This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
When parked with the vehicle running a passenger exited the rear seat behind the driver. When they closed the door the drivers seat moved all the way forward and the seat back also moved forward pinning the driver to the steering wheel. After a few seconds the driver was able to move the seat back from the steering wheel. Not sure if there is a setting for the electric seats to move forward like that but it should not do it with the driver in it.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while attempting to engage the front driver's seat control buttons, he noticed that the seat control buttons housing was fractured internally. The contact stated that he replaced the part himself. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact they could not assist because the vehicle was out of warranty. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
I-??m having to replace the driver-??s seat mounting/frame (underneath the seat) for a second time since I-??ve had this vehicle. It happened last year as well.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the front passenger-??s seat became detached. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had been diagnosed by the dealer and determined that the failure was due to a design flaw which cause the plastic clips used to hold the seat together had fractured. The vehicle was repaired several times, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to contact the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while exiting the vehicle, she observed the front driver's side seat control housing separating, hindering the use of the seat controls. The failure was later observed in the front passenger-??s side seat. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 16,000.
- Lutz, FL, USA
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Both front seats have brackets that have broken and come apart. Service says this is seen all the time. Pants and skirts get caught in it all the time.
Memory seat module issue. After parking vehicle and turning off ignition, the driver's seat will automatically move all the way forward and wedge the driver against the steering wheel.
Electrical- lift gate will just stop working at times. Trouble with Bluetooth connection Fuel- when filling up the pump will stop (even if only put in 2 gallons). Seats- drivers seat broken Engine/transmission- hard shifting, put itself in park while at red light Multiple ongoing issues with Explorer. Been in/out of shop over 10 times in one year. I have videos but unable to upload them.
Driver's seat will not go all the way back or all the way down. Limited range of motion and will not power back to a safe driving position. Coming up on 6 weeks at the dealership and Ford techs and engineering cannot figure it out. They just keep changing parts. I have concerns about other Explorer St's.
Transmission started violently shifting and jerking the car at city and highway speeds. The transmission was determined to be damaged and took 2.5 months to fix because parts were not available. Additionally, the driver's seat massage feature failed, interior columns kept popping out, defective pull down sun glass holder, gap in lift gate interior plastic bolted to it and replacing of damaged seat clips.
Drivers seat appeared to shift when turning. This has resulted in the plastic trim at bottom of seat to break and come loose from seat while moving. This has occured twice. Additionally we have received error messages on the 4WD while on an extended trip. It dropped us out of cruise controlled an told us to service transmission. Also reverse assist was inactivated as well as cruise. Back up view on screen turned blue. Brakes have also become inactive when starting to back up. (November 15, 2020) these problems are continuing to occur and the dealer has not tried to fix the issue.
Middle captain seats free sliding during operation without warning to driver. Caused child in booster to be slid from rear most position to contacting back of passenger seat during a hard stop. Finding was that the electronic seat folding button on the tops of bucket seat were physically sticking causing the seat to be lose on tracks but not folding because of car seat. Dealer explained root cause as bad installation from factory on plastic housing which caused a tab to be broken and opening not centered with button therefore causing friction and sticking. There was no indication to the driver than the child in the seat was in an unsafe condition even though they were buckled and identified via display as in seat. Since this button is electronic and prone to malfunction and the vehicle knows when an occupant is in a seat the driver should be notified when there is an occupant in the seat and the seat is being released.
Passenger middle row captain chair was not locked in place resulting in child occupant to be propelled from seat in rear most position all the way to front most position while abruptly braking causing child to strike rear of passenger front seat. Upon dealership inspection we were informed that there is a tsb that stated if the battery is disconnected or dead for a period of time reprogramming of the door control module would be required to reset. Previous to incident dealer had disconnected battery for replacing door window switch and returned vehicle to us with this problem. There was no warning or indication that this seat was unsafe to be occupied and that reprogramming of door module required. On top of the safety concern this would also mean that if replacing a battery you would require Ford to safely perform this. Someone is going to get seriously hurt here and obviously Ford knows about the issue with tsb released.
While I was driving on the interstate, in the left most lane, there was road on the side of the road sighted ahead that was extending into the left lane I was traveling in. To avoid the upcoming lane infringement, I needed to accelerate to change lanes to the right of me. I had plenty of room to execute evasive maneuvers; the 2020 Explorer St however, did not allow me to change lanes and instead applied the brakes and froze my ability to steer - almost causing an accident. This has happened twice on the interstate. I took the vehicle to Ford - no explanation/cannot find a problem. The vehicle also unexpectedly breaks when nothing is near it. This also happens in reverse. The car will not let me reverse out of my garage - nothing is anywhere near it!!! I have to turn the car off and restart it to clear its sensors. Nothing is there!!! I have had the car about 7 months and only have about 2000 miles on the car. I'm afraid to drive it and want to return it. The sensors are obviously malfunctioning. The vehicle will not remember seat settings or mirror settings. It also inadvertently changes the seat location while going from park to drive or sitting at a light and pushes it all the way forward ramming my knees/legs into the dash.... it will not stop going forward unless I turn the vehicle completely off. This is definitely a malfunction. I have taken it to Ford dealer service - they cannot find a problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wheatland , WY, USA