Factory build sheet

2018 Ford Explorer Police

Build 1FM5K8AR-J · 3.7L 6cyl · Four-wheel drive · Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)

VIN positions 1 through 8 read 1FM5K8AR and position 10 reads J. Those nine characters define this build. Position 9 and positions 11 through 17 differ on every car.

Every Explorer whose VIN starts 1FM5K8AR and carries J in position 10 left the plant with the same engine, transmission, drivetrain and equipment listed below. We know of 2,978 of them.

  • Decoded Jul 7, 2026
  • 2,978 known VINs
  • 44 listed for sale now

Factory specification

As filed by Ford with NHTSA for this build. Fields the filing does not record are left out entirely — a missing row means no recorded value, not a missing feature.

Engine

Displacement
3.7 L
Cylinders
6
Configuration
V-Shaped
Engine model
3.7L Ti-VCT
Engine manufacturer
Ford
Horsepower
304 hp
Fuel type
Gasoline

Drivetrain

Drive type
Four-wheel drive
Brake system
Hydraulic

Body & chassis

Body class
Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV)
NHTSA body type
MULTIPURPOSE PASSENGER VEHICLE (MPV)
Doors
4
Manufacturer
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Weight rating

GVWR class
Class 2E
GVWR
6,001–7,000 lb

Gross vehicle weight rating is the loaded ceiling set by the manufacturer, not the car's own weight.

What this build asks today

Asking prices of live dealer listings decoded to this exact configuration — narrower than the trim-level figure, because every car counted here shares the same engine, transmission and drivetrain.

$9,900 median asking price · 62 listings · as of Aug 30, 2026

Low 2% of listings $3,999 Top 2% of listings $13,619

Compare every 2018 Explorer trim and its price →

The same build, other model years

Ford used the VIN pattern 1FM5K8AR for 6 model years. Nothing but the year changes between these pages, so the price gap between them is depreciation on an identical car.

$5,999 2013 $8,400 2015 $8,750 2016 $9,598 2017 $9,900 2018 $10,358 2019

How this VIN pattern is read

A 17-character VIN carries two kinds of information: what was built, and which one it is. This page is the first kind — the nine highlighted positions.

Positions Characters What they encode
1–3 1FM FORD MOTOR COMPANY · World manufacturer identifier
4–8 5K8AR Model, body style, engine and restraint system
9 × Check digit — computed per vehicle, not part of the build
10 J Model year — 2018
11 × Assembly plant
12–17 ×××××× Production sequence number, unique to each vehicle

NHTSA safety ratings

Crash-test results are published per model year and body style, so they cover the 2018 Ford Explorer as a whole rather than this build alone.

Overall

★★★★★ 5 / 5

Frontal crash

★★★★★ 5 / 5

Side crash

★★★★★ 5 / 5

Rollover

★★★★ ★ 4 / 5

7 recall campaigns are recorded for the 2018 Explorer. Recalls are issued per VIN range — check the VIN of the car you are looking at, not the model.

2,978 vehicles carry this build

Every VIN we have decoded to 1FM5K8AR-J shares the specification above.

  • 2,978 Known VINs
  • 44 Listed for sale now
  • 62 Priced listings
  • $9,900 Median asking

Cars are filed by a fixed rule based on the VIN, so a car never moves between groups.

Browse all 2,978 VINs of this build →

Neighboring configurations

Other factory configurations of the Explorer, each with its own build sheet. The set is fixed by the VIN patterns themselves, so it does not shuffle as prices or inventory move.

Keep going

Where this data comes from

Specification fields are decoded from the manufacturer's filings in the NHTSA vPIC database, keyed on VIN positions 1–8 and 10. We publish the filed values as they stand and leave out anything the filing does not record.

Prices are asking prices from 62 live dealer listings decoded to this build , last updated August 30, 2026 . They are what sellers ask, not what buyers paid.

Vehicle counts come from the 2,978 VINs of this build we have seen in dealer inventory. They are a sample of the road population, not a production figure.