact. Often shows the car in the wrong location and not even on a road. Overly difficult to operate. Can never trust this system for directions. I use my cellphone instead!"
Vanessa V., PA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Did not always provide reliable information"
V H., CA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"There were 2 units that went bad, One item is described as 18A02/18842 and the other is DB5Z-15604-B.Both were still under warranty"
Carol S., MS (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"The GPS system sometimes locks up, sometime up to 40 minutes. This is really inconvenient when I'm in a large city, trying to find my way to a destination."
Shari C., WA (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"The GPS takes a long time to acquire the satellites. They replaced the GPS unit that helped but I still have problems taking a long time to acquire. I think they could have done more to fix this."
Terry W., MI (2011 Ford Explorer 3.5-L V6)"GPS would often not work throwing the navigation completely off. Even with an extended warranty took Ford a long time to agree to replace the computer"
Anonymous, OH (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"All problems listed were same issue. Control board needed replacement"
Anonymous, TX (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"The GPS system remained off periodically for extended time. When it was on, it worked fine, but when off the car was "lost" with respect to the map. During off periods, the navigation feature was useless"
Anonymous, TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"It will not enter a new route saying "no route is active" - But will not let me enter a new route"
Anonymous, AB (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Complete failure"
Anonymous, TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"GPS navigation quit working. You could be heading north and it would tell you West or South etc. Something is broke on the GPS system as I have not tried to get it fixed due to cost"
John A., MN (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"The navigation doesn't start working until I'm 10 to 30 miles down the highway. I've had it to the Ford service dept. many times and the last time they got it working properly, but it only lasted 3 or 4 months and I still have the issue. I thought it might be because of the remote area I live but others around me don't have any problem."
Anonymous, WA (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"The Phone pairing routinely screws up and when calling people it will ring their phone, but not connect. Then my phone will not hang up."
Anonymous, AB (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Periodic/temporary failure to recognize BT connections"
Antonio D., MD (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Not syncing or drops out"
Anonymous, CA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"Constantly struggles to recognize my phone, albeit that I've owned 3 cell phones over the life of the vehicle, but I am still forced from time to time to reset bluetooth on my phone to get the vehicle to recognize"
Evan S., OH (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Pairing phone that have had for years dropped from Bluetooth"
Anonymous, OH (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"significant static on am stations"
Frank H., GA (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"AM radio antenna issue caused complete non function, 2nd time it occurred I had to argue, but Ford fixed with no charge either time"
Melissa M., MA (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"I was told that I can no longer update my system because of the age of the car. That is crap. They put it in my car so it should be able to be updated through the life of the car."
Anonymous, CA (2011 Ford Explorer Base 3.5-L V6)"Th unit is continually performing a "Routine Service Upate". Sometimes 2X and hour. And it still can not get the time right. Anything Microsoft sucks."
Anonymous, AB (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"Updates suck. Last time I got an update it was already seriously out of date."
Anonymous, AB (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"You reset system and voice commands work and them after a time (24hrs) they no longer work. But this does not effect the ability to talk on the phone in hands free mode. Dealer always wan't to keep the car all day and I don't have other means of tran"
Paul A., TX (2011 Ford Explorer Limited 3.5-L V6)"frequently garbled"
Anonymous, AB (2011 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5-L V6)"My issue with the voice control commands is since I got the car. Often times I ask it to call someone and it picks someone who sounds nothing like what I said."
Anonymous, CA (2011 Ford Explorer Base 3.5-L V6)
"Camera went out. This car has MAJOR blind spots in my opinion. You need the camera to back up to see everything. I do not think that is something that should ever go out unless the car had no blind spots."
Anonymous, CA (2011 Ford Explorer Base 3.5-L V6)