Ford Expedition El
Problems & Worst Years

The extended-length Ford Expedition EL's complaint file shifts character around 2018. Before that, the reports are a grab bag of electrical and brake items: blower motor failure leads the 2015 (16 occurrences) and recurs through 2017 — that year logging 36 occurrences of climate control blower motor issues plus 19 more of outright blower failure — while the 2017 also stacks up brake complaints, with 25 reports of low brake fluid warnings and 22 of brake master cylinder failure. The 2015 and 2016 each carry several safety-severity entries, including engine stalls at idle tied to throttle body failure and, on the 2016, six reports of complete brake failure.

From 2018 onward the transmission takes over. The 2018's top entry is transmission slippage and jerky shifts at safety severity (37 occurrences), the 2019 — the heaviest year in this data at 211 total occurrences — leads with shifting issues (59), and the 2021 with jerky, hard shifting (36) plus power loss during acceleration (12). Engine noise rides alongside: cam phaser failure and rattling-and-knocking complaints appear repeatedly in the 2018 and 2019 files.

One more entry deserves mention on the 2019: 39 safety-severity reports of seat belt deployment issues, its second-largest complaint.

Totals across the six years are moderate — from 72 occurrences on the 2016 up to 211 on the 2019 — with no single catastrophic year. Shopping guidance follows the eras: on 2015–2017 trucks, run the climate blower on every speed and have the brake hydraulics inspected; on 2018-and-later trucks, make the test drive long enough to feel shift quality cold and hot, and listen for rattle on startup. Weigh it all with the standard perspective — these are complaints owners filed with NHTSA, not measured failure rates, newer years have had less time to accumulate reports, and the individual truck's pre-purchase inspection and service history matter more than which year it is.