10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 13,348 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Both Front windshield trims flew off while driving. Each side different days. On highway driving when saw something fly on side of my vehicle and almost hit vehicle beside me. I was forced to pull over check my vehicle and noticed windshield trim missing.
- Bakersfield , CA, USA
The power liftgate stop working. The liftgate light on dashboard shows liftgate open and the power liftgate does not work open nor closes.
- Magee , MS, USA
The windshield trim on the passenger side flew off the vehicle unexpectedly while driving at highway speeds. The piece hit the windshield and then flew off causing me to almost run off the road. Thankfully, it did not strike another vehicle.
- Conway, SC, USA
While driving on the freeway, the driver side windshield trim broke and flew off the vehicle. The safety of the vehicle traveling behind us was put at risk due to the flying debris. There were no warning lamps or messages displayed prior to this happening. The vehicle has not been inspected yet.
- West Bend, WI, USA
Twice I have been driving down the highway and have had the right front passenger side trim break off of the car. The first time it was caught between the door and the passenger side mirror and I was able to retrieve. Took to the dealer and they repaired. The second time it happened the same piece came off and flew off into freeway. A month ago I heard a loud noise while driving sounding like something struck my car and it was the molding on the passenger side door window that came off while driving down the interstate and was unretrievable. I have taken to repair shop to be replaced and see if any other possible issues with the trim and they have found cracks in the same trim pieces on both side rear windows.
- Canton, GA, USA
As I was driving over a bridge at approximately 45 mph, the A-pillar trim on the driver's side of the windshield broke and flew off of my car and hit the car behind me. Then, a few days later, as I was getting my car washed, the luggage rack cover blew off while going through the dryer at the end. Coincidentally, I received notice of a recall on the luggage rack system in the mail about 2 months after it happened and that has been replaced but my A-pillars have not.....seems to me they are related issues. Luckily, no one was hurt and no accident was caused.
- Cape Coral, FL, USA
Driving highway speed, top part of driver's side B pillar trim (key entry pad) broke off. This required emergency pullover to try and secure remaining bottom part of the pillar that was attached with keypad wiring. Unable to secure, I continued travel on service road at slow rate of speed and secured with duct tape later for my drive home. Since Ford refused assistance for first incident (11543574 passenger side A pillar trim) I did not report this incident. Self-repaired later. Additional complaint filed 11543575 for passenger side B pillar trim.
- Rockwall, TX, USA
Driving highway speed, passenger side B pillar trim flew off of the vehicle. Since Ford denied any responsibility with first call (complaint 11543574) I did not contact. Self-repaired.
- Rockwall, TX, USA
Driving highway speed, passenger side A pillar trim flew off of vehicle. Called Ford, they responded that no support was available for this incident. Self-repaired.
- Rockwall, TX, USA
While driving on the highway the drivers side windshield trim flew off the vehicle, narrowly missing the car behind me. Soon after, the rubber weatherstripping came loose and I had to open my window and pull it inside the vehicle before it, too, flew off and had the potential to hit another vehicle.
- Acworth, GA, USA
Passenger side windshield trim broke and flew off of vehicle as it was being driven.
- Claremore, OK, USA
The roof rail on my explorer came off while driving down the road. I did not realize until I got home. It could-??ve hit the car behind me, cause them to wreck, etc. I see that Ford has a recall for this issue but my model (platinum) is not part of that recall.
- Azle, TX, USA
Passenger side A Pillar Trim (OEM Part # BB5Z-7803144-AA) detached while driving at Highway speed.
- Maurepas, LA, USA
The body-A pillar trim panel doorman on the passenger side. Flew off while driving on the highway. I happened to be the passenger this day and if I had the window rolled down a little more, this piece would have hit me in the face. At first, we thought it was a piece of debris from the ground on the highway so we kept driving. But then the rubber part that sits underneath the trim began to flap and that-??s when we realized we needed to exit. There-??s no way we were going to be able to recovery that piece from the highway. Luckily no one got hurt.
- San Diego, CA, USA
I purchased this car in January of 2021 and in April of 2022 the passenger side front window A pillar trim flew off while driving down the highway. Since then, the same thing has happened to my driver-??s side A pillar exterior trim, and just this week (August 2023) the B pillar trim that also held my keyless entry keypad has also flown off while driving down the highway. I-??ve joined a -??5th Generation Ford explorer-?? Facebook group, and it seems that this is a VERY common occurrence to many users of this vehicle. I-??ve also seen many ford explorers driving around that have the trim pieces missing meaning that either they fly off so often that I am seeing these vehicles during this short time before the owner-??s get them replaced, or they flew off and people just didn-??t want to fix it because they fly off so often. I-??m lucky that all 3 times it happened to me, there weren-??t any motorcycles driving behind me that could have gotten seriously injured by these pieces flying off at highway speeds. I really believe something needs to happen to fix this. These seem to be poorly engineered parts if they continually fly off the vehicles, plus ford doesn-??t make or sell these parts very cheap so it-??s obvious they are just trying to make money while putting lives at risk. I unfortunately do not have specific dates/milage/pictures of my previous incidents, and didn-??t think of filling out a report until now when I-??m in the middle of replacing my B-Pillar, but I can provide the dates and pictures of the piece off of my B-pillar below. I hope this helps. Please investigate this and really review this issue. I-??ve seen previous articles that mention the NHTSA has received reports of these flying off, but the number of reports was only around 160. I-??m sure if anyone from the government reached out to the Facebook group mentioned above, along with other ford Facebook/Social Media groups that this would cover like the ford Edge groups, they would easily find that this is a major safety issu
- San Antonio, TX, USA
Trim piece on the front of the vehicle beside the windshield flew off while driving on the interstate. It smacked my windshield and flew off behind me. Very big safety concern considering there were other vehicles driving behind me and it could have hit them. I did not see where it went as I was confused as I did not know what the sound/item was at first.
- Ghent, KY, USA
The mouldings on the side of the windshield have detached multiple times. There is no warning lights, and I have been told by the dealership and outside repair shops that it is a common problem. Detachment of these parts puts other motorists at risk of injury. July 2021 driver side flew off on the highway - parts on backorder from dealership so they never repaired it. May 2022 had both sides replaced for $160 since they were done at time of windshield replacement. June 2022 passenger side flew off on the highway (no cost replacement since so soon after last replacement). August 2023 passenger side flew off on the highway and hit a semi, $100 repair quote.
- Las Vegas, NV, USA
Passenger side frame on windshield flew off my car while I was driving on the highway.
- Richardson , TX, USA
Both A-pillar pieces have blown off while driving. The first time this happened I had them replaced at a local windshield repair. And now they have both blown off again.
- Pinehurst, TX, USA
- Allen, TX, USA