Ford Expedition: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Ford Expedition: 11 model years scored from 2,276 NHTSA owner complaints and 86 recall campaigns. Worst year 2020, best year 2015.
Ford Expedition: which years to avoid
Across 10 scored model years the Ford Expedition ranges from 41/100 in 2020 to 89/100 in 2015 — a 48-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy an Expedition at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Power Train (252 of them).
Avoid: 2019, 2020 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2015, 2017, 2023, 2024, 2025 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2019 and 2020 Expedition, which score 42 and 41 on 481 and 397 owner complaints, both led by Power Train at 211 and 252. Buy a 2015, which scores 89 on 164 complaints with no safety-critical campaign, or a 2023 to 2025, which score 79, 73 and 73 on 71 or fewer complaints each; the 2018, 2021 and 2022 are CAUTION at 55, 63 and 65. The 2018 redesign brought the ten-speed automatic, and the campaigns follow it: 18V213000 for a roll pin that may not have been installed, 20V263000 for a not-in-Park warning that is too short on the 2019, and 26V402000 for a park pawl that may engage while moving on 2018 to 2021 trucks. Seat Belts is third on the 2019 at 90, with 24V099000, 25V197000 and 26V344000 for a front pretensioner that can lock on its own. The 2017 scores 74 with Service Brakes at 77, covered by 22V150000 for a master cylinder that can leak into the booster.
Read the guide
Used full-size SUVs: Expedition, Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the Expedition changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 3 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2017–2018
Mean score 64/100, about 43 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Power Train more than anything else (196 complaints). 7 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2019–2020
Mean score 42/100, about 67 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Power Train more than anything else (463 complaints). The record falls 22 points against the years before it. 9 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2021–2025
Mean score 71/100, about 32 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Power Train more than anything else (134 complaints). The record improves by 29 points against the years before it. 16 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2015 (score 89). Worst: 2020 (score 41, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 73 | BUY | $4,350 | 30 | 5 |
| 2024 | 73 | BUY | $4,594 | 71 | 7 |
| 2023 | 79 | BUY | $4,465 | 64 | 8 |
| 2022 | 65 | CAUTION | $4,727 | 111 | 12 |
| 2021 | 64 | CAUTION | $5,214 | 230 | 12 |
| 2020 | 41 | AVOID | $5,737 | 397 | 12 |
| 2019 | 42 | AVOID | $5,775 | 481 | 11 |
| 2018 | 55 | CAUTION | $5,494 | 372 | 12 |
| 2017 | 74 | BUY | $5,801 | 356 | 4 |
| 2016 | — | DATA PENDING | $5,190 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 89 | BUY | $5,612 | 164 | 3 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Expedition, through the years →
Expedition sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Expedition on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Ford Expedition
Across every Expedition model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Power Train822 complaints across all Expedition years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Engine394 complaints across all Expedition years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Electrical System281 complaints across all Expedition years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Unknown Or Other264 complaints across all Expedition years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Seat Belts121 complaints across all Expedition years · typical job: Pretensioner or retractor replacement$360–$800
- Service Brakes91 complaints across all Expedition years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Ford Expedition years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2019, 2020 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2020 is the weakest at 41/100, with its complaints concentrated in Power Train.
What are the best Ford Expedition years to buy?
2015, 2017, 2023, 2024, 2025 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2015 at 89/100, on 164 complaints and 3 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Ford Expedition problem?
822 of the complaints filed against the Expedition across all its model years sit in the Power Train group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04