Another issue on my car. I had my car washed in January 2010 and my guy called me over to point out some bubbling paint on the hood in 2 separate areas - I know what the issue is - Ford used a cheaper lighter aluminum when they made these hoods and didn't use the correct heat resistant base coat for the paint to stick. I just refuse to pay a few more thousand dollars to have this fixed until they recall it - Which I hear might be in the works along with a class action suit.

I also have rust on the roof of my car and it was car-ported for the first 5 years of it's life. I also have little nicks where the paint looks like it got nicked all over the car (less than 10000 miles on this issue)- this happened early on in the life of owning the car. I took it to the dealer thinking the paint was so bad it couldn't stand the element (I live near the beach) The body shop at ford told me I drove behind a truck that spilt gravel????? Um no I didn't and there are no nicks in my glass. I think I would know if I drove behind a gravel truck or any thing blowing crap out of the back of it.

Ford needs to step up to the plate - I laugh that they were boasting on how great their sales have been this year.

I've always had fords. This is my second explorer that we bought for my wife to commute to work with. I was washing it and when I squirted it with the hose, a big chunk of paint just blew off the roof. Now looking at it, I can see there is about a 10" patch of paint that is just peeling for no reason along the roof. I'm sure as I rip it off, it will just get worse until the car starts to look more and more ghetto and I'll have to park it around the corner so I don't offend my neighbors. This is bullshit plain and simple. After reading the other rants, I can see that Ford will do nothing for me. I'll have to have the damn car repainted now. Gotta tell you, I've bought many fords, but in today's marketplace we have a lot of choices and this will be MY LAST FORD!!! CUL8er Ford Motors. I'm switching over to Hyundai.

This is complete crap! This is the 4th Ford that Ive owned and never seen this problem. I took it to the dealer and the body shop manager was very polite and said that he had seen this problem a # of times. But because my vehicle is so far out of warenty that there was nothing that he could do and that I should contact Ford directly. Now this is the 4th ford but the one vehicle that I have had the longest. ONLY 6 YEARS! Ive had vehicles that were over 15 yrs old with the original paint that looked better. The body shop manager said the problem is that the primer had let go of the paint. Now Im no freaking professional but that sounds like a manufacters defect to me. 6 years and the paint lets go... All I can say is that if this isnt resolved by ford 100% then they have just lost a customer for life. Ill go back to Chevy or a import!

There needs to be a recall to repair the peeling paint issue on the 2004 Ford Explorers. I had the same paint issue on a 77' Ford Granada many years ago, and never was able to get Ford to fix it. I have aways preferred Ford vehilcles, especailly now since they did not take any bailout money from the government. Also, the back door panel just below the window is cracked and should be replaced at Ford's expense.

I feel I should have listened to a mechanic friend who warned me not to purchase another Ford Explorer. This is the 2nd one I have owned! He suggested a Chevy Tahoe. I will think twice next time.

When my vehicle reached 86,000 miles the O/D light flashed on and then a loud beep followed and the check transmission light came on and continued blinking. When I took the vehicle in to Ford they told me to check the transmission cost would be $500.00. That price would not go toward repairing the problem it would just be to check to find out what the problem was. I was then told the problem could be between $1500.00 to $3500.00 for the first problem. If that was not the problem then the second problem could cost $3500.00 to $6000.00. The car is driving fine however, when I reach the speed of 45 to 60 the OD light comes on and the Check transmission light starts to blink. I have not had it repaired yet because of the cost.

I have the peeling paint problem too. It's been bubbling for years but I never did anything about it, now I kick myself. Enough problems already with this car, although I like it when it's good, it always comes up with something new to make me swear I'll never get another Ford. This is one of those things. Bubbling paint for years now it chips off. Auto body guy says he has fixed tons of them with this problem for the now-defunct dealership. The only way to do it is to strip and completely repaint .. no guarantee the color will be exact so might have to buff down and match up quarter panels too. I don't have chips on the roof that I know of, but maybe I should check. Ford should make good on this ... things like this are the reason the dealer is out of business - although they have just been taken over by Lincoln/Mercury so I'm not really sure it isn't just more of the same.

Just went to the dealership today to have them take a look at my paint job. The car only has 50,000 miles on it (about 45-48,000 when I first discovered the issue) and the paint is bubbling up in multiple places at the front edge of the hood. Normally I would think that it was caused by rust, but when you depress the bubbled paint it flakes off and you see the pristine aluminum underneath. Just found out that Ford knew about this years ago and issued a Technical Bulletin about the issue - BUT NO RECALL!!! Check out this link to see the bulletin -

http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/phpLviTdB_FordAluminumPaintCorrosion.pdf

Seems to me that if Ford states that there were issues with the parts prior to painting, then they should take responsibility for fixing the issue. The dealership said that since the car's over its 36,000 mark they have no responsibility to fix the issue.