Ford replaced it when it was under warranty. The service writer told me that the fix is temporary at best and he'd had several vehicles come back to get the piece replaced several times.

Because the piece comes as unpainted plastic there is no quick fix but a trip to the body shop is required. 20k miles later I have the same problem and it is getting worse. I stopped using the window liftgate to try to stop the spread.

When I talked to the Ford dealer he couldn't care less. I think once Ford fixes the problem they should have stood behind the fix once I came out of warranty but they aren't interested. I found this site today because of a recall notice on the lifgate glass hinge needing replacement and thought they might extend that warranty to cover this issue-but no luck.

Apparently, I'm not the only one out here to have this problem. Go check the 2002 Ford Explorer complaint section where it's the leading complaint by far! This problem has plagued me for at least 2 yrs. The dealer said it's out of warranty and I'm still waiting for the zone person to call .... it's been 6 months and I sure didn't hold my breath. This and other problems have convinced me why they're getting their tails kicked by the Japanese cars. My next vehicle will be a Toyota, Honda or Hyundai. My daughter's Sonata has 85,000mi and still kicking.