2018 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #2122882
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HOOD:LATCH filed August 21, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2122882 (ODI reference 11682266) concerns a 2018 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on August 21, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on May 21, 2025. The report was geocoded to Nevada based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as latches/locks/linkages:hood:latch, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD EXPLORER cohort independently describe similar latches/locks/linkages:hood:latch failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2018 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the A-pillar trims on the front passengerâs side and the front driver's side became loosened. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving at 70 MPH, the hood unexpectedly opened. The contact stated that the hood was slightly ajar. The message "Hood Ajar" was displayed. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway and pushed the hood down. The contact continued driving. Most recently, while driving 70 MPH, the failure reoccurred with the message "Hood Ajar" displayed. The contact pulled over to the side of the shoulder and pushed down and closed the hood. The vehicle was not
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2122882 |
| ODI Number | 11682266 |
| Date Filed | August 21, 2025 |
| Failure Date | May 21, 2025 |
| VIN | 1FM5K7D89JG |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.