Same story as the others on this site.... cracked on a cold winter day while sitting in a parking lot. Didn't even have to open/close the rear window to do it. We've had this vehicle since new in 2003 and its the first vehicle my wife loved enough to actually take good care of it. She still won't let me sell it even after all of this.

In January '07, I took it to Winner Ford (Newark, DE), the dealer that sold me the Explorer when it was new. They quoted $345.75 and said since I was out of warranty and there was no recall, I would bear the cost.

I contacted the Ford Customer Relationship Center. They blew me off a day later. Then I wrote a polite letter (not email) to the CRC, to Ford's general office address in Detroit, and sent a copy of my letter to Winner Ford. I thought a three pronged stick might get someone's attention. I included pictures and printouts from this web site showing how many of us have the same problem.

Within two days of mailing the letter, Winner Ford contacted me and told me that I am a valuable customer, they appreciated the way I presented my case and they were going to cover the cost and try to get compensation from Ford.

One day after Winner called, a representative from Ford's Detroit office called inquiring about my letter and problem. I told her that Winner was stepping up and gave her Winner's contact information. She called me back again two days later to be sure I was satisfied.

At about the same time, the CRC sent me another form letter blowing me off again. They don't even mention the specific problem I complained about, just a non-specific "we reviewed your claim and feel we were correct in denying it blah, blah, blah".

In summary, I will probably be buying as many cars as I can in the future from Winner. That dealership sells several different brands, so a Toyota, Saturn, or some other brand might be in my future. I believe Ford was going to step up. It sounded to me like she was going to tell me that they were going to come through. The Ford CRC center seems terrible to me. Yes, I am probably biased because they denied my claim, but in my opinion they did not ever seriously consider my claim. I felt totally blown off. I have the mailing addresses I used if anyone is interested, but I got them right off the Ford website.

The vehicle was not even being driven and was parked inside the garage when the cracked rear panel on the liftgate took place. My husband called to tell me what had happened and I began writing down the license plate number of several other vehicles with the identical problem. We took it to our local dealer, Dick Masheter, who told us that the problem was normal and expected. This is not normal, expected, or acceptable. My family has had many of these vehicles and this has never happened. Ford needs to redesign to resolve this issue -- in addition to paying for the repair.

I have 43,000 miles on my Explorer and just had the panel crack last week. I called the dealer who had me bring it in for him to look at. He said he has seen one other like it. Since I am past warranty he said he would have to get back to me in a couple of days. He called me back and referred me to the Ford customer service number: 1-800-392-3673. I called last Friday to see if they would do anything about it. The representative I spoke to said that they have been getting a lot of complaints, but have had no recall yet. She called me back today to let me know she was still looking for an answer to see if they would fix it. In the meantime, she said the more people that call and lodge a complaint, the more likely they are to issue a recall. If you have this problem, I urge you to call. I use that door a lot and expect quality from Ford. This is just one more problem, along with the passenger windows that sometimes don't roll down, that I have had with this car.

I will update this post after I hear back from Ford.

I had the same cracked panel below the rear windshield. It started right above the Ford emblem and moved all the way down the panel, and it happened shortly after my warranty period ended. I read about some of the other issues with this and I figured that going to the dealer wouldn't help the situation too much. Luckily, a friend of mind is a mechanic and he was able to get the part at cost: $70. The problem was that it only comes in primer grey. I had to buy Ford paint, and he had another friend of his paint it for me. The paint itself was $60. We just replaced it this past weekend. We had to pull the old one off with the help of a heat gun and glue the new one onto the glass/metal frame. The actual glass goes all the way down to the end of the door. This plastic panel covers the glass along with a metal support. I was worried about leaking but after seeing the interior of this panel, you don't have to worry about that. I really don't know how it cracked, since it is glued fairly solidly onto the metal frame (unless the metal frame twists and/or flexes with use). I now try to lift up the entire tailgate when I need to get access to the back instead of using the small window/liftgate. It was a pain to change, but at least now my Explorer looks decent again. The part should be made of sheetmetal. It doesn't make sense to have a plastic part which can break. I expect to have to replace it again in the future, so I'm holding onto the rest of the paint!

I also recently noticed a crack running through the bottom of the lift gate, and after finding this website, decided to call Ford's customer care line 1-800-392-3673. After being transfered around a few times I finally spoke to a rep who advised me there are no recalls and that Ford is totally unaware of any complaints, before mine, about this issue. They finished by telling me they would definitely notify me if there ever was a recall... what a joke! I have owned 6 Ford vehicles, never again. Maybe everyone should call them, and anyone else who will listen!

I returned back to my 2003 Explorer after being gone for a few days and discovered two cracks in the panel under the rear window. I thought that someone vandalized the car by hitting the Ford emblem on the back panel.

When I went to the Ford dealer for an estimate, ($366.00), I was told that this is a fairly common problem on Explorers and Mountaineers of this year. I would say that this should be covered by Ford as it is clearly a design flaw that prevents dissimilar materials to expand and contract at their own rate.

I called the dealership about this issue,(the adviser at the FORD dealership indicated he has seen this problem before 4 or 5 in the passed) first they asked if I had extended warranty, I indicated YES (paid extra for the extended warranty) and then they asked about the kilometers (I live in Canada) the kilometers on the explorer is 73000 still under warranty. However this problem was not covered under the extended warranty(of course not). I asked for FORDS head office phone number. I then called FORD head office, they indicated the same thing as the dealership-not covered under the extended warranty. I explained to FORD head office that this issue could be a weather problem, which was told to me by the dealership. I extended my disappointment by telling them the customer service was unacceptable as to this issue was not my fault, it could be a weather temperature issue. I went on to say I will NEVER purchase a ford vehicle again.

Update from Feb 22, 2011: !!!

This crack occurred right after my warranty ran out (of course). I called the dealer and told him my problem and he said that the Explorer sometimes had this problem but they didn't have a recall on it. Since he told me this I have noticed other Explorers with this same problem. I talked to the dealer again yesterday (I now have 41,000 miles) and he said to bring the car in and he would get his manager involved. I am going to bring copies of all the complaints listed (there are a bunch under 2002 Ford Explorer with the same problem) to see if they will cover the repair. I will let you know.