Misaligned Tailgate Experience
CDNexp -
As over six months have passed since your last post, perhaps you've already proceeded with the re-alignment. Nonetheless, I'll share my experience. In two words: "NOT GOOD." I originally purchased in November '11 and noticed the tailgate misalignment in Feb 2012. One side appeared flush with the body, the other side was inset about 3/4 inch. My service rep commented that they've seen a few misaligned tailgates from the factory and would contact the Ford rep to take a look. Long story short, one month later I received my Explorer back with a brand new tailgate. Despite attempts to realign and adjust, ultimately the decision was made by Ford that a new tailgate was the only solution. While I was very unhappy with the delay and poor communication, it was great to have my vehicle back (despite a second trip to the dealership to fix a new rattle in the tailgate that was caused by a wiper arm that was not properly reconnected).
Wouldn't it be great if the story ended there? Approximately two months later, the tailgate issue started all over again. I first noticed a problem when I walked out of my grocery store to find my Explorer in the parking lot with the tailgate wide open. Seemed very strange as I'm quite the consciousness person and not one to just leave a tailgate open and walk away. Thankfully nothing was taken. I shrugged it off until two days later (while visiting family) I looked out the window of their home and noticed the tailgate was again open. My brother was heading outside so I asked him to close it. This is when I realized there was again a problem, as he pushed the button several times, the door would attempt to close, hit the metal catch and then re-open. The inability to close the tailgate seemed worse on unlevel surfaces. Another trip to the Ford dealership and another week in the shop resulted in replacement of the catch mechanism and another realignment. All good.
Or so I wish. Two weeks ago, just before departing on a road trip with my family and a fully packed car, I pushed the button to close the power liftgate. The gate came down, made a grinding noise and wouldn't close, returned to the fully open position (despite having set a lower opening height) obtaining a nice deep scratch in the paint upon striking the open garage door. Frustrated, I tried pushing the button a few more times, all unsuccessfully, finally resorting to manually and forcefully having to close the liftgate in order to drive away. Once closed, I noticed that the tailgate was once again misaligned.
I called my service rep and explained that I've had enough and either Ford needs to make this right and fix it once and for all, or replace the vehicle. It's now become an unpredictable nuisance and security and safety issue, as the tailgate is closed but there is a large gap between the gate and the body and I'm positive it is not closed tightly. Perhaps having it pop open on the road would get Ford's attention. My service manager called me back and wanted to get with the Ford Expert Technician to see what they could do. That was a week ago and I've heard nothing back. I'll give it another week and then perhaps I should resort to sharing my story with youtube videos and tweets of the tailgate repeatedly failing close.
Thanks for reading my story. Hope this helps a bit. In short, be wary of getting that tailgate realigned.
Adam
