While driving across the George Washington Bridge in Summer traffic, the [external] pillar trim on the passenger side of my 2016 Explorer, flew off the car and landed somewhere behind us. This was not the first time the poorly installed or designed piece liberated itself in heavy traffic while traveling at high speed. A couple years earlier, the same thing happened and the dealership replaced it at no charge as the car was still under manufacturer's warrantee. However, the dealership failed to read the full installation guide and didn't order the piece the pillar is attached to. So, on my way home from the dealership, the pillar flew off into traffic. A couple of weeks later, they installed it following the procedure, so I was pretty confident of what happened and what was needed to fix the issue when I called the Dealership the following Monday. They told me I needed to bring the car in so they could look at it and refused to help me over the phone, in spite of our history with this Pillar trim piece. I live 30+ minutes from the dealership and wasn't happy to have to make the trip to a tourist area in the middle of the Summer tourist season.

So I called 3 other dealerships in my area and got various BS stories about what I needed to do to fix the missing Pillar trim. One dealership gave me an estimate to fix the problem, but when I arrived, they acknowledged that a second piece was required and jacked the labor to a full hour. I asked for clarification of the cost and she said; There are a lot of bolts that are used to secure it -- there are 6. Anyway, I left that Dealership and then did the research myself, called the Parts Department of the original Dealership I'd been dealing with, to order the 2 pieces and picked them up 4 weeks later when they were delivered. I gave my neighbor, a certified Volvo mechanic, the parts and he installed in about 11 minutes. We're almost at the 4 year mark and the piece is still intact as well as the Driver's side Pillar trim piece reinstalled by the dealership a couple of years before.

In parallel, I've been opening Safety/Hazard reports with the National Highway Safety board about this defective or poorly designed part. It doesn't pose a safety threat to the driver of the Explorer but I have to say, I cringe every time I think of who may have been hit by the flying debris -- it's a 3' hard plastic missile. The part detached itself as a full piece -- not small pieces breaking off. I reported it as a safety hazard because the threat is to the other vehicles in traffic like an open vehicle or motorcycle. In 2024, Ford finally issued a Recall so I called about my 2021 experience. I was declined any refund. They told me the dealership never recorded my calls or my order.