Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11532863

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2023 FORD EXPLORER

Manufacturer

Ford Motor Company

Components

SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE

Dates

Incident: 05/01/2023
Filed: 07/17/2023

Owner complaint summary

-PARKING BRAKE IS AUTO ENGAGED 100% OF THE TIME AT START or WHILE SHIFTING OUT OF PARK or SHIFTING BETWEEN GEARS. DRIVE or REVERSE -TO DISENGAGE THE PARK BRAKE YOU HAVE TO DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. -PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR TO DISENGAGE IS INCONNSISTENT EVERY TIME. -VEHICLE LURCHES UNCONTROLLABLY WHEN RELEASING THE VEHICLE OFF THE EMERGENCY PARKING BRAKE SETTING. -THE JOLT OF THE VEHICLE FROM THE DEPRESS PRESSURE IS SO SIGNIFICANT AND DANGEROUS CAUSING THE RISK TO HITTING ANY PARKED VEHICLE WHILE PARALLEL PARKING OR HITTING STRUCTURE/GARAGE WHEN PARKING, JOLTING INTO TRAFFIC FROM A STOPPED/PARKED POSITION or TO PEOPLE WALKING NEAR THE VEHICLE WHILE TRYING TO MANIPULATE THE VEHICLE. -WHEN THE AUTO HOLD FEATURE IS TURNED ON, IT CAN BE ASSUMED TO BE ENGAGED BY PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL but IF THE PEDAL ISN'T ENGAGED WITH ENOUGH FULL PRESSURE THE AUTO HOLD WILL NOT FULLY ACTIVATE. IN NOTIFICATION WHEN ON IS IN SMALL GREEN TEXT THAT CAN BE EASILY MISSED/CONFUSED WITH THE GREEN SYMBOL SIMILAR IN SIZE TO THE GREEN AUTO HEADLIGHT SETTING IN THE SAME ZONE. THIS CAN CAUSE SOMEONE TO BELIEVE AUTO HOLD IN ENGAGED WHEN USING PERIPHERIAL VISION FOR THE INDICATOR QUE WITHOUT DIRECTLY TAKING EYES OFF THE FORWARD CONDITION. THIS GIVES THE DRIVER A FALSE CONFIDENCE TO REMOVE THEIR FOOT FROM THE BRAKE AND HAVE THE VEHICLE CREEP FORWARD AND CAN LEAD TO ACCIDENT OR INJURY.

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11532863). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11532863. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.