New owner question about the tail gate

[Ellocovg]

First off let me introduce myself I'm a union electrician and I've always been a fan of Toyotas, I had an 08 highlander loved it traded it in for an 10 Acura TL sweet ride but I missed my truck. Was looking into a new Highlander but they do t budge on the price at all not yet anyway. Saw a ford family deal promotion and I've always liked the look of the explorer saw it on the web page figured out what configuration I'd like found it on a local lot took it for a test drive and ended up getting a good deal on a 3 yr lease. I honestly never thought I'd drive a ford but I'm pretty happy with my 2016 gunmetal XLT with navigation/my ford touch. Main issue I have is the tailgate I have to slam it to close it get in the car see it's still open get out slam it again and hope it locked that time. I actually unfortunately just noticed I dented it right above the tail gate door handle. Is this normal for the non powered tailgates to be such a pain in the ass? The truck is exactly a month old and I open and close it 2-3 times a day at least so it should be pretty broken in by now.

 

[blwnsmoke]

My guess is a bad latch or the tailgate is misaligned.

 

[peterk9]

First off let me introduce myself I'm a union electrician and I've always been a fan of Toyotas, I had an 08 highlander loved it traded it in for an 10 Acura TL sweet ride but I missed my truck. Was looking into a new Highlander but they do t budge on the price at all not yet anyway. Saw a ford family deal promotion and I've always liked the look of the explorer saw it on the web page figured out what configuration I'd like found it on a local lot took it for a test drive and ended up getting a good deal on a 3 yr lease. I honestly never thought I'd drive a ford but I'm pretty happy with my 2016 gunmetal XLT with navigation/my ford touch. Main issue I have is the tailgate I have to slam it to close it get in the car see it's still open get out slam it again and hope it locked that time. I actually unfortunately just noticed I dented it right above the tail gate door handle. Is this normal for the non powered tailgates to be such a pain in the ass? The truck is exactly a month old and I open and close it 2-3 times a day at least so it should be pretty broken in by now.

Welcome to the Forum.:wavey:
What you described is not normal at all. As blwnsmoke posted, it seems like a latch issue. Perhaps it isn't aligned correctly. Take it to the dealer and let them have a look at it. Too bad about the dent. If it is the kind that you might be able to push back out you'd have to remove the liftgate panel.

Peter

 

[blwnsmoke]

If there is no crack in the paint, look up a pointless dent removal.. your dealer probably has one they use. I've had 1 taken out of my Explorer from a door ding and had 5 or 6 taken out of my passenger door on my F350 from a snow storm with debris all over the road.

It is amazing what they can do and is $100-$150.

 

[Napalm]

let me make sure I'm reading this right.

no power lift gate (none)
manual operation

on unlock and opening - door swings easy - once the struts most they lift the door up on their own.

on closing door drops, upon bottom of swing, latching stops. requires forced movement to engage latching.

force has been strong enough to bend the gate at the handle.


now I've not seen or used an explorer with a manual liftgate - dealers here didn't have one. does yours have an acutal mechanical handle so you can unlatch the gate or is it a push button electric latch like mine. (I have power liftgage, but again every explorer I test drove, monkeyed with had it too)

does the mechanical handle move freely and unlatch cleanly?

+1 on dealer fix because warranty and because they should. but I'd have thought you'd have tried the liftgate during your test drives etc. did you have issues then?

 

[Ellocovg]

I called and made an appointment to take it in next week to the dealer. No power lift gate it's just like a regular door handle struts move freely and it seems to shut ok with little force but then when u get in car to drive away it starts beeping trunk ajar. To get it to lock I have to shut it with a little force but at same time follow through giving it a shove. It's kinda hard to explain u can slam it as hard as u want but if u don't follow through with the little shove maintaining pressure on it a little after its closed all the way it won't latch fully. This did happen on the test drive the salesman after closing it a few times slammed the Jesus out of it and said the stoppers just had to wear in a little bit.

 

[Ellocovg]

I haven't dealt with ford before this being my first ford, do you guys think the dealer would fix the little ding under warranty from the tailgate latch issue. Also when I first got it I googled the issue and found a few ppl complaining about it online that's the reason why I didn't contact the dealer earlier.

 

[blwnsmoke]

That's a tough call. The dent was caused by you but I understand why it happened. They may cover it considering the situation however if you have had this issue constantly then you should have taken it in and stopped using it after the first couple of times until repaired.

I would PM Ford CSM on here and get the ball rolling. I don't think normal cs would Donita but maybe escalating it may get it approved for a paintless dent removal guy to do it.

 

[scarpi]

I've got a 15 that I bought in July and it has the manual liftgate. It opens easily and closes easily. I never have gotten a warning light telling me that the rear liftgate is not closed. So yours is definitely got a problem. You should be able to get that fixed under warranty. As far as your dent, I would try to get it covered under warranty. Maybe the best way to do that is to first talk to your salesman about both the liftgate and the dent because he/she may be able to help you get the dent problem fixed under warranty. Obviously you caused the dent , but maybe the salesman may be more on your side in getting Ford to fix that issue. It would be worth a try. What can you lose by talking to him?

 

[Ellocovg]

Yeah I know it was at the end of the day my fault, I honestly haven't had the time to stop at dealer but mostly I just trusted what the salesman said that the stoppers needed to wear in a little bit, which in hind site was moronic on my part.