Ford · Expedition · 2013
0
Recalls
89
Complaints
4/5
Safety Rating
The 2013 Ford Expedition has no recalls and 89 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: power train (31 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 22, 2026
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
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Driver and Passenger Assessment
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Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Rollover Resistance
19.8% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
Was never notified of the recall pertaining to my vehicle. Upon research I contacted the dealership to have the recall fixed. First issue was they offere complimentary pickup and delivery which I scheduled and they did not show up, aswell as the call that was supposed to happen, and they tell me the recall is out of its extended warranty. I contacted Ford service department and they said the same as its out of extended warranty. This is a safety concern as Ford is aware of the failing component and will not let me get the recall fixed. At the moment the vehicle is in limp mode still runs just fine but due to the recall it is not and cannot get any help from the dealership nor Ford. I was never notified that the vehicle had any recalls as we where dealing with the known harmonic balancer issue which caused the dealership to replace the engine with a new and still had to replace that balancer 3 times until it was right. Besides that distraction there was no issues occuring from the Molded Lead Frame. This is a safety concern. The vehicle mileage is about 160k engine mileage maybe 20-30k. Original recalled component still remains. I am able to repair this myself but need to know if this was something they should be fixing.
This has been a great vehicle. We were going down a road around 60 mph and with no warning or symptom the car downshifted from 6th to 1st gear. This caused the rear end to lock up causing the tires to squeal and spin the car around sideways in the road. Luckily nothing was coming. This could have easily been a deadly accident if something was coming. The dealer has said the lead frame was bad a needed to be replaced. They have quoted $1,200. The vehicle only has 117,000 miles on it and it still under the mileage for the extended coverage but not the years. There are tons of vehicles with this transmission and lead frame on the road, this is a major safety issue that should be addressed. A check engine light or no other warnings have ever come on. Having these lead frames out there are just an accident waiting to happen. Luckily, ther was no one coming when mine decided to fail.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle downshifted with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also noticed that the instrument panel became inoperable and would not function properly when the contact attempted to shift gear. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the output speed sensor had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for further assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 117,000.
2/13/19- Ford Issued Recall on 2013 Ford Expedition for OSS failure and downshift 2/20/19- I go to the Preston Ford Mazda dealership, Maryland. I view and test drive a 2013 Ford Expedition, during the test drive the RPMs ran high on the Expedition and it felt sluggish and “off” crossing a road, and at one point it jumped, and the wrench symbol came on as we were returning. My concern was shrugged off by my salesman, as he said ‘maybe Fords are just like that’. As we returned, and had the issue with the wrench symbol, salesman advised me “ well when you came and interrupted as they were just getting this thing checked out and tested.” 2/19/19 When I returned following days to purchase, the vehicle was not ready. It turned out the battery had died and they had some other issue with a “computer code”. They put in another battery on hand, and told me I should now be “good to go”, knowing that I was in desperate need of a vehicle, and would likely be trusting if they told me it was now repaired. At this point we were within manufacturer’s warranty, and under 60k miles. -was never informed that there was a recall issued by Ford that EXACTLY applied to our vehicle, and to the issue I Reported during my test drive, under warranty, and Preston Ford Mazda never correctly repaired the issue as they stated, which was reported within all Ford and recall time and mileage requirements. [XXX]-while driving suddenly speedometer went out, the gas gauge stopped working, and then, a moment later while trying to figure that out, the vehicle jumped and shuddered/stopped and the RPMS went wild, revving. Almost hit cars, but was able to pull to the side of highway. Upon turning the vehicle off and restarting, normal operation resumed, but issue with the wrench symbol, gauges, RPMs revving and vehicle jump/stop has now happened repeatedly, leaving me with no safe transportation for my large family. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the RMPS were fluctuating, and the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted to second or to third gear. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled to the side of the road, and then the contact resumed driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the transmission molded lead frame had failed and needed to be replaced. The mechanic replaced the transmission molded lead frame several times; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the mechanic, where the transmission molded lead frame was replaced. The vehicle was temporarily repaired. Several unknown dealers were notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not covered under Ford Campaign Number: 19N01 because the campaign had expired. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
Ford had a customer satisfaction recall (which should be a safety recall, honestly) - 19N01 - that was good for 10 years or 150K miles. My vehicle a 2013 is just outside of that 10 years but under the mileage and I am starting to have issues with the leadframe and main control. Unfortunately for me, I bought the vehicle in spring 2023, but am being told the warranty expired in 2019. Also unfortunately for me, the previous owner did not have the issue fixed. Ford is unwilling to assist with correcting the issue (even after the dealership confirmed this is the issue).
When driving veh wrench light came on veh jerks and drops down to first gear rpm and speed gauges go out for second had to pull over cut veh off and cut it back on to get it home this happened several times took it to the closes shop they said it the transmission speed sensor loosing connection with the computer.
The contact owned a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the front passenger's side tire blew out, and she lost control of the vehicle. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle crashed into an embankment, and the vehicle stopped. The contact stated that the front grill and the bumpers detached due to the impact. The contact stated that the driver's side and the passenger's side roof air bags were deployed; however, the front driver's side air bag failed to deploy, causing the contact to hit her face and her head against the steering wheel. The contact sustained black eyes, bruises on the forehead, a scratch on the scalp that extended to her nose, a swollen nose, a swollen forehead, and swollen eyes. The contact had not received medical assistance. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot, where it was totaled. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
I have been having random transmission issues. Its wanting to start off in a high gear. Check engine light comes on. A wrench in the digital display. Speedometer quits working. Sometimes it wont shift, and idles way up by itself. At first turning the key off fixed it for a bit. Now its happening more and more. And now a few times it has downshifted HARD from a high gear to a low one causing us to be in danger on the highway, now fearing for our safety. Now turning off the key is not fixing the problem. It shows a code for output shaft speed sensor circuit fault.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission molded leadframe. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, who confirmed the diagnosis. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 19N01, but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 135,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle independently decelerated to 0 MPH. The check engine warning light and the wrench symbol was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty main control valve body in the transmission. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to call NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 200,080
Transmission, is available for inspection upon request, trans will downshift to 1st gear causing rear wheels to lock up, speedometer to read zero mph, wrench to be displayed, and dashes across digital display on mph. called dealer and was told out of recall/warranty parameters, as well as ford corporate customer service. No inspection, only verbal verification from dealer. No advance warning before malfunction.
The airbag case/seal is ruptured and splitting in the center of the steering wheel and looks like it will self-deploy on its own. Their airbag warning light is NOT illuminated.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle downshifted unexpectedly, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The powertrain warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist because the vehicle was not under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 191,000.
The contact owned a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he started to see smoke located underneath the front passenger dashboard. The contact then stated that he then noticed that flames had started to ignite. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that he immediately pulled the vehicle off the road and exit the vehicle and as the vehicle flames started to spread throughout the vehicle. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. The fire department was notified and extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The contact stated that the vehicle was then towed to an undisclosed lot by the insurance company. The contact was unsure if the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was a total loss. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to call the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal tapping sound coming from the passenger’s side of the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced twelve rocker arms from the passenger’s side of the engine, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,833.
Since more than 18 months, we have the known intermittent problem described in TSB [XXX], where all of a sudden the wrench appears, speedometer drops to zero and car can't change gear anymore. Sometimes going to manual gears works, sometimes car needs to be stopped, locked and completely shut down several times for the problem to go away. Before turning off, error P0720 appears (as described in TSB [XXX]). Car taken to garage in January 2023 where it was for 3 weeks. Technicians drove it for 11 miles (!) and could not reproduce the problem so could not do the required work ie changing the molded leadframe. Now, in January 2024 the problem happened again and this time the Check Engine light came on. The same error code P0720 was now permanently stored. Took the car to the garage, where they were able to diagnose the problem and ... replaced the molded leadframe. This at an out of pocket cost of $1,300. Contacted Ford and they say there is no program or financial assistance in place for this problem, despite all the information that can be found. It is clear this a general problem of all 6R80 gearboxes beyond the time periods stated in the recall. Ford is negligent by not doing a recall on all cars having this gearbox. Nobody is looking at this issue at Ford, when creating a case number they say no program exists, and state paperwork and proof can be sent to a PO BOX in Dearborn (not even an email address to send attachments in this 21st century). All ways to discourage people to react, send in documents or claim documents did not arrive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The transmission is shifting dangerously. All the lights on the dash are flashing and the speedometer doesn't work. We were driving at highway speed and the transmission shifted into first gear causing an abrupt slowing of the Expedition. When we stopped at a red light the vehicle would remain in third gear and therefore we couldn't accelerate from a stopped position. This was previously addressed in TSB 13-6-8. There are many Ford vehicles on the road with this dangerous problem. I'm requesting that you encourage Ford to repair the transmission lead frame for the life of the vehicle. As second owner of this vehicle, I never received the notice of this problem and didn't discover it until after I was having problems. We drove 80 miles home Christmas day with our emergency flashers on because nothing was open. Ford service was closed on Monday December 26. On Tuesday, December 27 we took vehicle for repairs. We were notified that our extended warranty expired on Monday December 26, so they are not going to pay. This is a well documented problem that Ford has had and I've read many complaints from their customers. To make matters worse the transmission lead frame is on National backorder and Ford cannot repair my vehicle. I refuse to drive it because I'm afraid it will come to an abrupt stop while I'm driving.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that when she attempted to operate the heating system, she heard a loud whistling sound and knob became stuck on high speed. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the blower motor controller and connector had burned and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the blower motor controller and connector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall and to call the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.
2013 Ford Expedition Limited 5.4 engine. The vehicle was purchased new with an extended warranty with all services performed by Ford dealer. On or about [XXX], with no warning or indication of problem the vehicle experienced what was determined to be a catastrophic internal engine failure, with only 93840 miles. The engine problems were known by Ford Motor Company as replacement engines had design changes and modifications. The engine failure resulted in an immediate stop, which occurred on a 4-lane state road with a fifty-five MPH limit. Fortunately, no vehicles were in close proximity at the time. Dense traffic, at speed, could have resulted in a multivehicle accident. The vehicle required flatbed towing to a service center. Ford Motor Company has not taken action (recall) to address the engine problems, nor has Ford offered reimbursement to customers for replacement engine cost. Ford Motor Company receives the defective engine back when a replacement engine is purchased. The cost was near $8K. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
The 2013 Ford Expedition has 0 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 89 owner-reported complaints for the 2013 Ford Expedition.
The 2013 Ford Expedition received an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2013 Ford Expedition are power train (31 reports), unknown or other (7 reports), engine (5 reports).
NHTSA does not currently list any recalls on record for the 2013 Ford Expedition. To verify the status of your specific vehicle, check nhtsa.gov/recalls with your VIN.
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This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.