Poor rear hatch alignment...

[Alan in AZ]

Looking at quite a few new Expolorers I have noticed that there is a lot of variation on the alignment of the rear hatch - haven't noticed it on the door or other panels. Of 6 Explorers on a recent dealer lot only one had a well aligned hatch - flush with quarterpanels at rear. Several had both side of the hatch indented further in than the wrap around quarters next to the hatch but 3/6 had different alignments side to side with one side protruding slightly and the other side indented in slightly. I was surprised at such poor build quality - one was particularly bad visually the others were less obvious visually but very clear to the touch. I had not noticed this at other dealer lots - but will look out for it in future (and on other panels too).

Anyone else notice this issue?

Alan

 

[xplanfan]

The alignment of the hatch on my 2012 is spot on.

 

[VinceL]

Every Explorer we have seen on dealer lots had this very problem, exactly as you described. The funny thing is that Ford was proud of their new robots installed in the Chicago plant that used frickin' laser beams to improve fit and alignment on the assembly line. I can only guess that either the robots suck, or the hatches are put on the vehicle by human hands.

 

[spitfisher]

Mine is spot on. I don't think you could get dental floss between the seams