I can't understand how a company like Ford motor company could let this happen on vehicles that they are selling for 40, 50, or $60000. They let this happen and not fix it. It's really sad that Ford motor company would let this go and not help people and fix the issue - obviously there's a problem with the way they made these arm rests on the door and their coming apart on many people's vehicles.

So far I've seen 50 something of them on the Internet and there must be thousands. I am very disappointed in Ford, they should be ashamed they should pay and have it fixed - that's all were asking for on a car that costs this much money. You should fix the issue, I will certainly never buy another Ford. Sad... very sad.

The fake leather seam on the armrest is splitting on both sides. This seems to be a common problem from my research and I know another explorer owner in my office with this same issue. Ford says that this is a problem with less than 2% of the vehicles but knowing that there is another explorer in my office with the exact same issue I sincerely find this hard to believe. Ford refuses to fix the issue saying that it is wear and tear and not on more than 2% of the explorers (I don't think they are looking very hard). I also have Ford's premium extended warranty but it doesn't cover this.

Door panel arm rest splitting. This is not leather, its Pleather (Artificial or Plastic Leather - Hence Pleather) Dealer unable or unwilling to help, therefore one summers afternoon, armed with a pin and a bottle of superglue - I placed drops on the split and held until glued, it took me well over an hour in the summer heat in Maryland, to get this all back together.. Had a few accidental - glued finger to Pleather a few times. This lasted well into the winter, until one January, morning I got in closed the door and notice the seam had begun to split again.. I have priced this door panel up on line, its Non-Dealer part is $495 (you fit it yourself). To be honest this is poor design by Ford.. but so is the paint peeling from the Aluminum hood... another poor quality item.

Noticed small split in arm rest in 2015, ask our dealer if there was any assistance from Ford or the extended warranty program, advised the answer was no. Dealer service told me they would check with Ford for me to see if there was any factory support. After several request to the dealer for assistance I was finally told to contact Ford directly as the dealer could not help. Problem is getting progressively worse and is very uncomfortable as well as unsightly. So far, not satisfaction from Ford, was told inner door panel new would cost $1200 to $1400 to replace.

Armrests on both front driver and passenger sides started splitting. I only noticed this AFTER my extended warranty expired by less than 100 miles. This appears to be like the "butt crack" issue that happened a few years ago on almost every explorer's back door below the window. Ford sneaked by this issue due to a class action suit that was filed after the statute of limitations ran out. However, I'm making this problem known because if necessary, I'm going to file a lawsuit on this one for a manufacturing defect. Already the internet is filled with complaints about this and these need to be documented. Feel free to contact me if you wish to organize and strengthen with numbers.