This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I hand washed the vehicle on 1/10/2025 and noted no defects. On [XXX] traveling northbound on [XXX] in the vicinity of Ontario, California at approximately [XXX], I heard a "clunk, " but did not observe any road hazard. Upon arriving at Ridgecrest, California I discovered that the passenger pillar applique was missing. I reported event to service at Jim Charlon Ford and was informed that currently no fix available. On 1/14/2025, I had Jim Charlon Ford remove the driver side pillar applique remove for purposes safety. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
In October of 2022 a the top part of exterior trim beside my windshield pulled away from the vehicle. I took it to our local auto shop and they cleaned the adhesive off the lower piece of molding and installed a new top molding. I paid $166.15 for this repair. Then in March of 2023 I was driving on the freeway when this same piece of trim suddenly flew off the vehicle just missing the car behind me, I took it to our local auto shop and they replaced the piece at a cost of $344.10. Then in June of 2023 the same piece flew off again while I was driving on the freeway, again just missing the car behind me. This time I paid $374.16 to have the piece replaced again, In February of 2024 I received a Safety Recall Notice from Ford and NHTSA saying the there is a defect with my vehicle and the A pillar applique trim clip attachments are not properly engaged due to improper assembly or repair. I took the vehicle to a Ford dealership after receiving this notice and was told there was not yet a remedy and I would be notified when there was one. I have checked the NHTSA website several times since then since then and it indicated that a remedy should be available by the end of 2024. However, it is now mid-January 2025 and still no remedy and I have paid more than $800 to temporarily repair this issue.
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (STRUCTURE) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Exterior A-pillar trim part detached, now caused cracked windshield where trim would have been. The part has been detached for months and my local Ford dealership has no temporary or permanent solution. My windshield now has a spidering crack where it would have been protected.
The windshield cawl ( bottom piece that goes across windshield) has deteriorated. Making a whistling sound going down the road. I have already in December 2023 had to replace the A pillar trim and clips on driver side. Have talked to other explorer owners having the same issue. Thank you for your time
- Aiken, SC, USA
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The B-pillar trim piece has become detached from the vehicle due to broken clips and when driving it appears as if it will fall off. Ford will not address the issue, other then using two sided adhesive tape which needs to be replaced continuously. The clips that hold the trim in place are broken and this is common on many explorers. There are other body trim pieces which have been recalled for and this needs to be added as well. The A-pillar trim was recently a recall item and this is just as much a hazard.
The trim that is on either side of the front windshield has come loose. The one on the driver side came loose while I was on the interstate and struck the vehicle behind me. It caused the driver to lose control and spin out. Fortunately, it did not cause a collision, but it could have caused a loss of life, we were travelling at highway speeds. The trim on the passenger side was still on the vehicle, but it had popped loose and was sticking up at an odd angle. I removed it to prevent the same thing from happening.
The driver's side exterior windshield moulding detached from the vehicle traveling at interstate speed (75 mph) and struck the driver's door above the window. The apparent cause of detachment was failure of the retaining clips and adhesive that holds the external piece to the internal rubber moulding.
Passenger side window trim blew off at highway speed without warning. Have not had it to the dealer yet as this appears to be a problem for the Explorer. I am not sure where the piece ended up. There was not a vehicle immediately behind the car so I don-??t believe it struck anyone.
We were traveling on I90 west of Sioux Falls, SD. 06-01-2023. There is a 14 mile stretch that is under construction and the traffic is head to head in that stretch. We met a semi that created a gust of wind that blew the front window trim off the passenger side of the vehicle. I do not know where the trim went once it exited the vehicle. It was in an area where construction workers were working along side of the road and there was a line of cars behind us.
While driving on highway I-20 at 80 miles per hour, the trim panel around the windshield detached. The panel detached on the drive side but the passenger side is already detaching from the bottom part.
I saw an article about the a pillars coming off while driving and wanted to report my story/experience with this problem vehicle! I pay wayyyy too much for this vehicle to be a 2019 and still have low miles (46,700) for it to be such a safety hazard for my family, I definitely expected more for such a big first Ford purchase. Very very disappointed. I don-??t have all the receipts together right now to take pictures at this time but they are at my house if needed. -the a pillars have flown off the vehicle while driving down the freeway even after being fixed, even most recent fixes will not completely stay down and could still come off again. This has led to the window trim being ripped off with them and it all causing wind issues and allows stuff to catch on the windows while driving or build up underneath for weather conditions. -there is something within the vehicles power train that will not take alignments and has a very bad shimmy/sway within the wheels while driving. This is very very unsafe at any speed but quite bad at highway speeds, especially with wind because of the a-pillars issue. The way it moves while driving it feels like you-??re not in control of the vehicle. Multiple alignments have been attempted, tire swaps and brand new ones have been put on and it continues to get worse. Nobody can figure out what-??s causing this. -there are some electrical and heating shortages within the vehicle and intermittently these futures will glitch out and won-??t work. Sometimes the display screen won-??t come on or shut off, sometimes all the wipers will stop mid swipe and not fully stay down, sometimes the mirrors won-??t adjust, some sensors barely work, there are times the seat warmer doesn-??t work or does partially, the floorboard heat will only put out cold air unless it-??s on auto and high, some lighting functions glitch out, same with the radio, sometimes the auto start don-??t work, sometimes the seat positions will stop in mid move and won-??t reposition
The front window side panel is in the process of coming off on both side it-??s already detaching from the top of both side & im afraid it-??s gonna hot someone if it flies off I started to notice this a little after I got the car & im noticing more & the dealer ship saw it when I got the car & said it-??s not on recall
The trim panel around the windshield detached. The panel detached on the drive home from the Ford dealership. This happened on a brand new vehicle. I returned the car to the Ford dealership and they replaced the trim panel. I also had to have the windshield replaced on this vehicle. The windshield replacement company requires you to purchase new trim panels surrounding the windshield when the windshield is replaced. I purchased new trim panels and 1 of the trim panels detacted from the vehicle while I was driving on the expressway. The windshield company replaced the panel. They indicated that this happens all the time with Explorers.
The front pillar columns on either side of the windshield have flown off while driving on the interstate. This is a ongoing Ford issue that should be fixed and is so dangerous could crack someone-??s windshield
While driving on I-95 on 5/4, the RH windshield moulding broke off suddenly and flew off behind the car, fortunately not hitting another vehicle, although that could easily have happened. I took the car to Mullinex Ford in New Smyrna Beach, FL on 5/9; they said the exterior moulding (which broke off) and the underlying RH A pillar moulding needed to be replaced (costing me $432, since it wasn't covered by my extended warranty). This same thing happened to my previous 2013 Explorer in 2017-2018 timeframe! Apparently it is a well-known problem with all Ford Explorers since at least 2013, as many others have reported at https://). But Ford has never issued a recall on this problem, and refuse to cover it under extended warranties. This is a real safey issue, as parts should NOT be breaking off on a car and flying through the air to potentially hit other vehicles. At the website I specified, some vehicle owners reported incidents that DID hit other vehicles, including a motorcyclist.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ridgecrest, CA, USA