Ford Expedition Years to Avoid: No Year Stands Out

Years to avoid: No year stands out Every ranked year drew 6 to 85 complaints, under twice the 45 complaints of a typical Expedition year.
Best years: 2019 Under three quarters of the 45 complaints of a typical Expedition year since 2016, with no open NHTSA investigation or do-not-drive or park-outside recall.

Based on owner complaints filed with NHTSA in each model year's first three years, not adjusted for sales. The 2024 to 2026 models are too new to judge. See every year ranked

Data: US EPA and NHTSAUpdated Nov 12, 2026

Every model year since 2010 in one place: EPA fuel economy, NHTSA recalls, owner complaints and crash test ratings. The best fuel economy rating, 20 mpg combined, arrived in 2018. Includes the longer Expedition EL (until 2017) and Expedition Max (from 2018).

Expedition problems by year, ranked by owner complaints

How the years are ranked

Model years ranked by owner complaints filed with NHTSA in their first three years (model year Y: filed by the end of Y+2), so every year is measured over the same time on the road. Years without three full years of data, and launch or final years with very few sold, are left out. Counts are not adjusted for how many were sold.

A typical Expedition year drew 45 complaints in its first three years: the median of its years since 2016, higher than the median of all its ranked years (37.5). Years to avoid drew at least twice that, and at least 50. Best years are up to three years since 2016 with the fewest complaints, each under three quarters of a typical year since 2016 (45), with no open NHTSA investigation and no do-not-drive or park-outside recall that covers all versions; the 2020 is never picked, as its first three years fell in the pandemic. How the verdict works.

Model year	First 3 years	All complaints	Recalls
2021 Expedition Most described: jerking, lurching or harsh shifting	85	243	12
2018 Expedition Most described: jerking, lurching or harsh shifting	53	384	14
2022 Expedition Most described: jerking, lurching or harsh shifting	49	117	12
2023 Expedition Most described: shaking, shuddering or vibration	48	65	8
2020 Expedition Most described: jerking, lurching or harsh shifting	42	430	18
2017 Expedition Most described: air conditioning or heater failures	41	359	4
2015 Expedition Most described: loss of power or limp mode	38	164	3
2016 Expedition Most described: loss of power or limp mode	37	217	3
2019 Expedition Best Most described: seat belt problems	27	531	11
2010 Expedition Most reported: body structure	23	58	0
2011 Expedition Most described: loss of power or limp mode	22	71	0
2013 Expedition Most described: the check engine light coming on, then loss of power or limp mode	16	92	0
2012 Expedition Most described: gauge cluster or speedometer failures	14	119	3
2014 Expedition Most described: the check engine light coming on, then stalling or shutting off	6	72	0

Compare other models' worst years in the worst model years guide.

Check your Expedition for open recalls

Opens NHTSA's lookup in a new tab; your VIN goes to NHTSA, not to us. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard, the door jamb and your registration. Safety recall repairs are free at Ford dealers for vehicles up to 15 years old from first sale.

How to check a car for recalls, step by step

Get a vehicle history report from EpicVIN (opens in a new tab): a paid report with the car's title, odometer and salvage records, from an approved NMVTIS data provider. Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you buy. If you typed a full VIN above, the link sends it to EpicVIN and opens its checkout page for that VIN. Check the price before you pay: EpicVIN's $1 trial lasts 3 days, then becomes a monthly subscription until you cancel ($49.99 to $99.99 a month on its pages as of Oct 2, 2026). Disclosure

Year by year

Model year	Best rating	Recalls	Complaints	Crash test
2026 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	2	11
2025 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	6	38
2024 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	7	80
2023 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	8	65
2022 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	12	117
2021 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	12	243
2020 MPG · Recalls and problems	19 mpg Gas	18	430
2019 MPG · Recalls and problems	20 mpg Gas	11	531
2018 MPG · Recalls and problems	20 mpg Gas	14	384
2017 MPG · Recalls and problems	18 mpg Gas	4	359
2016 MPG · Recalls and problems	18 mpg Gas	3	217
2015 MPG · Recalls and problems	18 mpg Gas	3	164
2014 MPG · Recalls and problems	16 mpg Gas	0	72
2013 MPG · Recalls and problems	16 mpg Gas	0	92
2012 MPG · Recalls and problems	16 mpg Gas	3	119
2011 MPG · Recalls and problems	16 mpg Gas	0	71	Not rated
2010 MPG · Recalls and problems	16 mpg Gas	0	58	Not rated

Owner complaints by model year

All complaints filed so far. Counts rise with sales volume and with time on the road, so recent years look better than they may turn out. The highlighted bar is the model year with the most complaints in its first three years.

2021: 243 complaints

Show as a table

Owner complaints by model year, Ford Expedition
Model year	Complaints
2010	58
2011	71
2012	119
2013	92
2014	72
2015	164
2016	217
2017	359
2018	384
2019	531
2020	430
2021	243
2022	117
2023	65
2024	80
2025	38
2026	11

Best combined rating by model year

The best-rated version in each model year. Gas: 16 to 20 mpg (every year from 2010 to 2026); highest in 2018.

2026: gas 19 mpg

Show as a table

Ford Expedition best combined mpg by model year
Model year	Best gas version
2010	16
2011	16
2012	16
2013	16
2014	16
2015	18
2016	18
2017	18
2018	20
2019	20
2020	19
2021	19
2022	19
2023	19
2024	19
2025	19
2026	19

Every Expedition year's ratings in one table

Comparisons

Chevrolet Tahoe vs Ford ExpeditionMPG, fuel cost, recalls and crash tests

Questions

Which Ford Expedition years should you avoid?

No Ford Expedition year stands out enough to avoid: none drew twice the 45 owner complaints of a typical Expedition year or more in its first three years. Counts ranged from 6 to 85. Complaints can't tell you whether a particular car is sound, so whatever the year, check its open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before you buy. Safety recall repairs are free at Ford dealers for vehicles up to 15 years old from first sale.

What are the best Ford Expedition years?

The 2019 Expedition is the best year: it drew 27 owner complaints in its first three years, under three quarters of the 45 complaints of a typical Expedition year since 2016, and it has no open NHTSA investigation or recall telling owners not to drive or to park outside. Only years since 2016 are considered, since owners filed fewer complaints in the early 2010s. The 2024, 2025, and 2026 are not ranked yet: they have had fewer than three full years on the road.

Which Ford Expedition years have the most problems?

Counting owner complaints filed with NHTSA in each model year's first three years, the 2021 (85) drew the most, then the 2018 (53). Owners of the 2021 most often describe jerking, lurching or harsh shifting.

Which Ford Expedition years have the most recalls?

The 2020 has the most safety recalls in NHTSA's file (18), then the 2018 (14). A recall can cover a problem that affects only a few cars, so open a year's page to see what each one covers. Two recalls tell owners not to drive the car or to park it outside until it is repaired: NHTSA 22V-346 (2021 models) and NHTSA 25V-628 (2020 models).

What are the most common Ford Expedition problems?

In the 3,051 owner complaints NHTSA lists for 2010 to 2026 models, owners most often describe loss of power or limp mode (379 complaints); jerking, lurching or harsh shifting (324 complaints, most of them for the 2019 and 2020); and transmission failure or replacement (225 complaints, most of them for the 2018, 2019, and 2020). One complaint can describe several problems. Each year's recalls and problems page lists what owners describe for that year.

Which Ford Expedition year has the best MPG?

The best EPA fuel economy is 20 mpg combined, first reached by the 2018 gas version.

Sources and method

US EPA fuel economy data (fueleconomy.gov), file dated Nov 4, 2026.
NHTSA recall file dated Nov 12, 2026 and owner complaint file dated Nov 11, 2026; NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings.

Complaint counts are unverified owner reports and are not adjusted for sales volume. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.