The Lemon Index$1,500 middle bill · most between $1,100 and $2,000
Lower than the $2,600 middle bill owners of all 72 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 72,000 miles (22 reports).
Ford Explorer owners reported paying a median of $1,500 for a differential repair, with the middle half of bills between $1,100 and $2,000. That's from 29 owner reports (29 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5003%
- $500–$1,00014%
- $1,000–$2,50059%
- $2,500–$5,00021%
- $5,000 and up3%
Share of the 29 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2002 Ford Explorer20$1,400 middle bill
- 2003 Ford Explorer1too few for a middle
- 2004 Ford Explorer4$1,500 middle bill
- 2011 Ford Explorer1too few for a middle
- 2020 Ford Explorer3$3,000 middle bill
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
Engines in these years
2.3 EcoBoost · 3.5 Duratec / Cyclone V6
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- Ford Explorer reliability by year
- Differential repair cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Ford Explorer owners reported
Transmission replacement (120) · Steering rack replacement (114) · Steering column repair (39) · Water pump replacement (34) · Wheel bearing replacement (31) · Radiator replacement (25) · Engine replacement (22) · CV axle replacement (15) · Wiring harness repair (12) · Brake repair (8) · Strut and shock replacement (8) · Throttle body replacement (8) · Torque converter replacement (6) · Clutch replacement (5) · Transfer case replacement (5)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11722814, 11690916, 11667955, 11568553, 10486631, 10378719, 10377042, 10320432, 10282952, 10282826, 10256381, 10254308 and more.
Quick answers
How much does differential repair cost on a Ford Explorer?
Ford Explorer owners reported a median of $1,500, and the middle half paid $1,100 to $2,000, from 29 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Ford Explorer differential repair more expensive than on other cars?
The Ford Explorer middle bill of $1,500 is lower than the $2,600 owners of all 72 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Ford Explorer repair costs come from?
From 29 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.