2003 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #2131325
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER filed September 17, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2131325 (ODI reference 11687924) concerns a 2003 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on September 17, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on September 15, 2025. The vehicle had 43,253 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Florida based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler, 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. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
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 seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler 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 2003 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact rented a 2003 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the seat warmer activated, after arriving at a Rest Stop and exiting the vehicle, the contact became aware that a blister had formed on the back of her left thigh. The contact attributed the blister to a burn sustained while using the driver's side seat warmer. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic, but instead was returned to the rental company. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 43,253. The VIN was not available.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2131325 |
| ODI Number | 11687924 |
| Date Filed | September 17, 2025 |
| Failure Date | September 15, 2025 |
Similar SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER Complaints for 2003 FORD EXPLORER
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.