Lobo1625
Member
- Joined
- June 24, 2021
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 5
- City, State
- Saginaw, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- Sold
I thought this was a 6th gen only question due to the placement of the topic in the 6th gen forum. I did have a 6th gen (2020 Limited 4WD) and while I didn't have some of the horrible issues that some did, I'll recap what I did experience and why I no longer own the vehicle. For anyone wondering, this was my 3rd Explorer and I had planned to have it for years to come. I've listed most of the issues that I can think of in order of severity (to me personally)
Again, I really REALLY wanted to like this vehicle, but for a $55k vehicle, I was starting to make excuses for things being wrong. "Oh the parking sensors work sometimes" "The sunroof doesn't have to be open" "The shifting is usually ok" "Ill just change the oil sooner" I had Stockholm syndrome for this Explorer and was justifying everything that was wrong. The very last thing was when I noticed the UV clearcoat had started to flake off the top of the headlights. After a friend quipped that it was "back to the dealer for it's monthly visit" I think I finally snapped out of it. That was the last straw and Carmax owned it a few days later. I've had a dozen different Ford vehicles in my family and never had the issues that I did with this. Everyone at work would ask what broke now, anytime I'd be driving a new loaner car. I am definitely soured on Ford right now and I know that since it was a 2020, and the unique challenges that year presented, my experience may be an anomaly. I sincerely hope they get better but some of the issues seemed so basic, I wondered why these had failed and was something I had to take time to have repaired. Ford is not new to the car business, but this new model seems like they forgot so much of what they used to do well. Sorry if that was a little long winded, but I wanted to answer some of the questions out there.
- Passenger side seat fan failed 3 times, dealer would not replace the seat cushion which was assembled wrong and pushed foam into the fan when there was a person sitting in it. They only tested with the seat unoccupied. I blame the dealer but this issue too 6 months to resolve.
- Sunroof was out of alignment and required adjustment. It would pop loudly when closing from the popped up vent position. Dealer readjusted and lubricated. I was chastised by the dealer because there was no lubrication on the sunroof rubber, and that the sunroof required maintenance. After that visit it started doing the same thing a month later (after less than a dozen uses and a fresh application of lubricant on the rubber surfaces.
- Missing tow hook, but we all know that's pretty common. Also missing the small cargo area floor fill panel/dividers. Dealer would not replace either of these items under warranty so I had to buy them out of pocket.
- Roof Rail caps at the back of the roof rails above the rear hatch were deformed and would flutter while driving. Newer vehicles did not show the same deformation so they were replaced.
- Chrome accents on window switches was flaking off. Didn't realize it until I sliced my finger putting the window down on the sharp chrome, I thought it had a slightly different look for being the drivers window switch.
- Drivers door panel rattled and sounded like Velcro when any pressure was put against the top. None of the other 3 door panels did this.
- One of the Sync control modules had to be replaced as there were serious issues with the Sync3 system. It would not update and was very laggy and slow to respond. I think this is listed as a TSB as well, but I had to bring it up to the dealer.
- The backup camera was not aligned properly and I couldn't trust the overhead view when parking. It defeated the purpose of the feature. The lines painted on the ground never lined up between the side and back cameras so there was no way to know what to trust or not. The service writer drove the vehicle and called me to say he could see exactly what was going on but there was no way to calibrate. The paperwork I was handed again said "unable to duplicate"
- Parking sonar sensors worked intermittently and not consistently. The issue was mostly the corner sensors and they would not detect obstacles. It happened after I got the explorer back from it's 5th dealer visit. I parked inside every day and was very aware of what sensors would go off and how far they would indicate as I was pulling into the garage. They would detect the post that divided the garage and the car in the second bay every time I pulled in and would alarm off the toolbox at the front of the garage. They stopped doing this as reliably and sometimes not at all. Most annoyingly is the fact that it would sometimes alert on the screen but not audibly. I am still someone who checks their mirrors and uses the windows to park so I was not staring at the screen. The point of the alert was to get your attention and it stopped doing that. Another dealer visit and "unable to duplicate" and the "sensitivity is not adjustable"
- The shifting on the 10 speed was usually pretty good, but there were many times in rush hour traffic that shifts were violent. I had passengers ask me if we ran over something of if that was the Explorer that made that noise. All the dealership could do was reset the transmission and hope for the best.
- Transmission leak... More accurately the output seal from the transfer case. Took 3 trips to the dealership to fix this. I was told first that they couldn't find anything (unable to duplicate), told next that it was leftover fluid from the transmission cooler recall and finally fixed the third time after insisting that it is the rear seal.
- Biggest issue to me came after I did a 20k mile oil analysis and found a fuel dilution of 3.0% fuel in the oil after 7500 miles (25% on the IOLM and 3/4 Ford's recommended interval) This dilution lowered the room temperature and operating temperature viscosity of the oil and the flashpoint of the oil as well. This is a vehicle I had planned on keeping for years and seeing that the oil was being diluted and not protecting the engine like it was supposed to really bothered me. The dealer was 'unable to recreate' the issue and could not find where the fuel came from. There were no codes so they just told me to check it again later to see if it got any better. Not derailing this thread into an oil thread, but 3% of the oil being fuel is bad, especially if there is no clear sign of where it came from.
Again, I really REALLY wanted to like this vehicle, but for a $55k vehicle, I was starting to make excuses for things being wrong. "Oh the parking sensors work sometimes" "The sunroof doesn't have to be open" "The shifting is usually ok" "Ill just change the oil sooner" I had Stockholm syndrome for this Explorer and was justifying everything that was wrong. The very last thing was when I noticed the UV clearcoat had started to flake off the top of the headlights. After a friend quipped that it was "back to the dealer for it's monthly visit" I think I finally snapped out of it. That was the last straw and Carmax owned it a few days later. I've had a dozen different Ford vehicles in my family and never had the issues that I did with this. Everyone at work would ask what broke now, anytime I'd be driving a new loaner car. I am definitely soured on Ford right now and I know that since it was a 2020, and the unique challenges that year presented, my experience may be an anomaly. I sincerely hope they get better but some of the issues seemed so basic, I wondered why these had failed and was something I had to take time to have repaired. Ford is not new to the car business, but this new model seems like they forgot so much of what they used to do well. Sorry if that was a little long winded, but I wanted to answer some of the questions out there.