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We are investigating reported powertrain, drivetrain & transmission issues with this vehicle. Are you experiencing jerking and/or hesitation while shifting? Read more about Ford Explorer Transmission Problems.
The 2020 Ford Explorer continues a long line of SUV production from the Blue Oval. This model continues to be a top choice, especially considering the automaker claims that it is “built for life’s adventures.” However, these aren’t the adventures that most people signed up for. This SUV suffers from failing powertrain and electrical system issues, malfunctioning brakes, and a whole lot of unforgiving engine problems.
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Contents
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Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
---|---|
Power Train | |
Electrical System | |
Unknown Or Other | |
Service Brakes | |
Engine | |
Back Over Prevention | |
Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera | |
Fuel/propulsion System | |
Steering | |
Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
There is a growing mountain of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the 2020 Ford Explorer. From the time it was launched in late 2019 until mid-March 2023, there were an unbelievable 366 complaints about just about every component and system relating to the SUV. The top 5 problem areas are the powertrain (120), electrical system (66), backover prevention (53), brakes (51), and engine (33).
There are also 14 recalls for 11 components, with the powertrain attracting 3 of them. But they don’t necessarily relate to the complaints on file. Some do and some don’t.
Ultimately, complaints reveal all kinds of problems, many of which have owners and prospective owners losing sleep. One, from an owner in New Hampshire, describes “a horrific incident of spontaneously bursting into flames. There were flames coming from under the hood and smoke inside the car.” The Explorer was filling with smoke while the driver tried to get into the shoulder so that he and the passengers could escape. The vehicle had been with a Ford dealer recently for “regular maintenance.” The vehicle had been driven that particular day for about 100 miles without incident before it caught on fire.
Incredibly, after the fire started with no warning, putting countless people on the road at risk, the damage was so bad that the vehicle was totaled by the insurance company.
But this is one of so many complaints, it can’t be used as a trend in terms of examples. Nevertheless, there are several other incidents that involve 2020 Explorers catching fire!
There are more powertrain problems than Ford will ever want to admit to when it comes to the 2020 Ford Explorer. Since mid-December 2019 and mid-March 2023, there have been 120 complaints to the NHTSA that owners regard as powertrain issues. These are varied, but many of them describe jerking and hesitation while shifting through gears after coming to a stop. Often the vehicle jerks and malfunctions when the driver presses the accelerator or brake pedal. There are also a lot of oil cooler assembly issues as well as warnings that say the transmission is contaminated.
Then there are complaints like one from a New York owner who says, very simply, that “the transmission has failed.” The problem started “with hard shifting between gears.” The dealer wasn’t able to find a fix after 2 days. But as the owner was driving through an intersection after the check-up, the Explorer “went into a neutral-type mode, lost all power, and coasted, then picked up and started going again.”
An owner from Texas tells how a new replacement Ford Explorer that had transmission cooling system problems had exactly the same issues as the other vehicle. And the parts were in such “high demand,” the dealership took nearly a month to do repairs. The complaint states that the owner no longer has faith in this Ford Explorer model because the transmission oil cooler failed on both vehicles after not more than two hours of constant highway driving.
Another owner also had a problem with a replacement vehicle, but this time a loaner. The transmission went out and transmission fluid was leaking, It wasn’t shifting either making it “a very dangerous highway drive to the nearest dealership.”
When an owner from California had the transmission replaced because the cooler drain system was leaking metal, this caused a powertrain malfunction.
An owner from Illinois tells how the transmission started slipping in and out of gears until the vehicle was basically undrivable. An owner from Arizona tells how an Explorer with 65,000 miles on the clock started jerking at 15 mph without any warning signals. The dealer said that the transmission needed to be replaced. But the owner’s warranty had expired, so there was no closure at that point.
With 41,000 miles, an owner from Florida filed a complaint when his Explorer started jerking and then stopped. At the time of the complaint he said Ford had been waiting for a month for the parts to be able to do the repair.
An owner from Wisconsin describes how the Explorer jolts and jerks when “the car is speeding up or slowing down and seems to be between gears 4-7. It feels like the car is going to die in the middle of driving and could be at speeds 50+.”
Even when owners think they’ve got the problem covered, this is not always the case. An owner from Texas experienced jerking while shifting gears. But after the car accelerated above 10 mph, the vehicle operated normally. The dealer replaced the transmission, but that didn’t help. Then they did a software update. That didn’t help either. So, at 3,000 miles, “the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure.”
Running behind the scenes of everything in the SUV is an electrical system. When something becomes glitchy, it can create a lot of problems, just like consumers are experiencing. The problem is huge because it encompasses so many elements from the brake system and backup camera to the Explorer’s instrument panel. From the complaints consumers have filed with the NHTSA, it seems that what can go wrong will go wrong. And anything can go wrong!
For example, the radio, climate control, and navigational control screen goes black when owners are driving. A New York owner describes how a computer system fault stopped everything from working. The rear camera seems to malfunction often, sometimes creating a blind spot on the display screen behind the vehicle.
Someone from the South Dakota Police Department lodged a complaint relating to two 2020 Ford Hybrid Explorers that are used as patrol vehicles that experienced a loss of power. One incident happened when an officer was responding to an emergency call traveling at about 50 mph. The vehicle’s dash lights all came on and the vehicle’s power system shut down. And, according to the complaint, “the vehicle almost came to a dead stop.” It almost made him crash, and he said that if he hadn’t been wearing his seat belt he may have gone through the windshield. It gets worse because the vehicle had this failure about 8 times! But that’s not all because, according to the complaint, this has happened in lots of other police jurisdictions.
The bottom line comes from the Police Department: “We cannot provide sufficient public service to our community with these vehicles. If we cannot respond to emergencies in a timely manner due to these vehicles not properly functioning then the potential for the public’s safety is potentially at risk.”
A rearview camera is an essential tool for safe driving. But it’s not doing well in many 2020 Ford Explorers. There’s even been a recall fix that isn’t working.
An owner from Michigan describes how the rearview camera “randomly displays a blue screen on reverse backup.” All the sensors tend to fail now and then too. Even though there has been a recall because the camera reduces the driver’s rear visibility, “it seems this issue never gets fixed. I keep getting notices of recalls and they claim they will patch it with software fixes but there seem to be more serious sensor issues. When this happens in a school zone it feels dangerous.”
Other Explorer owners agree stating that even when repairs are made they recur sometimes a week later. An owner from Illinois states that after the camera failed and the dealer said it needed to be replaced, “the recall repair did not include a backup camera replacement.”
An owner from Kansas states that the dealer “downloaded new software updates with no success.” And this consumer is one of many.
Stopping a vehicle should be priority number one, but it seems that there’s not a lot that’s going to stop the 2020 Ford Explorer right now. Complaints range from “braking system stopped working” to “I nearly was in an accident but fortunately was able to pull off to the side until (the) car was able to fully stop.”
Lots of the complaints say that the car simply “rolls” instead of stopping when they try to brake. An owner from Georgia says that “while the brake pedal is fully depressed the car will move forward.” He assumes that the master cylinder loses pressure. “It does this randomly and is not repeatable. If this ever happens and someone or another car is around it could be a very bad day.”
Some complaints describe how brakes have failed, sometimes ending in a crash. A Californian owner was slowing down at a traffic light when his brakes failed. He “crashed at low speed into the rear of a vehicle already stopped at the traffic light.” According to the complaint he had been “pumping the brakes and was not able to stop.” Strangely, the “dealer diagnosed that there were no problems with the brakes.” The damage to the vehicle was repaired “but not the brakes.”
There’s a brake-related recall too! NHTSA Campaign Number 19V575000 says that the Manual Park Release cover might not have been installed, which could allow the vehicle to roll away. So far, the only adventure shown is the constant trips that owners have to take to the dealership for repairs.
There are lots of engine issues, but the worst are those that result in 2020 Ford Explorers catching fire. Stalling, getting stuck in gear, and other engine malfunctions pale in comparison to fires!
An owner from Massachusetts was driving at about 15 mph when the Explorer started decelerating. When he stopped he “saw fire located on the front passenger side wheel.” He and his wife and grandson got out of the vehicle before it was engulfed by the fire. The Explorer was destroyed, and at the time of the complaint, there was no explanation for the fire.
An owner from New Jersey was woken up one Saturday morning when neighbors saw smoke from their garage. “The entire parking garage was filled with thick black smoke. The sprinkler system had activated and the Fire Dept arrived. Through the smoke, I was able to see that my 2020 Ford Explorer Limited Edition was on fire. The front end was engulfed in flames which were now shooting up the side of the building and the ceiling of the parking garage.” There is no indication of how or why this happened.
But these are definitely not isolated incidents. Several other complaints indicate fire-related issues. For instance, an owner from Michigan tells how there was a “burning smell of wires” when the heater was turned on. The dealer said it was the “heater core” but the parts required to fix it weren’t currently available.
A police officer from Pennsylvania complained about a strong exhaust smell coming through the vents of a 2020 Explorer. There weren’t any visible leaks or noises, but the vehicle was taken out of service.
Just because your 2020 Ford Explorer has problems doesn’t mean it’s a lemon. But if these problems recur and affect the use and value of your vehicle, it may be a lemon. You need to decide whether you want to live with the problems or take action. If you want to do something about your problems, Lemberg Law is here to assess them and see whether you have a case.
Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of consumers who have bought ‘lemon’ vehicles. And the law makes the automaker, in this case, Ford, pay the legal fees. So call our Helpline or fill out a contact form if you need our input.
Category | Back Over Prevention, Steering |
Date | Mar 30, 2023 |
State | NY |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the back over prevention camera malfunctioned and intermittently displayed a blue screen. Additionally, while driving, the display screen would erroneously activate and cause the steering wheel to momentarily vibrate and shake. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who performed a software update which corrected the failure; however, after a second software update was performed, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 37,000. |
Category | Latches/locks/linkages |
Date | Mar 30, 2023 |
State | OH |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph, the driver's side door opened while the contact was making a left turn. The contact stated that the "door ajar" chime sounded. The contact was wearing his seat belt and managed to shut the door but had to hold on to the door handle to keep the door closed. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer; however, the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to ford customer satisfaction program: 19n09 (latches/locks/linkages). The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 29, 2023 |
State | AL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that on various occasions after starting the vehicle, the brake system warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the warning light disappeared after driving; however, the failure persisted whenever starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Mar 27, 2023 |
State | TX |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that the rearview camera image was distorted. The contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 23v022000 (back over prevention). The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Mar 27, 2023 |
State | VA |
Description | Despite bringing the vehicle in for two recall repairs, I still get the blue screen on the 360 camera when reversing. This limits my ability to safely back up and view my surroundings. |
Category | Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Lane Departure: Blind Spot Detection |
Date | Mar 25, 2023 |
State | CO |
Description | The issue was initiated when you turn the vehicle on. The vehicle would process through normal startup modes, and then produce several error codes and light illuminations, all within several seconds. The illuminations would consist of; traction control error, auto hold error, descent control error, lane assistance error, and collusion avoidance error. This would then maintain the error during the trip or until the vehicle was powered off for several minutes. After the power cycle, the vehicle would start and show no symptoms of any error codes, at all. This would happen in several different instances a day, lasting several months. In several of my cases, this would disable traction control for longer periods of time throughout the day or week as well. This places extreme risk to drivers who may not know that there are so little standard safety features active while behind the wheel. Additionally, it affects drivers ability to stop, which traction control and auto hold disabled, and reduces the safety of everyone else on the road. I took the vehicle twice to a ford certified dealer and repair shop to investigate the issue. The technician was able to verify the codes that arose from the incidents. However, the first instance when I took the vehicle in, they were unable to locate a solution to the problem. After the second visit, they recommended a complete reprogram of 5 major computer modules that have created the system error. I inquired since this seems to be an issue widespread that they could not identify as a user error, but rather an equipment defect. They indeed charged me for the service when this should be something that should be issued a recall and fixed at a wide spread level. The safety of others while on the road are effected and may lead to serious vehicle accidents as a result of the failure of the vehicle component. |
Category | Back Over Prevention, Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Camera, Forward Collision Avoidance: Sensing System: Radar |
Date | Mar 21, 2023 |
State | IL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, a message indicating that the 360-degree camera was inoperable was displayed. The contact stated that the failure persisted while reversing. The contact also stated that the blind spot information system (blis) that activated an indicator light in the side view mirrors when a vehicle was detected in the blind spot was malfunctioning as the sideview mirror indicator light failed to illuminate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the failure mostly occurred during cold weather. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 23v022000 (back over prevention); however, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and informed the contact that the recall was placed on hold on march 15, 2023. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000. Parts distribution disconnect. |
Category | Engine, Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Mar 20, 2023 |
State | TX |
Description | When stopped at a light the engine suddenly accelerated forcing a hard braking action to prevent an accident. After 2-3 seconds it went to idle still in gear. This has happened 3 times the third time 2 witnesses said that it was not caused by braking with their foot on the accelerator. In reviewing the three episodes I noted that the air-conditioned switch was engaged all three times when this uncommand occurred. This never occurred when the car was moving only at a stop. It seems that the air conditioner was called to turn on by the body control module which cause the engine rpm to decrease which cause the power train control module to react increasing the demand to the throttle body which either stuck high or was over commanded in not reacting in a fast enough manner to satisfy the power train control module. When this occured I thought we were going to hit the car in front of us. I think this is correctable with some changes in the power train control module programing. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 17, 2023 |
State | VA |
Description | I started my car via remote start and after entering the vehicle, I hit the start button, depressed the brake and turned the transmission to reverse. Upon rolling back, I noticed the brakes felt funny, not completely stopping me as they should with the amount of pressure I was applying. I proceeded start driving thinking the brakes my fix themselves after letting off and driving forward. I then began to hear dinging, prompting me to look at the dash. It was flashing a bunch of errors: âhill start assist not availableâ, âpre-collision assist not availableâ, âservice advance tracâ, âcheck brake systemâ, âhill descent control faultâ, 4wd fault service requiredâ, âpark break limited function service requiredâ. As I was driving down the road with all of this flashing/ dinging and brakes not completely working, I noticed my emergency brake was on as well. I never use the emergency brake and am unsure how it was switched on. I was able to pull over about a minute down the road and turned the car off and then back on. I tried again to start driving, but had to pull over again 100-200 feet down the road because the dinging, notifications, and brake issues continued. At this point I again, turned the car off and back on. This time it cleared the issue and no more dinging, notifications, or brake issues. This has happened about 3 times. After the first time, I mentioned it to the dealer when servicing my car, but they were unable to find any problems. Each time this happens, I am able to clear it with a restart. I seem to notice it happens with colder temps (under 40 degrees). |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 16, 2023 |
State | WI |
Description | The transmission is extremely rough. When my vehicle shifts gears, increasing or decreasing speed, it jerks and sometimes takes a few seconds to shift at all. Very clunky and unreliable. This has happened many times- I am currently looking for a mechanic to look at my transmission as my vehicle is out of warranty. I just purchased this vehicle and it has acted up at least 20 times in a month and a half. I did own an explorer in the past that had 130000 miles and it was perfect. I never had issues with it! |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 15, 2023 |
State | AZ |
Description | Vehicle shut off at a stop light and was unable to be restarted. Vehicle had full power but would not start when pressing engine start switch. Vehicle was stuck in the middle of lanes blocking traffic and putting me in danger of being hit by other drivers. Police had to respond to block traffic until a tow truck could arrive. Dealer states the vehicle exhibited loss of communication to the pcm and there is a tsb #22-2145 for a neutral out condition. Vehicle is at dealer awaiting repair. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 08, 2023 |
State | LA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked while depressing either the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal after coming to a complete stop. The contact stated there was no warning lights illuminated during the failure. The contact called a local dealer and was scheduled an appointment. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 08, 2023 |
State | AZ |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 mph, the vehicle was jerking. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and the contact was informed that the vehicle warranty had expired. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000. |
Category | Visibility/wiper, Visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac System:rear Window:electrical Heating Element |
Date | Mar 08, 2023 |
State | NH |
Description | The rear defroster is peeling off the window, causing the defroster to fail. In icy conditions, it elimates my ability to see out of the rear window. I took it to the dealer, and they told me other explorers had the issue but that they wouldn't fix it and that I should file an insurance claim. |
Category | Engine, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Mar 05, 2023 |
State | NJ |
Description | I parked my vehicle 2/17/2023 around 9:45pm in the parking garage of my condominium for the night. I was awakened saturday morning 2/18/2023 by the building fire alarm and my neighbors banging on the doors to get outside because smoke was visible from the side of the building. I exited the building and crossed the street. The entire parking garage was filled with thick black smoke. The sprinkler system had activated and the fire dept arrived. Through the smoke I was able to see that my 2020 ford explorer limited edition was on fire. The front end was engulfed in flames which were now shooting up the side of the building and the ceiling of the parking garage. |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train |
Date | Mar 03, 2023 |
State | NY |
Description | Several electrical issues from day of purchase. Dealerships have looked at codes,but have been unable to repeat conditions or find an issues. Recently, on a random basis,the vehicle would become unresponsive & the accellerator pedal would not engage & for 10-20 seconds the vehicle wouldn't respond. At a point it reset itself and continued as if nothing had happened. This occurred on 6 or 7 occassions from june 2022 to dec 2022. In sept I took to dealership to check, they were unable to recreate condition & therefore no repair was made. In dec the front brake pads went metal to metal. I decided to replace them myself. I put the electronic emergency brake (eb) into the maintenance mode & changed the front pads and rotars. When I started to jack the front end up the car moved, so I immediately lowered the vehicle & verified the car was in park. At this time I discovered that the car, in park, could be moved by pushing it. I moved the car about 5 to 6 feet in either direction. I believed this was due to the eb being in the maint mode. I blocked the rear wheels & completed the repairs with no further incident. When I attempted to return the car to normal & take the eb out of maint mode, I was unsuccessful. I then bleed the brake system to ensure I hadn't inadvertently gotten air in the system. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to restore eb to normal, I contacted my local dealership for help. I was informed that even the site tech's had difficulties getting system into normal. I had aaa tow car to dealership, which then replaced the rear brakes, flushed brake fluid & renewed & restored sys to norm. When tech moved car to parking lot, they placed car in park and upon exiting car, it began rolling. When I contacted for pickup, I was informed of issue and gave permission to diagnose problem. Inspection of transmission found pin for parking mechanism broken, metal shavings in transmission. Need for extensive repairs or replacement of transmission. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 25, 2023 |
State | MD |
Description | This is a 2020 ford explorer with platinum trim. The vehicle has less than 30,000 miles on it. There is a foul odor emitted from the rear ac when it's turned on for either heat or cooling. This has been verified by the dealer. They changed the cabin filter which really only applies to the front and then did a solvent flush for the rear. That has not resolved the issue. Checking other ford forums I realized it's a common problem with 2020 ford explorers 2020 and newer. There doesn't seem to be a way to resolve the issue and no direction from ford. I bought this vehicle used and my guess is the previous owner sold it since the foul odor is unbearable. There are no other issues with the vehicle and looks and drives like brand new. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Feb 23, 2023 |
State | CA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera displayed a distorted image. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 23v022000 (back over prevention) however, the vin was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 17,700. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Warnings, Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
Date | Feb 16, 2023 |
State | MI |
Description | The vehicles rear view camera randomly displays a blue screen on reverse backup. All sensors go failing at times. Attached are some screens over the month. I have taken this to a dealership for a most recent recall fix (02/01/23) and it seems this issue never gets fixed. I keep getting notices of recalls and they claim they will patch it with software fixes but there seems to be more serious sensor issues . When this happens in a school zone it feels dangerous. This is a leased vehicle and I haven't received much help even from the manufacturers dealerships. Didn't find anyone to even listen to these issues. If we try to manually reverse the emergency braking comes into play from nowhere and applies itself due to these malfunctioning of sensors. |
Category | Firerelated |
Date | Feb 14, 2023 |
State | NH |
Description | on november 16, 2022, my 2020 ford explorer xlt aw, vin # 1fmsk8dh2lbc95627, was being driven when it experienced a horrific incident of spontaneously bursting into flames. There were flames coming from under the hood and smoke inside the car. The vehicle was in traffic and had to maneuver over to the breakdown lane while the vehicle was filling with smoke in order for the occupants to escape. The explorer's mileage was 10,744 miles and had just recently been at the ford dealer for regular maintenance. The vehicle had been driven that particular day approximately 100 miles without incident before it caught on fire. 1. Damage beyond repair vehicle was totaled by insurance company 2. A spontaneous fire put everyone in the traffic area at risk 3. No reproduction of the event 4. Fire started with no warning |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train |
Date | Feb 10, 2023 |
State | OK |
Description | Transmission has been fixed twice, but it is still causing issues. It shifts hard and sometimes shutters. No dealership takes it seriously anymore. It is a known manufacturer defect that isn't being corrected promptly, probably to skirt by until warranty expires. The auto-hold system sporadically stops working. It will pop up on the dash that it is not available, but it will work after restarting the car a time or two. The info screen will randomly be a black screen after startup. The backup camera sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Rarely, there will be no sound from any speaker. Radio, phone, turn signal, nothing works through the speaker like it should. The turn signal will make a strange noise through the dash that doesn't match normal sounds. |
Category | Electrical System:adas:hud:camera/sensor |
Date | Feb 10, 2023 |
State | NC |
Description | Front camera is cloudy. We are unable to see what is in front of the vehicle when pulling in garage and parking spots. High probability to injure or kill our dog, small children, or cause damage to other vehicles when attempting to use the front camera. |
Category | Suspension, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 06, 2023 |
State | ND |
Description | This vehicle has 17,000 miles and has developed a very scary vibration that starts at 50mph. The vehicle is very unsafe and cannot be taken down the road. Nobody should be driving it! Local ford was called and really don't care and booked my vehicle 6 weeks out from when I called. I have had many problems with this vehicle. |
Category | Seats |
Date | Feb 04, 2023 |
State | IL |
Description | 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. |
Category | Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Feb 03, 2023 |
State | MI |
Description | Drivetrain failure. Vehicle rolled forward while turned off, in park, while on a hill. Break did not respond while rolling (passenger who was still in car tried to lean over the seat to depress the break). Driver ran from behind the vehicle, hopped in (while car was moving!), turned car on, applied break and veered the vehicle right to get the car to stop. Vehicle nearly collided with three pedestrians and a nearby parked car. We have brought this car in to a ford dealership today. We reported a shuttering that occurred during peak torque while in for service last year - but dealership said they could not replicate. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 03, 2023 |
State | FL |
Description | While driving at 40 my vehicle started jerking. Drove maybe another couple miles and stopped at red light and the vehicle would not engage. This is a 2020 ford explorer with 41,000 miles. I brought it to ford and have been waiting 1 month still for the parts. I keep asking what's wrong with it and they just keep reviewing the rental. Also brought it in last year for a recall on the brakes-they fixed iit in 5 minutes where now my emergency brake is engaged all the time |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Feb 02, 2023 |
State | NJ |
Description | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Rear back up camera how was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The loss of the rear camera image while in reverse has increased my risk of crash. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Yes, it has been to holman ford turnersville many times for repair but the issue keeps occuring. I have been in touch with ford directly and have two cases open. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No warnings or symptoms |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 29, 2023 |
State | AR |
Description | The first incident happened in the fall of 2021. I was going down the interstate and came to almost a dead stop when my car down shifted. I was able to ease it to the next exit where I had it towed to ford. They âreplacedâ the part. Fast forward to jan 2023. My husband and I were again driving on the interstate when the car again downshifted when we were in bumper to bumper traffic in the left lane. Luckily we were not hit and my husband veered into the median. Its now in the shop again since jan 4th. |
Category | Electrical System, Latches/locks/linkages:hatchback/liftgate:lock, Structure:body |
Date | Jan 28, 2023 |
State | IL |
Description | The rear hatch opens unexpectedly with no command given. It happened twice while in drive pulling out of my garage. There was no audible or visual warnings the hatch was opening. The hatch impacted the garage door frame causing the glass to shatter and denting the metal. First incident was 4/2022 the second was 1/2023. Both were reported to my insurance provider and the ford dealer. I also contacted ford directly for reimbursement of my deductible and other expenses and they paid. See attached. Please see ssm 49015 - 2020 explorer/aviator â partial power liftgate opening and/or false anti-theft alarm activation â liftgate ajar - built on or before 17-feb 2020. The problem is not resolved and I no confidence the hatch won't open whie I am on the road. If it does and something falls out this would be a major safety issue. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 25, 2023 |
State | NC |
Description | We are a law enforcement training center and received a recall notice on two ford interceptor explorers in july of 2022. When we contacted our local authorized dealer (asheville ford), we were told it wouldn't be until october of 2022 before they had the parts in stock to make the necessary repairs. We contacted them in december of 2022 and set an appointment to take both vehicles in on january 23, 2023. They kept both vehicles until january 25, 2023 and returned the vehicles stating on the work order "unable to perform campaign at this time". |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 25, 2023 |
State | NC |
Description | We are a law enforcement training center and received a recall notice on two ford interceptor explorers in july of 2022. When we contacted our local authorized dealer (asheville ford), we were told it wouldn't be until october of 2022 before they had the parts in stock to make the necessary repairs. We contacted them in december of 2022 and set an appointment to take both vehicles in on january 23, 2023. They kept both vehicles until january 25, 2023 and returned the vehicles stating on the work order "unable to perform campaign at this time". We are concerned about utilizing these vehicles under the high stress we put them in in a training environment until the necessary repairs can be made. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jan 18, 2023 |
State | OH |
Description | I hit my brakes at a traffic light and the dash board lite up. With the following messages. Service advance trac, 4wd fault service required, see manual, hill start asst not available, auto hold fault, tooknto dealer tried to charge 0 for a diagnostic, codes were ran all codes are communication codes. Have no abs brakes. Took to another shop they couldn't figure it out. Called ford. They refer back to dealer who what's to charge more money for diagnostics and the 33 codes they say are in the computer. Big safety issues. Happened just after 60,000 miles before looking at it dealer stated it wouldn't be covered under powertrain warranty anyway. Can't upload photos from phone for some reason. |
Category | Visibility:glass, Side/rear |
Date | Jan 17, 2023 |
State | TN |
Description | When there is heavy, consistent rain, the rear passenger side window leaks. I took the vehicle in for service under warranty and they told me ford said the vehicles are not built to withstand heavy, consistent rain. Ummmm, what? This is not a small issue. During one downpour, there was at least an inch of water in the rear storage compartment. I live in eastern tn and we do tend to get a lot of rain, but I do not see how this window does not seal out the water. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jan 15, 2023 |
State | TN |
Description | I was driving in the fast lane on the interstate and the left front down pipe fell off the catalytic converter. My research shows there is a recall for the pipe cracking. I cannot find a recall for my vehicle. Obviously the pipe cracked and fell off. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 07, 2023 |
State | WI |
Description | Trans shifting when cold |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Jan 06, 2023 |
State | NJ |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while reversing, the 360-degree camera view became inoperable. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was contacted but offered no assistance. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that the warranty on the vehicle was expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 59,000. |
Category | Structure:interior Panels:sun Visor |
Date | Jan 06, 2023 |
State | TN |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while approaching a stop, the vehicle's upper center console detached from its housing causing the contact to crash into another vehicle due to the failure. No one was injured. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was 48,123. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 05, 2023 |
State | MT |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle went into limp mode. The contact stated that the vehicle alerted her that the power train malfunctioned, pre-collision assist was unavailable, and the tire pressure malfunctioned. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and produced codes: p0e76 and p0e74 indicating that the half-shaft speed sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact referenced ford technical service bulletin number: tsb 22-2145. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact inquired about a buy back and provided a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 24,186. |
Category | Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Service Brakes |
Date | Dec 28, 2022 |
State | MS |
Description | Braking system stopped working. I had no breaks on the highway! All systems lit up on my dash. Thankfully I was able to coast down the side of road in neutral until the car stopped. Whole time I was holding the brake down to the floor. Upon stopping it automatically threw into park. I turned the car off and then started again and everything seemed fine. I was scared to death to even drive it any further. I took it to the dealership to have it looked at. I see this is a problem with 2020 explorers and it needs to recalled. Someone is going be seriously injured or even die in the event of a wreck from this issue |
Category | Parking Brake, Suspension |
Date | Dec 22, 2022 |
State | FL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 21v154000 (suspension) however, while attempting to leave the dealer after the repair, the vehicle was shifted in drive(d), but the vehicle failed to respond. The contacted stated that the electronic parking brake appeared to be engaged. The contact stated that upon depressing the accelerator pedal persistently, the vehicle responded by surging forward. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while attempting to drive from a complete stop, the vehicle failed to respond upon releasing the brake pedal. The contact stated that she depressed the accelerator pedal several times and the vehicle responded by surging forward. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure occurred as a result of recall repair of nhtsa campaign number: 21v154000 (suspension). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that she was concerned as the recall repair had generated a potential risk to her safety. The contact stated that the electronic parking brake would engage while the vehicle was at a complete stop. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 28,500. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 21, 2022 |
State | TN |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 22v255000 (power train). The contact stated that after the transmission was shifted into park(p), the parking brake was inadvertently activated. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle performed as intended under the recall repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the nhtsa hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 19, 2022 |
State | OK |
Description | See related previous complaints 11394378 and 11403620. Same issue, transmission began to line with no lights then when driving pressed on the accelerator and there was no forward momentum. Luckily was on a country road that was not busy as I had no power to accelerate if I needed to. Lights came on for transmission after I rolled to a stop and turned the vehicle off then back on. Error says it's an issue with the transmission sensor, power control system, transmission control module errors. As stated before has previous issue where they replaced the transmission valve body around 2300 miles and this is the second transmission put in. Last complaint was in february 2021. Same issue with the power train which this time my family was in the car and I was unable to make an evasive maneuver if I needed to. Transmission issue and still no recall for this danger to others. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 17, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | When engaging gear into reverse, there's no image feedback in the information screen. A blue screen is displayed, making it unsafe and dangerous to operate the vehicle. My explorer is definitely being affected by the recall and yet when checking the vin number it shows âno recalls'. Please advise and provide confirmation of acknowledgment so I can take it to a ford dealership for repair. Thank you |
Category | Engine |
Date | Dec 15, 2022 |
State | MI |
Description | Vehicle is pre owned and had been driving fine since I've owned it from 8/2021 the vehicle had 9000 miles on it when I purchased it. While driving, the vehicle randomly made some noises from the engine compartment but no warning lights I stopped at a red light and when I took off it started to sound like a screatching from the engine then the low oil pressure light came on I immediately pulled over and shut the vehicle off. The next day I had the vehicle towed to a ford dealership I got a call from them that there is a lot of metal shavings in the engine oil and filter and that this had been going on for a long time and they aren't sure when it started. The vehicle currently has 27000 miles on it and has had 3 oil changes while I owned it at both belle tire and a ford dealership. The dealership currently still has my vehicle with no information nor update going on 3 weeks. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Dec 14, 2022 |
State | IL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while reversing, the back-up camera image turned blue. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 21v735000 (back over prevention) however, the failure reoccurred a week later. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the back-up camera failed and needed to be replaced; however, the recall repair did not include a back-up camera replacement. The contact stated that the recall remedy failed to repair the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as the vin was not currently under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking |
Date | Nov 30, 2022 |
State | KS |
Description | The rear view camera system will intermittently display a blue screen. Dealer service has downloaded new software updates with no success. |
Category | Electrical System, Engine, Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Nov 17, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | Car did not respond to accelerator while driving on the freeway causing the car to decelerate on traffic creating a dangerous situation, other cars honked and swerved around |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Nov 10, 2022 |
State | WI |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the transmission independently shifted from drive(d) to neutral(n) and made a loud revving sound. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. There was a warning symbol advising to refer to the owner's manual. The failure occurred approximately five times within 20 miles. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who stated that the transmission fluid was contaminated, and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 49,855. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Nov 07, 2022 |
State | CT |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that the back-up camera intermittently displayed a blue screen while in use. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on numerous occasions where software was used to clear the fault codes; however, the failure would return soon after the update. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure and informed him that his vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 21v735000 (back over protection). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Nov 04, 2022 |
State | WI |
Description | Vehicle is available for inspection as of writing this report. The vehicle has a jolt or jerk like feeling when the car is speeding up or slowing down and seems to be between gears 4-7. It feels like the car is going to die in the middle of driving and could be at speeds 50+. Almost as if one were to pop the clutch on a manual transmission. Car only has approximately 27,000 miles, has received all regular maintenance, and indoor storage. I have not taken the car for dealer or independent inspection of this particular issue. |
Category | Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control:catalytic Convertor |
Date | Oct 21, 2022 |
State | FL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormally loud sound coming from underneath the vehicle. Additionally, an abnormal exhaust odor was detected while the vehicle was idling. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the failure was related to customer satisfaction program: 21b35 (right-hand catalytic converter and right-hand and left-hand exhaust flexible pipes) however, the vin was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the nhtsa hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 47,500. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Oct 20, 2022 |
State | OK |
Description | Rear camera screen turning blue when in reverse. Incident where child on bicycle crossing driveway put in danger. Appears to happen in afternoon with sun exposer on side of vehicle where camera is located. Taken to ford dealer and had to purchase new camera system. Rear automated lift hatch also began opening when unattended and triggering alarm if parked. In addition it has released once while driving and caused alarm. Circuit board replaced at my expense has not resolved the problem. Each issue has happened multiple times during september and october 2022 |
Category | Structure:body |
Date | Oct 20, 2022 |
State | GA |
Description | Over the last two years, the lift gate has closed in excess of 20 times without direct actuation of the lift gate button located on the lift gate, in the driver compartment or from the key fob. A significant amount of time this includes no sounding of the lift gate closing chime. This happens when the lift gate is open, and you are standing at the rear of the vehicle. The lift gate has closed and caused the person to quickly duck out of the way to avoid getting hit in the head by the door. This action is suspect of the movement of something below the bumper to trigger the hands-free opening / closing sensor. The vehicle in question was brought into the local dealer for troubleshooting and no defects noted. A software update was performed, and the condition still exists. |
Category | Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control |
Date | Oct 12, 2022 |
State | MN |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while at a complete stop, she would hear abnormal rattling sounds coming from underneath the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring increasingly. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at 40 mph and coming to a complete stop, she noticed that the rattling sounds had stopped; however, the exhaust pipe was emitting abnormal sounds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the exhaust pipe was fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. A case was opened, however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 5,500. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Oct 10, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | Transmission is skipping when put into different gears |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Oct 05, 2022 |
State | TX |
Description | On march 14, 2021, a failure with the vehicle posed a serious safety hazard when my two children, another minor child and our dog were accompanying me, with the car fully loaded for spring break, and the brake system completely failed, among other electrical issues, as we were departing our neighborhood. The vehicle was subsequently towed to the dealership. I cringe to imagine what would have ensued if this defect would have occurred only a few minutes later, as we pulled into traffic or made it to the highway for our trip. I don't recall what lamps came on as it was very scary at the time, but the alerts on the ford app were, antilock brake fault, hill start assist warning, hill descent control fault warning and pre-collision assist not available. |
Category | Visibility/wiper |
Date | Oct 04, 2022 |
State | IL |
Description | On multiple occasions the wipers have stop working while raining. The bounce back and forth about an inch. This on at least 4 separate occasions forces us to pull over on the side of the road, including the highway. With not being able to see the shoulder well, we had to slow way down causing a potential hazard for other vehicles on the road as we try and navigate to the side of the road. Restarting the vehicle does not seem to do the trick. Sometimes stopping the wipers, picking them off the windshield and letting them smack on the window. This sometimes works. This increases the risk for severe injury on the side of the road outside the car in less than ideal driving conditions. I have taken the car to the dealership multiple times and they refuse to do anything because they cannot duplicate the issue. I showed them videos and did not car. Called ford, opened case with them. They did not do anything after 2 weeks. They've given me no suggestion or offered any solution or option. The last time it was a downpour and could not see anything. I had to slow down to less than 20mph, stick my head out the window to try and find a place to pull off as this road did not have a shoulder. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Oct 03, 2022 |
State | TX |
Description | Some 2020 explorer/aviator vehicles built on or before 17-feb-2020 may exhibit an intermittent partial opening of the power liftgate and/or false activation of the anti-theft alarm |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Sep 23, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | The issue started after the car was brought in for a recall. They said it was only a software update, so it may be a coincidence. When starting to drive the car after being in park, the front of the car sounds like things are screeching and halts the car suddenly without any warning. When in reverse a note comes on that rear assist is unavailable as it stalls. When in drive no notice comes on but the car comes to a halt. It will work if you turn it off and on and try to drive again but happens in the middle of the street. This is a huge safety concern while driving on the road to be hit by someone, injured by the whip lash from the stop. We have very young kids and refuse to put them in the car in fear of this happening with them in it again, or happening in their daycare parking lot with other kids around. We took the car twice to the dealership by our house, however they were unable to duplicate the issue and says there is nothing they can do. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Power Train |
Date | Sep 21, 2022 |
State | TX |
Description | While driving on normal suburban roads, error messages appear on the instrument display every two to three days: 4wd fault service required, pre-collision assist not available, service advance trac. The check engine light or wrench icon appears on the instrument display, and the stability trac icon appears on the instrument display. When this happens, the adaptive cruise control does not function. Safety of the vehicle and driver are impaired by major safety system(s) do not function, such as the stability control and the collision avoidance feature. I have brought the explorer in to one dealer one time, and another dealer two times. A repair to the half shaft speed sensor has been performed twice, however the problem still persists. This problem first appeared on the vehicle in july of 2022 at 44,000 miles. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Sep 17, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | When shifting from park to reverse, with foot completely on brake, the car will roll backwards several feet before stopping. Happens multiple times a month. Very dangerous as it rolls back into oncoming vehicles in parking lots. It is difficult to replicate as it is an intermittent problem. There is no prompting by the vehicle that there is an issue before hand. The only notable difference is the brakes are very firm while the vehicle is rolling and cannot be pressed in further. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Aug 31, 2022 |
State | NY |
Description | The transmission has failed. Started with hard shifting between gears, was to the dealership. Worked on it for 2 days, could not fix, gave back now as I was going thru an intersection went into a "neutral" type mode, lost all power coasted then picked up and started going again. Almost got rear-ended because of this. No messages appeared. |
Category | Unknown Or Other, Visibility/wiper |
Date | Aug 22, 2022 |
State | MO |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while activating the windshield wipers, the driver's side windshield wiper was inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the driver's side windshield wiper was replaced; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the mechanic stated that the bracket had sunk into the vehicle causing the wiper to not function correctly. The mechanic stated that an additional screw would be added for the wiper to function as needed. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 48,000. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Aug 17, 2022 |
State | TN |
Description | When I release the parking brake and put the car in reverse, the car starts to roll while my foot is still actively pressing the brake. Brake pedal feels locked. It's happened a handful of times but is not consistent and hard to replicate. This, of course, puts anyone in my car in danger and anyone around my car. I've taken it to the dealership and elevated it to corporate, but they say they can't do anything since they can't replicate it on site. Based on website forums, this is a common issue. When it happens, there are no warning lights or anything indicators. Again, to summarize, car rolls when brake is pressed intermittently. |
Category | Engine And Engine Cooling |
Date | Aug 15, 2022 |
State | OH |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle failed to move and was seized. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed the transfer case, gear, transmission, and engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Aug 10, 2022 |
State | LA |
Description | While vehicle was in park it continued to go in reverse with warning lights showing "park not engaged". |
Category | Back Over Prevention, Electrical System, Engine |
Date | Aug 08, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while shifting into reverse the back over prevention screen failed to operate as designed. Additionally, the vehicle would respond without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact also stated that while driving 35 mph, the forward collision avoidance warning system activated while there was no vehicle nearby. The contact stated that the vehicle was sputtering. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the technician informed the contact that the brake assist was unavailable. The technician was unable to duplicate the failure with the forward collision avoidance system. The vehicle was currently being repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking, Electrical System |
Date | Aug 08, 2022 |
State | MD |
Description | The ford explorer st when shifting into reverse, sporadically, the backup camera presents a blue screen, preventing all visibility while attempting to drive in reverse. It appears that none of the warning signals are operational when getting close to people or objects when the camera isn't working, thus presenting a hazardous condition as all safety features do not function. Apparently, there are similar recalls on some explorer models but my particular vehicle is one that is not included in the previous pool of vehicles that are eligible for the recall repair. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Aug 02, 2022 |
State | NJ |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated when the vehicle was shifted into reverse, there was no image displayed on the screen. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that there was a recall for the failure. The contact stated a programming update was needed and was performed; however, the failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where an update was completed several times; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the vehicle had been to the dealer at least 7 times to update the software. The manufacturer was notified of the issue and advised to go back to the dealer and a case was opened. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer for a 9-hour update. The contact stated that the dealer called and stated that the vehicle was out of warranty and the contact would be responsible for the repair. The vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 21v735000 (back over prevention). The approximate failure mileage was 28,000. |
Category | Suspension |
Date | Jul 25, 2022 |
State | MD |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while reversing there was an abnormal bumping sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle then failed to drive forward after the failure. The tow truck was called to the scene; however, while lifting the vehicle onto the tow truck it was discovered that the front passenger's side control arm had fractured. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. No further information was available. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Jul 18, 2022 |
State | AZ |
Description | The backup camera display on the infotainment system when the vehicle is placed into reverse the screen illuminates in a blue screen not showing the surrounding area normally viewed. This issue was confirmed by ford technician, an update to the system was supposed to fix the issue, the following day after the update to the vehicle, the same issue arose, I took the vehicle to the dealership, the issue was reproduced, the service writer documented the issue with a photo. This creates a backing safety issue as the proximity sensors where not working while in blue screen to warn of objects or persons while in reverse there where no warnings or onboard messages indicating an issue with the beck up camera this issue still has yet to been repaired by the dealership. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Jul 14, 2022 |
State | MA |
Description | The contact owned a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving 15 mph, the vehicle began to decelerate its speed on its own. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and saw fire located on the front passenger side wheel. The contact, his wife, and grandson were able to safely exit the vehicle before the vehicle was engulfed by the fire. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. The fire department extinguished the fire and filed a fire report. A police report was filed. The insurance company deemed the vehicle total loss. The contact towed the vehicle to towing lot. The contact drive to the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
Date | Jul 13, 2022 |
State | FL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving with the auto-hold brake system engaged, the tires began to spin. The brake pedal was applied but the vehicle rolled and crashed into a vehicle. The charging system and engine warning lights were illuminated. There were no reported injuries, fire, or air bag deployment. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the computer, ac unit, and wiring harness needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 32,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Jul 07, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | When engaging reverse the image on the screen turns solid blue. I can turn the vehicle off and back on and sometime this resoles the issue. It has happened at least a 12 times in the last couple of weeks. I did some initial investigation online and it appears that my vehicle is experiencing the same symptoms as a recall announced by ford. Https://www. Consumerreports. Org/car-recalls-defects/ford-and-lincoln-recall-2020-models-for-faulty-backup-cameras/ |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jul 05, 2022 |
State | IL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while having a routine oil change completed at the local dealer, she was informed about a recall update. The contact stated that while driving, the electronic parking brake engaged. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while the vehicle was in park(p) and also while driving. While shifting into drive or reverse, the vehicle was jerking. The auto start/stop was disengaged. Additionally, the brakes were continuously grabbing while attempting to stop the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the nhtsa. The approximate failure mileage was 19,624. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jul 02, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | The hands free lift gate closes on its own. This has happened more than a dozen times since I bought this vehicle 3 months ago. Any person standing at the rear bumper (not putting their foot under the bumper) activates this self closing process. The door hit me in the head twice. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Jun 30, 2022 |
State | GA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while placing the gear shifter into reverse(r), the back over protection screen turned blue. The side and front camera's functionality worked as intended. The vehicle was repaired under recall; however, the failure recurred several times. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed at the local dealer with a defective camera. The camera was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000. |
Category | Steering |
Date | Jun 29, 2022 |
State | MA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to simultaneously accelerate and make a left turn, the steering wheel forcefully turned in the opposite direction. During the failure the message "power steering fault, service required" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the 12-volt battery was faulty and performed a reprogramming of the steering system. After retrieving the vehicle, the failure was still present. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 34,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 23, 2022 |
State | FL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 22v255000 (power train) and the fix stated that the dealer would update the electronic parking brake software but not replace the bolts. The contact was concerned that an update would not fix the issue as the failure was with the bolts. The contact had not experienced a failure. The contact stated that he called the dealer and it was confirmed that the remedy was to update the electronic parking brake software. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed the remedy and a case was opened. The manufacturer offered no further assistance. Parts distribution disconnect. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jun 23, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 mph and slowing down for a traffic light he had a brake failure and crashed at low speed into the rear of a vehicle already stopped at the traffic light. The contact stated that he was pumping the brakes and was not able to stop. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that there was damage to the right front passenger side of his vehicle and was unable to determine the damage to the other vehicle. The police were called and wrote a report. There were no injuries and the contact had the vehicle towed to his home and later towed to a dealer. The local dealer diagnosed that there were no problems with the brakes. The vehicle damage was repaired but not the brakes. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 21, 2022 |
State | MA |
Description | While driving on the highway the 2020 ford explorer xlt briefly lost all power, exhibited jerking through the drivetrain and erratic engine rpms, before regaining power. Thereafter, the vehicle consistently jerked during acceleration and deceleration, with an audible clunking sound, as if the vehicle was transitioning gears or drive modes (2wd-awd). Mileage noticeably dropped and transmission and engine rpm performance was erratic. Only a warning was issued with no indication of high severity, only reduced power. Upon further driving, the erratic behavior persisted included losing power in highway traffic and putting occupants at risk of accident. Vehicle has only 14,500 miles at time of issue with full dealer service history. As of this writing, it is being brought to the dealer for service. |
Category | Power Train:automatic Transmission |
Date | Jun 21, 2022 |
State | TX |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving 10 mph the vehicle started jerking while shifting gears. After the vehicle accelerated above 10 mph, the vehicle operated normal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the transmission was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and a software update was performed; however, the failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Power Train |
Date | Jun 16, 2022 |
State | MD |
Description | While driving on a busy , high speed road the pre collision error message came on the screen. It felt like the truck started applying brakes causing us to jerk. Although I tried I could not accelerate. Several error messages were sent to the ford app about the powertrain. This put my kids and my safety in jeopardy. Our speed was greatly reduced and someone easily could have hit us. This is the second time I'm taking this truck in for service with the same problem. I have less than 25 k miles on this truck. This should not be happening. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 11, 2022 |
State | FL |
Description | My car has a transmission problem. 6 times now, it fails to re engage after I took my foot off the gas pedal. This happens when I am attempting to accelerate after slowing down in fast moving traffic when I really need to be able to accelerate. This caused a very dangerous situation due the the fact that I am trying to get into a faster moving lane of traffic. This put me and others around me at risk. The car is at the dealership now. They say that they have identified the problem. No parts are available to fix the problem. Covid, you know!!! 6 weeks for parts! There are many complaints on the internet expressing the same problem. I also read that ford has been buying some of this year and model back due to "this" problem. What does nhtsa know? There have been "warning messages", but when driving at 70-75mph and there is a problem like this, I did not have time to read it before it disappeared. Scared the crap out of me as I was put into a dangerous situation. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Jun 06, 2022 |
State | OH |
Description | Backup camera display shows intermittent blue screen. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Jun 06, 2022 |
State | OH |
Description | Vehicle stalled on interstate on my way home from picking it up. Had been at dealer for nearly a month for heater repair. Cost me 0 to get it towed back to dealer. Very dangerous situation. I was lucky to be able to get it oof the travel lanes before someone rear ended me at high speed. Very frightening. |
Category | Visibility:sun/moon Roof Assembly |
Date | May 29, 2022 |
State | TN |
Description | The front panel of my 2020 ford explorer st panoramic sunroof exploded on may 6, 2022. Fortunately, I had closed the sun shade two days prior while on vacation in florida. It was not due to being hit by debris as traffic was light and no trucks nearby. I was driving westbound on I-4 between orlando and tampa when a sudden "boom" occurred. I looked around as to what happened as their was no vibration or shuttering in the steering. I then heard glass shattering. When I could safely pull to the side of the road to inspect, the entire front panel of the sunroof was gone except around the perimeter. If I had not previously closed the sun shade, the tempered glass would have been in my eyes and any passengers in the front or rear seats. The local ford dealership initially stated that the sunroof would be covered by warranty while waiting (6 days) for the back-ordered sunroof to be delivered. Then after being in the service department for 2 days, they stated it would not be covered under warranty. I called ford corporate to complain, but they were only concerned if there was an open recall on the sunroof and there were none. They seemed disinterested in the safety aspect of the issue. I have since paid for the repair and filed an insurance claim. I know what a rock hitting the windshield or hood sounds like... This was not a rock, but a low, "mini-sonic boom"... The sunroof literally exploded. I usually do not pull the sun shade closed, but did so while in florida although it was not extremely hot , between 87-92 degrees at around 9:30am, clear and sunny. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking, Electrical System, Lane Departure: Blind Spot Detection |
Date | May 18, 2022 |
State | DE |
Description | When reversing the rear camera display turns blue and I'm not able to see anything behind me using the safety camera feature. I rely on the camera to assist with detecting people or objects in my blind spots while reversing and intermittently the display turns blue. There was a recall for this make and model and manufacture date, but the vehicle is not included in the recall. Recall information - rearview camera recall 21c09. The dealership can't reproduce the issue because it's intermittent and there are no error codes, so they won't replace the camera. They've tried several software fixes but the problem continues. No warning messages displayed when the issue occurs. Thanks. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | May 18, 2022 |
State | MS |
Description | Sometimes the rear camera view shows a blue screen while the other camera views work. I have to restart the vehicle to make it work. |
Category | Power Train, Service Brakes, Air |
Date | May 17, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, unattended on an incline, the vehicle rolled backward without warning. The contact was able to place her hand on the brake and stop the vehicle. There were no warning indicator lights illuminated. The contact scraped her knee but no medical attention was provided. The contact stated while sitting in the driver's seat, the vehicle rolled backward. The driver was able to depress the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where they could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 22,000. |
Category | Power Train, Suspension |
Date | May 09, 2022 |
State | SC |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the rear end of the vehicle would make an abnormal, roaring sound as well as vibrate without warning. The contact also stated that the vehicle would violently jerk upon depression of the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that she had taken the vehicle to the dealer several times for repair and had the transmission replaced; however, a year later, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The contact stated that the vin was included in nhtsa campaign number: 21v154000 (suspension). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 6,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | May 01, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | I have brought my vehicle to the dealership for repair of the safety recall for my car. They stated that they repaired the car. However the problem still exist. I have taken images and videos of the problem. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Apr 30, 2022 |
State | PA |
Description | Reverse camera blue screen is appearing again after the 1st recall âfixâ. Apparently this is becoming quite common, as I am in many ford explorer groups. Many others have this happening after their ârecall fixâ as well. Some even appear to have this happening after multiple times of recall âfixesâ. Ford should be held accountable for not addressing a safety concern with a concrete solution. I have asked others within the groups to also submit incident reports. |
Category | Vehicle Speed Control:accelerator Pedal |
Date | Apr 28, 2022 |
State | VT |
Description | The gas pedal snapped off where connected to the floor. |
Category | Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control:catalytic Convertor |
Date | Apr 25, 2022 |
State | MN |
Description | This vehicle has a recall 21e11, for an inlet exhaust leak on the driver side, but the service technician when doing the recall says I have the exact same thing on the passenger side - a weld has corroded and there is an exhaust leak (photo available). The passenger side is not covered by the 21e11 recall, but is the same identical weld/corrosion/exhaust leak issue. They quoted ,500 to repair. I have escalated via ford - case number cas36437910, but until this side has an official recall, they won't repair. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Apr 23, 2022 |
State | MA |
Description | The back up camera is malfunctioning on my vehicle. It presents a blue image with the back up camera and a blue image on the 360 camera. Everything that I have read shows it is a recall, but my vin does not have a recall. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Apr 11, 2022 |
State | MO |
Description | Recall 21v735000 was performed by sakelaris ford of rolla, missouri on december 9, 2021. On february 28, 2022 the problem of the "blue screen" backup camera display again occurred and has been occurring regularly ever since. I have not yet contacted the dealer to reschedule a follow up pending correspondence from the nhtsa. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Apr 10, 2022 |
State | VA |
Description | Twice now my car has felt like it has stalled. Once I was at a stop light, the light was red so I stopped. Then when the light turned green I accelerated, the car moved slightly and then stalled. Pedal to the floor and nothing happened. Nothing in the car indicated why this happened. The car was on and ready to go but the petal or engine didn't work. Not sure what happened. The second time it happened I was trying to make a turn from a stop. I accelerated, the car moved a bit then stopped. I was pulling onto a 55 mph road and I was just sitting there. Car was fine, running and seemed to be in working condition but it stalled on me. Pedal to the floor, no response from the car. I have an appointment on tuesday april 12th to take the car in to speak with the service department. I have spoken to other 6th generation ford explorer owners that have stated the same thing has happened and the service department had no answer for them. I am hoping if enough of us submit an issue it will get investigated preventing a fetal crash. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Apr 04, 2022 |
State | CO |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that there was oil leaking from the vehicle at start-up. The seat heating and cooling system was inoperable. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken four times to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was then taken to phil long ford of denver (7887 w tufts ave, denver, co 80123) where it was diagnosed and determined that the valve was loose and oil was leaking on to the manifold. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 10,516. The consumer stated they failure was due to electrical components and driver's side bezel trim replacement. |
Category | Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Service Brakes |
Date | Apr 01, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | My car warnings were malfunctioning as they were all flashing on briefly. The car has done this before and has other issues with the panel such as now it has the icon for camera visibility is not working. I cleaned each camera and the light is still on. I backed out of the driveway put the car in drive and started to accelerate. I stepped on the brakes and they were not working, I repeatedly tried to stop but they were gone. My car finally stopped (I was not far enough to have started to build any speed. I turned the car off and back on and the brakes were back on. This happened march 31st, 2022. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Mar 28, 2022 |
State | CO |
Description | I have a safety recall notice 21s44/nhtsa recall 21v735 - 360 degree camera display, which includes the rear view camera may intermittently display a blue image on the media touchscreen upon shifting into reverse. Although your form said there was no recall on my vehicle I have received a notice mentioned above and I have experienced the problem mentioned in the recall notice a number of times. The phil long ford dealership in colorado springs on motorcity . Drive have worked on the vehicle four times since the 1st of january and still have not repaired my vehicle. I would think that since this is a recall that they should have a fix by now. Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 22, 2022 |
State | GA |
Description | This has happened multiple times. Start the vehicle and put into drive while the brake pedal is fully depressed and the car will move forward. While it is in motion you can hear what sounds like the anti-lock system activating. You have to pump the brakes as I assume the master cylinder has lost pressure. It does this randomly and is not repeatable. If this ever happens and someone or another car is around it could be a very bad day. |
Category | Exterior Lighting |
Date | Mar 21, 2022 |
State | TX |
Description | We reported the driver's side headlamp as going out intermittently on jan 4, 2022 to the dealership (ford of boerne, boerne, tx). When they could not resolve the issue, we reported the problem to ford. The light is out mostly full time now. We first realized the problem when driving at night when it would go in and out. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 02, 2022 |
State | IL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle would lunge backwards when shifted into reverse. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated after each failure, she turned off and restarted the vehicle, and she was then able to reverse without any further issues. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed the contact that the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,500. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 02, 2022 |
State | VA |
Description | I was driving down the road and several sensor malfunction warnings started to pop up including an antilock brake fault. I was in traffic and needed to slow down but the brake system was non responsive when I applied normal pressure to the brake. I had to attempt braking with all my force before car slowly started to brake. I nearly was in an accident but fortunately was able to pull off to the side until car was able to fully stop. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 24, 2022 |
State | CO |
Description | The driver's side door doesn't unlock. The locking mechanism gets stuck in the locked position and the door will not open as it won't unlock. Has happened 9 times in the past 48 hours during a total of 7 outings. It puts the driver at risk if they need to quickly get out or get in the vehicle. I took it to the dealership today and it would not unlock for me to exit the vehicle. They tested the mechanisms involved and all function so not parts replaced. There are no warnings when this happens. First started on 2/22/2022. In my online research, it is happening for others with this type of vehicle including police vehicles which is a huge safety issue for them if they can't exit the vehicle when necessary. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Feb 21, 2022 |
State | MI |
Description | My rear camera works less than 50% of the time. It even goes out while backing up. I get a blue screen and my rear brake assist becomes inactive. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 20, 2022 |
State | DE |
Description | The rear back up camera area is blue and you are unable to see behind the vehicle. |
Category | Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/panel |
Date | Feb 17, 2022 |
State | MS |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the instrument panel would remain inoperable, resulting in a loss of speedometer and tachometer functions. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing the instrument cluster replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000. |
Category | Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 17, 2022 |
State | CO |
Description | When this vehicle is put into reverse it does not engage the transmission at times. You either have to put it back in to park and back in reverse and/or floor it in essence push the throttle all the way down for it to engage. As that happens and it finally engages you're going way too fast in reverse. Also when it does not engage it acts like a stick shift and that you are in neutral and you're either rolling forward or backward depending on the incline. Very frustrating I've taken it into the shop two different times specifically for this they say they have a work order in place and the last time they said it was a chip and they ran their diagnostics and corrected it. It still did not get corrected and is still a problem . I am not pleased at all with this failure in the transmission as far as the engaging of reverse is involved. Thank you |
Category | Visibility:windshield |
Date | Feb 16, 2022 |
State | NY |
Description | I was driving my car in the afternoon & heard a pop. My windshield randomly cracked. It cracked at the base of the car about 2 inches up from where it meets the frame. Then it cracked across 3/4 of the windshield |
Category | Power Train:automatic Transmission |
Date | Feb 15, 2022 |
State | TN |
Description | 2020 ford explorer. Consumer writes in regards to issues with the transmission. The consumer stated the vehicle experienced severe vibrations at certain speeds and as the transmission shifts. The consumer stated that the manufacturer breached it's contractual obligation by failing to properly and timely repair the vehicle. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Feb 13, 2022 |
State | SC |
Description | It has happened several times over last year. When car is put in reverse the brakes barely work and car doesn't stop well. Almost like no power brakes. Once put in drive, the brakes work correctly. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 10, 2022 |
State | IN |
Description | While driving my 2020 explorer a couple of weeks ago I noticed it was down shifting really hard when I would slow down to stop at a light. There were no warning lights or check engine lights of any kind. It continually got worse over the next few days so I made an appointment with our local ford dealership. When I called they told me it was probably just a computer issue and they could reset it. On my first appointment I was having them change the oil as well as âresetâ the computer. When they came out to talk to me they said they had a technician âresetâ the computer but the actual âtransmission guyâ wasn't there and I would probably have to bring it back. He told me it would probably drive different to me now because it has an âadaptiveâ transmission and it would have to adjust to the way I drive. I called and made another appointment that same day after I saw it was still doing the same thing. Well the next night I took it on a trip to the next town that was about 20 minutes away. It started âdrivingâ very strangely and I began to smell a hot or chemical kind of smell. I actually pulled off to the side of the highway at one point. I was able to make it home and didn't attempt to drive very far until I had it looked at again. We'll I took it back today and they're now telling me it has to have either a new transmission or that one rebuild. Whichever ford decides. Luckily it's still under warranty or I'd have a bigger problem. After researching I've discovered thousands of other people who have had the exact same issue with their 2020 explorer, all at different mileages. I feel ford should have already issued a recall for this known problem by now. This is absolutely a safety issue because if your in traffic or pull out into an intersection and the car doesn't want to shift it could cause a serious wreck. I've already had to have the backup camera replaced(before they issued the recall)and the drivers side power window motor replaced. Definitely regret buying. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Feb 05, 2022 |
State | MI |
Description | Has burning smell of wires when heat is on, only has heat on drivers side, blows cold air on passenger side, had avis ford dealership look at it, said it was the heater core and they don't know when it will be in stock. |
Category | Back Over Prevention, Back Over Prevention: Camera System |
Date | Jan 28, 2022 |
State | WA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera inadvertently turned blue. There were no warnings lights were illuminated. The contact received a recall notification for nhtsa campaign number: 21v735000 (back over prevention) and the vehicle was taken to the dealer who updated the image processing module software; however, the failure reoccurred 1-2 weeks later. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who advised the contact that the rearview camera needed to be replaced and the repair would be completed at her own expense. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and followed up with the dealer. The manufacturer then called back but offered no further assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 39,000. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
Date | Jan 25, 2022 |
State | CA |
Description | Automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning . The systems did not perform as they where designed to. No the problem was not looked at by the company. As far as I know ford never looked at the vehicle. No warning of any kind showed up on the vehicle before the collision. |
Category | Steering |
Date | Jan 20, 2022 |
State | FL |
Description | The vehicle steering wheel felt loose, took the vehicle to a local ford dealer where they found that the steering wheel bolt was loose almost to the point of falling off. They tightened up the bolt and sent me on my way. |
Category | Visibility:sun/moon Roof Assembly |
Date | Jan 15, 2022 |
State | MI |
Description | The vehicle has been in the ford dealer 3-times to replace the sunroof/moonroof wind deflector. It has fallen off while driving two times interfering with traffic and one time it detached on one side only. Fortunately, no one was injured or any damage done other than the deflector was damaged by traffic after it detached. It was replaced just a few weeks ago for the second time and it just detached and fell off again while driving yesterday. I notified ford quality and customer concerns of the situation but no reply, apparently ford, nor the dealer appear to care. However, besides the cost someone is going to get hurt. The first time the wind deflector came off was in april 21 and the second time october 22, the third time was yesterday, 01-14-22. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jan 13, 2022 |
State | GA |
Description | This vehicle has been ârepairedâ by ford dealer per recall instructions but the backup camera is still intermittently blue. Recall âfixâ offered by ford does not fix this problem |
Category | Engine |
Date | Jan 13, 2022 |
State | PA |
Description | A police officer dropped this suv off complaining of an exhaust smell coming through the vents in the vehicle. Upon opening the hood ,a strong odor off exhaust from the right side of the motor could be smelled . No visible leaks or sounds were noticed. The vehicle remained out of service until our local ford dealer could service this vehicle. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance |
Date | Jan 10, 2022 |
State | OH |
Description | While driving in regular weather. The dash flags a red box that say pre collison alert, and beeps. For no reason nothing around me. I know the sensor is located in the front end of the vehicle. Scares everyone in vehicle thinking we are going to have an accident and put o |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 08, 2022 |
State | SC |
Description | I have this 2020 ford explorer with about 15k miles on it. It suddenly started down shifting hard, getting hang gears, and having multiple issues. I took it to my local ford dealer who refused to even do a diagnostic because my vehicle had warranty work done on the head gasket about two weeks after it was purchased. They are claiming it is similar to the issue I am having now. I am now trying to work with ford to get it repaired. I checked online and this seems to be a pretty common issue on the forums that I went to and people were describing identical experiences that I had with my car. One example is that when I applied a small amount of pressure to the gas pedal, my car wouldn't shift, got up to 7k rpm, and then finally did a hard shift that felt like I hit something. The hard downshifting would happen even when I was coming to a complete stop or anytime I was slowing down. |
Category | Exterior Lighting |
Date | Dec 30, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | Adaptive headlamp assembly on my 2020 ford explorer platinum awd has failed twice in 2-years. First, upon receiving the vehicle, the passenger side had to be replaced (dealer was unable to fix the problem, so had to replace the whole headlamp assembly which requires a complete removal of the front bumper). Now the driver side headlamp has failed - and I haven't even had the car 2-years yet (will be 2-years in a few weeks). The headlamp failure is complicated by the long lead time to get the replacement part for the whole headlamp assembly - so now I am weeks without being able to have a headlight and am forced to drive without it. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Dec 28, 2021 |
State | IL |
Description | Our radio/navigational/climate control screen will go completely black while driving the vehicle. This has happened approximately 15 times since the purchase of the brand new car in august of 2020. Therefore, I lose all of my controls and my gps. This will not come back on until the car is turned off and is given time to reset. This reset time varies from 30 minutes to 1 hour. The first time this occurred was one month after purchasing the vehicle. So, after three different visits to ford dealerships, hopkins ford, manning ford and dundee ford, not one technician can duplicate this problem so it is still happening. Recently, I was in columbus, ohio and the screen went black while I was driving in an unfamiliar area. I'm aware that ford had a massive recall on this very issue but somehow our vin number is not included in this. I frequently travel across the midwest because my fifteen year old daughter is in travel volleyball. I cannot afford for safety reasons for this to happen to the two of us when we are driving in unfamiliar places. This is a huge safety concern for my daughter and I. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 28, 2021 |
State | NV |
Description | The chrome plating on the interior door handle is peeling away from the handle structure, creating a sharp edge that has the potential to lacerate a person's finger(s) as they pull the handle to open the door. This defect cut my middle finger on my left hand fairly deep, causing bleeding, but did not require stitches. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 27, 2021 |
State | NV |
Description | 1) powertrain - 10 speed transmission will not shift properly. When down/up shifting, the transmission slams into gear. It started at 54000 miles. Dealer repair shop stated that there were zero codes and was unable to ascertain the problem. Problem continued and only got worst. On another visit, the mechanic was able to duplicate the sound and still no codes. It was stated that I should return the vehicle on monday and ford technical would be contacted. Vehicle was returned on a monday. I spoke with the mechanic. He now stated that he could not duplicate the slamming. I recommend he ride with me. We took a four- mile drive. Within 3/4 mile, the slamming was back. The vehicle was kept until friday of same week. The factory rep recommended that dealer should reset the computer and drive for 500 miles. The dealer rep/dannelle stated ford should assumed the cost of replacing the transmission and not the dealer under my extended warranty. Now the dealer's repair shop will not return my phone call. 2) I also called in report and request an appointment regarding my electric windows will not go up or down. Zero return call. After driving approximately 300 miles and stopping for fuel, the windows started working again. |
Category | Engine, Power Train |
Date | Dec 06, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Inlet exhaust leak and rattle, the vehicle sounds like a diesel truck. Transmission jerking into out of third gear. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 05, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | I own a 2020 ford explorer (platinum edition). A recall was issued for the back-up camera. My car had been having issues of intermittent camera problems prior to the recall. I took my car into sam pack's five star ford of lewisville (1144 n stemmons fwy, lewisville, tx 75067) for the recall repair. . . I drove the vehicle for about thirty minutes after completion of the recall repair at which time I parked the car. Unfortunately, when I did so the "blue screen" returned. The was the reason for the recall. . . This is the same as prior to the recall "repair". Also, when this happens a warning pops up "reverse brake assist not available" (this may be because the camera is malfunctioning). The camera does not do this all of the time. There is no rhyme or reason as to when it is going to fail. After turning the car off for a while (as when eating at a restaurant or grocery shopping, etc.) the camera works when you put the car into reverse (with the one exception noted above). It appears that the "fix" for the recall is insufficient to stop the camera errors from recurring. The incident date listed below is the date of the supposed recall repair. I have uploaded a pdf file showing pictures of the camera errors. If you would like any other information, or pictures of the blue screen errors, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached by email at [xxx] or by phone at [xxx]. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). |
Category | Structure:body |
Date | Dec 01, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | At a speed of approximately 30mph, I heard a cracking noise from the rear of my vehicle. After looking into my rear view mirror, I saw the rear window was shattered, and caving inward. It was around 90 degrees that day at 1:30 pm and I was driving on an open road. There was a co-worker driving behind me that was witness. Nothing came down and hit the rear window. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Nov 24, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | A computer system fault caused the inability to start, move, turn off, turn on, lock or otherwise do anything with the vehicle with manual buttons or the remote. The drivers screen flashed through fault codes but would not allow any action. After discussing with the dealer on the phone, who mentioned something about a bad battery cell, I decided to disconnect the battery terminal, waited a period of time, and reconnected. The computer system reset and everything functioned correctly with no fault codes. At the time the vehicle was in a company drive lane causing a major hazard to the vehicles passing through. The vehicle was brought straight to the dealer service department who said they could not find anything wrong. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Service Brakes |
Date | Nov 24, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | Rear backup camera incorrectly sensed an obstruction behind vehicle and caused emergency braking with no visible obstruction. We were unable to pull out of the parking spot and had to jump a curb to leave. No further incident has been experienced, |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes, Steering |
Date | Nov 23, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | While driving at 70 mph the vehicle experienced the following issues all at once, the power steering shut off, all brake pressure was lost, the pre- collision system was turned off, parking brake engaged(at 70 mph) traction control system turned off, engine light turned on and all of the warning lights on the dash activated. This has happened 3 times and almost killed me twice. Ford has tried to repair this vehicle all three times and still have not corrected the issue. Ford has also refused to replace or buy back the vehicle. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Nov 13, 2021 |
State | AL |
Description | Suv was banging and stalling when braking down a hill or going up a hill. Driving on the interstate it totally lost power. It happened at various speeds. First dealer near where it happened refused to look at it for a month after I told them I lost power on the interstate and stalled out. Had it towed to the dealer I bought it from and no recalls are showing up even though I got the wrench and transmission alert of total failure. It has been sitting there over a month and they have torn out the transmission-issue also with clutch seals. |
Category | Structure:body |
Date | Nov 12, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | Officer was sitting in vehicle while it was running with ac on, he pressed the max defrost button for a couple of seconds then turned it off. After about a minute or two he heard a what a loud noise and looked in his rear view mirror to see his rear window completely shattered. |
Category | Structure:body |
Date | Nov 12, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | Worked until 11am friday 11/5/21, went back out to work night shift 10:40 ish at night to start the vehicle up to warm up (he believes that he had turned on the heat). As the officer was outside walking his dog he heard noises of glass cracking. He walked up to it and noticed the entire rear window was shattered. No point of entry or notice of vandalism. |
Category | Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control:catalytic Convertor |
Date | Oct 26, 2021 |
State | WA |
Description | When using the defrost or air conditioner or just having the fan on, exhaust fumes enter the cars cabin. Its very troublesome that when I took it to a ford dealer and they checked it out and said the catalytic converter was cracked but told us ford had no fix for it. Its very dangerous especially in the morning time when you need to use the defrost you have roll all the windows down and freeze you butt off. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Oct 21, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse the vehicle, the backup camera failed to function as designed. The contact stated that the backup sensor non-functional message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and was diagnosed ipmb updated and repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 21v735000 (back over prevention). The vehicle was repaired under the recall but continued to experience failure. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Oct 19, 2021 |
State | CA |
Description | Ford issued recall 21s44 for an intermittent back-up camera problem. I took my vehicle to elk grove ford (95624) on 10/05/21 for recall repair. The problem continued and I took back on 10/19/21 to fix back-up camera. It still only works intermittently. Today, while backing up at an elementary school after my second recall service, my camera failed again. This is a critical safety issue which ford knows about but has provided incompetent information to elk grove ford. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Oct 13, 2021 |
State | SC |
Description | Back up camera image distorts goes black at times but goes blue multiple times a day while driving and putting in reverse camera is blue 90% of the time |
Category | Visibility/wiper |
Date | Oct 13, 2021 |
State | IL |
Description | My windshield washer tank is leaking. Brought to ford and they changed the tank. Still leaking and looks like still coming out of new cap. Go thorough a half gallon a week and only leaks when driving. Car is at friendly ford now. They drove another 2020 explorer with the same miles and was also leaking when driving. They said seems to be normal. Its not normal and dont want it leak out in winter and have no fluid and get in a accident cause cannot clean windshield. Need help with this. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Oct 07, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while operating the vehicle the backup camera display image was very washed out, unclear and the colors appeared to be bleached out causing visibility issues for the driver. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the camera display unit, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 2,000. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Oct 05, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | The rear camera malfunctions and the display screen is blue. The vehicle is available for inspection. It creates a blind spot on the display screen of the area behind the vehicle and sounds an alert/alarm every time the malfunction occurs. The problem has not been reproduced by the dealer but I have provided multiple pictures of it occurring. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer on several occasions. There were no warnings prior to the failure. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Oct 05, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle both the digital display screen and instrument gauge cluster would randomly malfunction, scramble, and the display screen would turn blue. Also, the transmission would shift abruptly and while driving the vehicle would lose throttle response causing the vehicle to slow before abruptly accelerating. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred while driving 60 mph on a six-lane highway. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who indicated that the collision avoidance system had malfunctioned. In addition, while driving, the engine would randomly rev extremely high and had occurred while letting off the accelerator pedal. The local dealer and manufacturer were both notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Oct 02, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | Backup camera failed with a blue screen that was initially identified early august and brought into ford 8/11-13 but dealership unable to reproduce problem. It is believed that the dealership re-booted the computer and downloaded new software. The same problem occurred just two days after we got the car back on 8/15 at which time a picture was taken to show the service department. A google search suggested there was a problem with the back up camera for 2020 explorer, but there was no recall on my vin. After reaching out to ford soon after we got the car back, a service person offered to order a new camera, but it was never approved. Numerous calls were placed to the dealership given ongoing camera failure and concern for causing an accident, but we were told that the problem needed to be reproduced. The camera could not be ordered. While backing the car out of our driveway without an operational camera or sensors, driver side rear bumper collided with a car parked in the street. The insurance company was notified the day of the accident and the car was taken to ford body shop 9/21 where a repair estimate was provided. The dealership service department was notified that the car was involved in an accident because of camera failure and finally agreed to order a new replacement camera. On 9/23, we were notified of a "blue screen" back up camera recall. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Sep 30, 2021 |
State | GA |
Description | I had an issue with the rearview backupcamera. The camera kept going out multiple times. I asked fodd customer care if there was a recall and told me no. One day I was backing up at night my camera went out and I hit a mailbox which was in my blindspot I immediately called ford to alert them that the camera went out a d I damaged my vehicle. Ford requested that I bring in my truck and changed the camera. They found out the camera had an electrical shortage. I attempted to get forx to pay for the damages to my vehicle and they refused. The total estimate was 2700. 00. The response why they denied my claim was I had an accident and they were not responsible regardless of the camera not working. They told me to contact my insurance to fix the damage. I feel I wouldn't have had an accident if my rearview camera did not go out. The backup assistance beep would have sensed the object behind me in my backup view and I would not have damaged my vehicle since the object was in my blind spot. I feel that ford is responsible for the repairs and I have video proof that my camera was having issues prior to my accident. I need ford to fix my vehicle at no cost to me. They are ignoring the fact that the backup camera and blinspot assistance failed. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Sep 28, 2021 |
State | IL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while attempting to reverse the backup camera failed to engage. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing the intelligent platform management bus (ipmb) flashed. The vehicle was repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 21v735000 (back over prevention). The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the same symptoms. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and spoke with the contact's attorneys and was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was approximately 22,900. Consumer stated camera was replaced 4 times and reprogrammed twice. |
Category | Electrical System, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Sep 20, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | When backing up, the screen turns blue 3 out of 5 times when placed in reverse. |
Category | Structure:body:hatchback/liftgate |
Date | Sep 03, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | I have a serious safety issue with my 2020 ford explorer. The tailgate has unexpectedly closed when loading or unloading items from the cargo area. This is due the foot activation function. When loading/unloading heavier items you must stand close to the bumper. In so doing the foot activation closes the tailgate. This has happened at least 6 times including closing on my wife and grand children. The attached photo shows a skin scrap I sustained in blocking the tailgate from closing on a grandchild. I have talked to the dealer about deactivating the foot function. They responded it cannot be done. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Aug 31, 2021 |
State | WA |
Description | The car would not shift out of first gear. Had to put the car in neutral and then back into drive to get it to shift. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Aug 30, 2021 |
State | MA |
Description | Reverse camera turns blue on many occasions and other times it gets dark, the engine in the mornings the engine sounds like a diesel car in the dealer indicate it is normal but new vehicles do not sound that way. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System |
Date | Aug 28, 2021 |
State | IL |
Description | We have returned the vehicle to the dealer 4 times for back-up camera / rear sensor failure. Most recently they had the vehicle from 8/16/2021 to 8/20/2021. Allegedly they replaced the back-up camera. On 8/27/2021 upon returning home from an approximately 3 mile drive, the back-up camera again failed while backing into our driveway. The dic displayed the message "back up assistance unavailable." while on vacation in colorado, the back-up camera failed every day for 2 weeks (8/01/2021 - 8/13/2021). The failure would occur after extended drives at highway speed. On one occasion, the back-up display flickered between the image, blackout, and blue screen. On one occasion both the backup display and the overhead 360 display, displayed only blue screens. Turning off the vehicle and leaving it sit for 30 minutes or more clears the problem. The dealer claims they are unable to reproduce the problem. I have repeatedly told them that the vehicle must be driven for the problem to present itself. Repeatedly starting and shutting off of the vehicle while stationary will not produce the problem. We have repeatedly supplied images of the interior display showing the problem. This situation poses risk when reversing from parking place into oncoming traffic. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Aug 28, 2021 |
State | AZ |
Description | Sunroof exploded. There were no warning lights or beeps. It sounded like an explosion and caused me to nearly wreck from the loud boom. I went into a field and nearly lost control of vehicle. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Aug 25, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | Rear camera is not working correctly. If goes to a blue screen a lot. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Aug 20, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | Back up camera not functioning properly. Back up camera will intermittently show distorted image while backing up and then it turns to black screen with warning stating "camera is unavailable. Please contact your dealership." |
Category | Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery:management System/energy Control Module (bms/becm) |
Date | Aug 17, 2021 |
State | SD |
Description | I am associated with the city of brookings, sd police dept. We have two 2020 ford hybrid suv patrol vehicles. Both vehicles since we obtained them in october of 2020 have experienced loss of power. Both vehicles dash indicators lights come on and the vehicles has a complete system failure. In june of this year an officer was responding to an emergency call. The officer was traveling at approximately 50 mph. The vehicle's dash lights all came on and the vehicle's power system shut down. The officer stated the vehicle almost came to a dead stop, almost causing him to crash. He stated if he was not wearing his seat belt he would have went through the windshield. This particular vehicle has had had complete loss of power approximately eight times. Ford has replaced the ecm power module stating this would fix the issue. Now the vehicle's trailer module has supposedly failed and caused a complete loss of power. This trailer module effected the entire electrical system. This vehicle has been unusable since july 19. Prior to this latest incident the vehicle was unusable for approximately four weeks. In the almost year we have had the vehicle in service it has been unusable approximately 6 to 7 weeks. I have contacted brooklyn center, mn pd, east grand forks, nd pd and yankton, sd pd. These agencies all have had the same ford hybrids. They all have experienced the same issues. Yankton pd is currently had one vehicle labeled a lemon and ford is replacing this vehicle. Our agency is attempting to have ford recognize this issue. We want the two vehicles replaced and be deemed unusable. I am contacting the ntsb to assist our police agency in addressing this issue. We cannot provide sufficient public service to our community with these vehicles. If we cannot respond to emergencies in a timely manner due to these vehicles not properly functioning then the potential for the public's safety is potentially at risk. Not to mention the safety of our officers. Thank you. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Aug 17, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | Transmission shifts from reverse to park and drive to park on its own. Also, heads up display goes blank and sensors / backup camera stop working. Front collision monitors also do not work as well as lane departure sensors |
Category | Engine And Engine Cooling |
Date | Aug 16, 2021 |
State | MO |
Description | The overheating temp light keeps coming on for no reason. Vehicle has been to rob smith ford seven times and still has not been fixed. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Aug 13, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Rear view camera not working. Dealer has confirmed however not able to get replacement part from manufacturer. Camera has been down for over 9 months. |
Category | Structure:body |
Date | Aug 11, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | We were going down the hwy about 65 no cars around our sunroof exploded we had the headliner closed and it was full of glass. We thought at first we had a blow out but we saw all the glass in the middle of the sunroof no object or mark on car |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Aug 09, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while reversing the vehicle, the back over protection screen turned blue and the contact was unable to see the road. The contact stated that the reverse brake assist warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer ten times within 11 months, but the mechanic was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,100. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Aug 09, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | Rear view mirror keeps turning solid blue ( blank ) and message center on the dash says "rear brake assist not working". |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Aug 08, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | I have already complained to dealer about constant hesitation and jerking, going from 1st to 2nd and sometimes 2nd to 3rd gear on automatic transmission, as well as slight loss of power going up inclines under 30mph. They told me a road test and transmission test showed nothing wrong. Incident I am reporting happened back in may2021. I was making a right hand turn onto a busy road from a parking lot, from a complete stop. As I pulled out onto the road, going from 1st to 2nd gear, the car completely stalled for about two seconds. I almost was rear-ended because of the stall. I had to take my foot off the gas and then put a lot of pressure on the gas pedal to get the car moving again. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Aug 08, 2021 |
State | CA |
Description | My new 2020 ford explorer had had on at least 4 occasions, the last being in july 2021 (mileage was approximately 7,280 miles at the time). This problem has only occurred when parked in my garage, I turn on the explorer with my foot firmly on the brake and put the vehicle in reverse (with foot still on brake) the vehicle starts reversing with force even though my foot is hard on the brakes. I then push down even harder on brakes. I am fighting to keep the explorer from roaring out of the garage. Luckily I haven't hit anyone or anything, but had I not reacted as quickly I could easily have caused serious injury. I reported this problem to my local dealer two times, the first about 10 months ago and the second incident was reported to the dealer when I took it in in august 2021 for numerous alerts received in july 2021 for: powertrain malfunction/ reduced power; pre-collision assist not available; hill start assist warning, pre-collision assist not available. The dealer said all the alerts came from one power module which will be fixed this week when the part arrives at the dealer. The dealer also said that the recent reverse power surge I advised them of is probably related to all of the alerts listed above and that this should take care of the problem. I never received any warnings, messages or other symptoms of this problem - it has always been a shock when it happens. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System, Service Brakes |
Date | Aug 04, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | Vehicle would not start and every warning lamp and alert triggered on the dashboard. Tried remote start which was successful, but vehicle shut off 5 seconds later and the above alerts/warning lamps repeated. Vehicle would not start and just repeated all of the warning lamps/alerts. Waited 20 minutes, car started without issue; however, when put into reverse with foot on the brake the vehicle started to drive backwards while foot was still on the brake! No amount of pressure on the brake pedal stopped the vehicle. Had to depress and repress the pedal to stop the vehicle. Rear cameras failed to activate as well. Luckily no one was injured. This is the third time this has happened, the third time I have reported to the nhtsa, and the third time I have reported it to my local dealership without resolve. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System |
Date | Aug 04, 2021 |
State | NJ |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated the day he purchased the vehicle, the rearview camera turned blank as he was reversing out of the dealer parking lot. The warning message "back up brake assist is not functioning" appeared on the instrument panel. The dealer diagnosed that the rear-view camera needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and was repaired, however the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 20v575000 (visibility) due to the manufactured date. A case was opened and the contact was referred to the nhtsa for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 10. Consumer stated 5th camera has been installed. |
Category | Electrical System, Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System |
Date | Jul 29, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that upon rapid acceleration at various speeds, exhaust fumes from the tailpipes would enter the cabin of the vehicle. The contact also stated that after heavy rains, water-filled the spare tire compartment located in the rear of the vehicle. One day while his wife was driving and coming to a complete stop, the water spilled out of the compartment and flooded the cabin floor of the vehicle. Once the contact discovered where the water was located, he vacuumed up nearly four gallons of water out of the spare tire compartment. As a result of the internal water intrusion, there were several electrical failures. The forward collision warning light would illuminate on the instrument panel without any vehicles in near proximity. The contact also stated that his wife received multiple alerts on her phone through the ford app that an intruder had attempted to open the tailgate however, each alert was a false alarm. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer where the service manager agreed to have the vehicle thoroughly inspected. The vehicle remained in the possession of the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jul 28, 2021 |
State | MI |
Description | The car jerks when it is downshifting between 2nd and 3rd gear. It was inspected by a dealership in tn (we were out of town from mi) and the ford dealership there was unable to identify the issue as they did not have a transmission tech. We have 15k in miles on our car. We contacted ford cs and the car was driven by a car hauler back to a dealership in mi. They have 1 transmission person. At this time, we have had a rental car for over 2 weeks at a cost of over 00. They cannot service the vehicle until next week leaving us without a vehicle for over 3 weeks. Ford has been difficult to work with and meanwhile I continue to pay my lease, they are only offering /day for 10 days for rental car and have no idea when the car will be fixed. I have asked for credit on our lease and formal follow up on this and they are slow to reply leaving us stranded to find our own way home. Very disappointed as this seems to be a known issue with the 2020 explorers and the new power train. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jul 28, 2021 |
State | AR |
Description | Turned the car on and immediately the headliner above the drivers seat started smoking. Within seconds there was an actual fire and had to call the fire department. Ford does not seem concerned about it at all. Are not sending it to be investigated at all from my understanding, my car has sat for 2 months now with no answers still. We do not know what caused the fire or exactly where the fire started. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jul 26, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | Rear camera will intermittently cause the screen to display distorted or total blue screen upon placing the vehicle in reverse |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control |
Date | Jul 20, 2021 |
State | SC |
Description | On two separate occasions while using the cruise control, the vehicle continued to receive warnings on the dash that the 4-wheel drive, hill assist, emergency braking, etc. Were all unabled and service would be required. The cruise control then also disabled and I was unable to use it again until I pulled over, stopped and re-started the vehicle. Upon doing this, the system seemed to reset and all warning lights went off. I contacted a local ford dealer about this issue and was told that their loaner 2020 explorer has the same issue and they're unable to pinpoint the problem. They've had it in and out of service for 4 months. Their machine is unable to find any errors. They feel like it may be something to do with the body control module. Since my vehicle is apparently not the only 2020 explorer experiencing this issue, I thought it would be worth reporting. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jul 19, 2021 |
State | AZ |
Description | Transmission - available for inspection upon request (yes) vehicle will lunge or stall as it searches for the right gear. Have had the vehicle to ford authorized dealers 3 times with varying degrees of success. Now problem has reoccurred and is worse that ever. Searches for the right gear, lunges, sometimes will not go into gear at all. Feel unsafe driving the vehicle. Currently have a 4th apt with ford to look at the transmission. No warning lights or messages present on the dash. |
Category | Steering, Suspension |
Date | Jul 19, 2021 |
State | PA |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 55 - 75 mph, the contact was switching lanes and felt the vehicle was swerving. The contact stated that there were vibrations felt coming from the floorboard. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer test drove the vehicle and diagnosed that there was no failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 17,999. |
Category | Power Train, Seats |
Date | Jul 18, 2021 |
State | KY |
Description | 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. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jul 17, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | I was in a turn lane at a intersection waiting on the light and my daughter noticed the vehicle had shifted in to reverse by it self. The backup camera was not on and if it had not been called to my attention I would have backed into the car behind me. I shifted into drive when the light changed and went on my way. This has happened only once. |
Category | Electrical System, Exterior Lighting |
Date | Jul 16, 2021 |
State | UT |
Description | Smoke started coming from the passenger side visor as I was driving. There was no indication of an issue with warning messages of any kind. Of course I panicked, ran from the car and called the fire department who stated it smelled electrical when they arrived. After a week of being at the dealership, they couldn't find anything; however, 30 seconds after I got into my vehicle, I noticed the cabin lights weren't working. After returning the vehicle within an hour they found that a wire had burned out and shorted out some fuses. 2 weeks later and I still don't have my vehicle. No injuries, just scared beyond belief to have a 2020 st start smoking!! Even if they state it is fixed, I am still scared to death to drive it after that!! I have had issues with the brakes as well. Those stopped working but apparently that was a recall that was resolved. I have purchased fords for the past 20 years. I will never buy a ford again with all the issues I have on this vehicle! |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jul 15, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Ford has a recall for explorer backup cameras failing but ours was not built on the correct date so it doesn't fall under the recall. Yet, our 2020 explorers backup camera shows a blue screen and no video. Took it to the dealership and they said we were 2500 mile out of warranty and we would have to pay. You and ford knows there is an issue and should have to fix this. It goes beyond the build date listed. This vehicle is full of gremlins and should be heavily watched. |
Category | Lane Departure: Assist |
Date | Jul 15, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | This issue has happened 4-5 time in a years time. When driving with cruise control and lane assist enabled the car will pull to the left when it see's a dark line in the road. If I were not holding on to the steering wheel I would have been in the lane next to me. I think what's going on is lane keep or lane assist thinks there is a curve in the road and tries to correct for it. Its just a matter of time before a crash happens to a explorer owner. I have been to the dealership 3 time for this and called ford but they don't seem to care. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Warnings, Visibility/wiper |
Date | Jul 13, 2021 |
State | MO |
Description | Reverse camera has displayed very dark once. Reverse camera has displayed solid, bright blue multiple times. Gauge cluster displayed warning message that reverse assistance is unavailable. |
Category | Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Power Train |
Date | Jul 13, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | Vehicle started, but then every warning lamp and alert triggered on the dashboard and engine shut off. Would not restart, but would just cycle through error/alert messages. Waited 15 minutes, car started but upon putting it in reverse with foot on the brake the car started to drive backwards. No amount of pressure on the brake pedal stopped the car. Had to depress and repress the pedal to stop the vehicle after shifting into gear. Rear cameras failed to activate as well. Thankfully, no one was behind the vehicle and injured. This is the second time this has happened and the second time I have reported to nhtsa. The ford dealership is oblivious to the root cause of the issue. Their quick fix is a battery replacement and software reload. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jul 10, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | Every now and then it will shift hard and jerk you in your seat, it will happen at different speeds, reported to ford garage and they said they haven't heard of any problems with it but the guy went on to ask if it happened with selector in sport mode but we usually drive in eco. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jul 08, 2021 |
State | LA |
Description | fireno injuries0 deaths0 when shifting into drive, vehicle will randomly have a hard brake pedal and vehicle will lurch forward with increased rpm. Use of reverse, vehicle will suddenly stop and sound as if you hit something. Brake pedal very hard.. The issue occurs from a stationary condition, in driveway or public parking areas, so this causes concern that it did result in a collision with another vehicle. Issue cannot be repeated on demand. It is entirely random and every drive has to be approached with the expectancy that the vehicle will move without normal brakes to stop. There are no alerts to tell us why (or which system) is the issue. This has occurred randomly since leasing this explorer . Ford service seems surprised and unaware of this |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jul 06, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | The vehicle suddenly started having transmission issues at 5,600 miles. Very low mileage and no issues until that point. The vehicle started jerking when up and down shifting, sometimes really lurching the vehicle. Took the vehicle to the ford dealer asap and it was returned to me 4 days later. They said the issue was a valve and replaced it. However, on the drive home from the dealership the problem started again. Unfortunately, by that time the dealer was closed. The next morning there was transmission fluid all over the driveway. The car has now been towed back to the ford dealership. We have been unable to use our vehicle for about 12 days now and are waiting to hear back from the service department. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jul 01, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while attempting to reverse, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the plate and gasket assembly to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 27, 2021 |
State | NC |
Description | Transmission started shifting on it's on. Mostly down shifting. Gas mileage went from 28mpg to around 20 mpg. Dealer had to order parts-not available for 4- 6 weeks. Never know when it will happen. No recall or warning lights dealer aware of this issue |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System |
Date | Jun 25, 2021 |
State | CT |
Description | Rear camera goes blue, |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 24, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | Automatic transmission "jumps" and clunks in and out of gear at speeds between 25-35 mph, causing vehicle to lunge. Also, experienced vehicle sporadically engaging into gear from a stop sign and lunging forward for several seconds, almost causing a car to rear end my vehicle. Problem has been reported to dealer, but dealer will not look at it for more than 2 weeks. No warning lamps or system messages appear on the dash board. This is a major safety problem as it causes the vehicle to lunge and jump randomly while driving or accelerating from a stop. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
Date | Jun 23, 2021 |
State | CA |
Description | The backing aid camera turns blue out of nowhere when put in reverse gear, which causes the parking warning system to fail, the forward collision warning turned on by itself while driving on the freeway, there were absolutely no cars or objects in front at the time, causing the suv to abruptly come to a complete stop, putting my self and my family at risk of being hit by a vehicle in the back. This is absolutely unacceptable. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 09, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | The contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked while attempting to upshift. The contact stated there were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the same symptoms. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4,261. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Warnings, Electrical System, Power Train |
Date | Jun 07, 2021 |
State | NC |
Description | 1. Powertrain/transmission: the transmission starting slipping and having hard shifts. When I would slow the car to turn or stop, it jerked at 30mph, 20 mph, and again at 15-10mph. Then it started hard shifting when you put it in drive, and again at each shift. It wouldn't go over 55mph. The powertrain failure light(orange wrench) and fordpass notice finally came on a week and a half after the issues started. Shortly after the light cam on the car would not go in reverse. There is a recall on the powertrain in 2020 explorers, however my vin # does not show any recalls. I have an infant that is in the car with me usually. I am afraid for her to travel with me now in this vehicle, even once ford tries to "fix" the issue because the warning light does not appear until the powertrain is completely gone. I feel that the sensor should go off when it notices the transmission is having issues. This vehicle is now at a ford dealership to be repaired. *2. Rear-view back up camera: camera works 20% of the time. The screen is blue or the image jumps severely. It was taken to a ford dealership and they said it didn't happen when it was there so they did nothing to fix it. There is a recall on this feature however my vin # does not apply. *3. A/c: the air-conditioning unit fails to cool the air. The ac unit blows humid air. *4. Screen/display: the screen in the center console will go black and the steering wheel buttons will not work on the radio or bluetooth phone capabilities. The hands free phone option was not available during these system blackouts. 5. Park-aid sensor: the parking sensors in the front bumper keep falling out and go off making it seem like I am an about to hit something. I had to pop them back in place at least twice. *a ford dealership has tried to address these issues already. However, these features still do not function properly on the car. If the feature "worked" while it was in the repair shop then they said they couldn't fix it. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jun 04, 2021 |
State | NV |
Description | There are times when I start the vehicle, or manually release the parking brake, that it simply does not release. The brake pedal becomes rock hard at these times, without its normal travel. If the vehicle is reversing, like leaving my garage, it stops like it hit a brick wall when the brake pedal is touched. The rear brakes are simply locked. It stops so abruptly that it has aggravated lower back pain from previous injuries. I'm afraid of getting stranded in traffic, unable to move the vehicle. It did this on dirt and it was just dragging the rear tires. The only solution I have found is to turn off the engine, wait a few seconds, restart the vehicle, hope. I got, in rapid succession: 1. Antilock brake fault !!! 2. Hill descent control fault 3. Pre-collision assist not available 4. Hill start assist warning the service at mesquite (nevada) ford was totally insufficient. I expected them to find and fix the problem, which obviously lies in the anti-lock/parking brake. I was eager to get the vehicle back and find out what was wrong as I've been afraid to use the manual parking brake for fear it will seize up and not release. When I got the vehicle back (which took a long time and a long story as the mechanic went home sick in the middle of the job with covid) they said, âoh, we reset the error message so everything is fine.â well, it still locks up, sometimes when I have shut the engine off and sometimes when I tried to manually set the parking brake, which I am still avoiding. If it's only my vehicle then there is a dealer problem. If there are more reports, then it's a bigger problem. I don't know where on your site to say this â I am shocked by the number of fatalities â but not really. Either reduce the speed limits in the west or keep killing people. 80 mph is ridiculous because everyone now runs 90+ mph. We've come upon two fatal accidents this summer on I-15. The carnage was terrible. Please, please, please slow the traffic. |
Category | Suspension |
Date | May 29, 2021 |
State | IA |
Description | Ball joint worked itself loose and the bolt connecting the wheel to the control arm fell out. As a result, the wheel concaved and posed a serious risk of loss of control, crash and injury to vehicle occupants and other drivers. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | May 23, 2021 |
State | IL |
Description | Driving our 2020 ford explorer st friday at approx 35-40mph. Vehicle seemed to loose power and almost die when it suddenly surged forward at a high rate of speed. This happened several more times scaring my wife and grandkids. The vehicle only has 3800 miles on it but she is now scared to death to drive it. Had it towed to dealership friday afternoon and waiting for a tech to take a look. Not good! |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Camera System, Unknown Or Other |
Date | May 09, 2021 |
State | MA |
Description | The backup camera intermittently does not work when we put the vehicle in reverse. We estimate that it fails to work 10-15% of the time. The screen turns blue and we cannot use the camera to see what is behind us. We rely on the camera because the overall visibility to see behind the vehicle is poor. We believe that this issue is similar to the problem that led ford to recall other vehicles. Our vehicle is not included in those recalls. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure: Assist, Power Train |
Date | May 05, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Car jerks from 1st to 2nd gear and sometimes 2nd to 3rd. Also, very long delay when putting the car into reverse. Takes anywhere from 5-10 seconds sometimes to shift into reverse. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | May 03, 2021 |
State | GA |
Description | Tl* the contact owned a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked under the car port and turned off, a fire ignited causing the vehicle to burn and also causing burn damage to the home. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames and a fire report was taken at the scene. The fire department determined the fire was caused by a faulty starter inside the vehicle. During the incident, the vehicle was destroyed. The contact indicated that the vehicle had not been started for 2 days prior to the incident. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 6,000. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Apr 29, 2021 |
State | OK |
Description | My 2020 ford explorer, bought brand new. At 25k miles, car started to make this weird sound when the gear shifts 1-2 and 2-3 when accelerating. Now every time it shifts very noticeably from 1-2 and 2-3, it jerks so hard. It is so annoying. Seriously so disappointed this car is my dream car. Love everything else about it. Is this going to be an ongoing problem forever? I would like it to get recalled because I know for a fact that I am not the only one experiencing this. Tons of forums out there are explaining the exact same issue. What a same, because this car is pleasing to the eye but.... I don't want to recommend it to someone because of this issue.. Currently waiting to be able to get the car in the shop because the transmission departments are booked... Makes me wonder if they are all 2020 ford explorers |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Apr 29, 2021 |
State | AZ |
Description | Leaked transmission oil. Vehicle shifts hard into gear like if it were up hill and itas on a flat surface. This vehicle makes a load noise and would jerk. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Apr 26, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | On two occasions, instead of changing gear, the car increased rpms like it was in neutral and then lurched back into gear. In both cases, I was able to quickly brake, but it was a terrifying situation. I was in normal drive mode, and believe the gears were shifting from first to second. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Apr 26, 2021 |
State | TN |
Description | Under 10k miles and vehicle had started to jerk/lurch forward when stopped at traffic lights or stop signs and is now an ongoing problem. Called dealership on 4/16/21 and they can't get me in until june 1. Vehicle seems to not want to switch gears. Also is making a weird whiny sound while switching gear. No longer comfortable driving car at this point. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Apr 21, 2021 |
State | MS |
Description | There is a problem with the transmission. Vehicle was stuck in first gear. Turned vehicle off and then back on 3 times with no resolution. On another attempt the vehicle seemed to be stuck in third gear. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Apr 17, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | Backup camera shows only blue. Happens occasionally. Nothing is on camera. Sometime will remedy after turning vehicle off and then back on. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Apr 14, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | While driving at 70mph the transmission abruptly downshifted about threw us into the dash. Pulled over and shut off and restarted. At no time did any warning lamp come on. After restarting transmission shifted normal , then the shift to park message came on at highway speeds. Then it went off, then the transmission began lurching then it was ok. Still no warning lights. Parked car in driveway and turned it off. Message on dash said shift to park but it was in park. I got out and car rolled about 10 feet and stopped on it's own. Next day it drove fine for awhile and no warning lights then began to get message shift to park. Transmission then seemed to skip gears then began to not shift until rpms were very high. Parked car and with engine off message said shift to park even though it was in park. Had it towed to ford dealer. They said it was stuck in park. Then called to say it had metal in it and it needs a whole new transmission. This is unsafe that a car can roll by itself when in park. Unacceptable that it failed with no warning lights or messages at 19,000 miles. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Apr 07, 2021 |
State | WY |
Description | Vehicle was sitting in driveway overnight with no issues and when went to drive the next morning to take kids to school vehicle would not go above 10 mph. It gave the warning there was a powertrain malfunction, engine coolant over temperature (which we just had the recall done a week ago), and a regulatory malfunction indicator. We were not far from home, so returned back. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 28, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | The vehicle has started itself 4 times in the last 24 hours. It does not automatically shut off and the keys are not in the vehicle. It locks and starts as if it was auto started but does not shut off and no one has started the vehicle. It has been stationary and parked when this happened. This is not the only issue I am experiencing. It has also had transmission shifting issues as well as hill start assist issues. |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train, Steering |
Date | Mar 21, 2021 |
State | AR |
Description | Transmission was grinding and stopped pulling at approximately 17,000 miles. Had car towed to dealer. There was a transmission leak. It was repaired and 6 quarts of fluid added. Since the repairs, transmission is hard shifting and jerking. I've had the car back at the dealer for steering issues 3 times. At highway speeds (65mph and above) the car wanders all over the road, like there's slack in the rack and pinion. The dealer says the alignment is okay and refuses to listen to my complaints. Have issues with the sync. The radio will randomly not let you adjust the volume and have had the back-up camera replaced. Also, randomly will not sync-up with iphone. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Mar 19, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | When stopping, moving slow or pulling into a parking spot or garage you can hear and feel the fuel in the tank sloshing back and forth. This happens when the fuel tank is at least 1/2 full and is very noticeable but seems to go away when fuel is under 1/2 tank. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 18, 2021 |
State | AL |
Description | I bought a 2020 ford explorer last may. The vehicle has less than 7500 miles. Monday 3/15/21 I noticed a whining noise when the car was shifting into gears. It continued to happen as the week progress. It got worse by mid-week. Thursday 3/19/21 I called my local ford dearlership and was told I could drop it off for several days or the next available date was the 2nd weekend in april. I informed my husband who stated that there was a puddle of fluid under my car this morning. He call roadside assistance to come get my car. We had to move it from the parking garage I park in to the street and there was also a big puddle of fluid. He checked the oil and there was plenty of it in the car. By the time the tow truck arrive there was just a small puddle under the car. No warning lights on car came on to indicate an issue. |
Category | Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Mar 18, 2021 |
State | OH |
Description | My 20 ford explorer has experienced twice where the speed limiter (acc adapted cruise control)-(ssr speed sign recognition) reads the speed limit signs incorrectly. Posted speed was 65 mph and it increase speed to 85 mph. I was driving thru columbus ohio, on i670 going ne, starting at the leonard ave exit to i270 (to exit 10b sr161). I don't drive here often; the first time was feb 23 & then march 16 (photos attached) in the same exact location. On both occasions, the speed sign (speed sign recognition) on the dash read 85 mph for at least 3 miles before correcting itself to the posted 65 mph speed limit. On feb. 23rd, I was driving approx. 65mph with the acc set. The car accelerated quickly and not realizing at first what was happening, I pressed the brake to slow down (I was going over 75mph). The icon on the dash (ssr) read 85 mph which is 20 mph over the posted speed limit. The second time when the car sped up, it slowed abruptly due to a car crossing in front of me (within the 4 car following gap setting). Both times I had the cruise set (acc) around 69 mph and the car speed increased or tried to, to 85 mph before realized what it was doing. Either time I could have caused an accident or been cited for speeding. I have video of the incident if needed. Why I'm submitting this to you... I called my service department and it was suggested by them to check my exterior sensors and clean them (wash my car) and contact ford corporate. I contacted ford corp. Via the 800#, I was instructed to call my service department to have the car looked at. I also contacted ford via their facebook site. They requested personal/privy information to be sent thru the social media site but wouldn't give me a secure email to submit to. So I'm at a loss to who can help resolve this issue. |
Category | Lane Departure: Warning, Power Train |
Date | Mar 17, 2021 |
State | OK |
Description | Previous complaint of 11394378, they tried to fix it by changing valve body for transmission. That didn't work so now I'm needing a new transmission. Been with them for over a month. They are working on it, but still an issue at this time. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 16, 2021 |
State | GA |
Description | In november 2020 we took our brand new 2020 explorer to the dealer we purchased it from for a leaking oil and transmission issue as well as the transmission having trouble shifting, lurching, and getting stuck in gear. They advised that the oil drain was not tight enough but the transmission needed parts. We took it back in dec and they put a shift kit in. This did not fix the problem and they said they needed to order other parts but they were back ordered and would be in around jan 2021. January came and went and no contact. I contacted the dealer in february and they said they had not received the parts. I contacted them again end of february and they had the parts but no transmission person. I contacted them again beginning of march and was told they still had no transmission person and would call us within a week to get it figured out. Still no one called and on march 16 I called the dealer again. They once again said they had no transmission person but would bring the car in on the 30th to put in a new valve body and attempt any other repairs they find. In the mean time we are driving around in a car that we do not believe is safe due to the transmission issues and the dealer does not seem to care. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Mar 16, 2021 |
State | ME |
Description | This is a police cruiser. 3,510 miles. The air conditioning only seems to come on when the outside temperature is above 50 degrees. Below that with the air conditioning activated and on low the vents blow warm air making it very hot inside the passengers compartment. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
Date | Mar 15, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | While making a turn around under the freeway, I saw an upcoming suv stopped for cross traffic. By the time I was where the suv was I saw the suv accelerate to merge. I checked over my shoulder for the cross traffic unaware the suv had stopped again in front of me. My suv's collision warning and braking system never engaged or alerted me. I ended up rear ending the suv in front of me causing a fended bender. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 15, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Vehicle is now having hard shifts when in lower gears, it has a hard time going from drive to reverse. Engine makes a humming or low growling noise, like it did before the transmission cooler busted in december 2020. This all happens when driving the vehicle it doesn't want to accelerate properly anymore it lags. Several times I've gone to reverse into my drive way abs it doesn't shift at first it takes a couple of pushes on the accelerate for it to catch. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 15, 2021 |
State | WA |
Description | Same failure as other drivers have reported. Very occasionally, immediately after engaging drive/reverse from a fresh start, parked position, brakes do not work correctly. Very hard wall on break press with very little to no breaking as a result. Vehicle continues to slowly roll in selected direction regardless of break pedal pressure until holding the break and transferring back into park. No error is displayed during this event. So far, 100% of the time, transferring the vehicle back into drive/reverse after having experienced this issue, it does not immediately reproduce. Issue has occurred 3 times in 17,000 miles. |
Category | Structure:body |
Date | Mar 13, 2021 |
State | NC |
Description | Interior flooding, in spare tire well and all flooring areas. Six gallons of water removed. Waiting for ford dealership to inspect. They believe a weld has gone bad. |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 12, 2021 |
State | MS |
Description | When shifting into drive, vehicle will randomly have a hard brake pedal and vehicle will lurch forward with increased rpm. Use of e-brake or putting transmission in park required to stop movement. Place trans in park and restart of engine and problem gone until next time. Use of reverse, vehicle will suddenly stop and sound as if you hit something. Brake pedal very hard. Have to place trans in park and restart engine. The issue occurs from a stationary condition, in driveway or public parking areas, so this causes concern that this may ultimately result in accident or collision with a structure, another vehicle, or a pedestrian! Issue cannot be repeated on demand. It is entirely random and every drive has to be approached with the expectancy that the vehicle will move without normal brakes to stop. There are no alerts to tell us why (or which system) is the issue. This has occurred randomly since buying this explorer st. Ford service seems surprised and unaware of this issue (and more). |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 12, 2021 |
State | NE |
Description | Transmission is catching which switching gears. Car has under 6,000 miles. Transmission will not switch gears and catch. Car will jolt forward and it feels like I am being rear ended |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 11, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | I was backing out of a parking space and I tapped the brake. The car kept going backwards so I pressed it harder. It felt like the brake became concrete and would not go down any further. I pressed harder and it finally went down. I did not receive any error messages. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 10, 2021 |
State | NC |
Description | Vehicle sticks, jerks or lunges while shifting in low gears |
Category | Engine, Steering |
Date | Mar 05, 2021 |
State | MI |
Description | Steering wheel shakes and engine sounds as it is going to stall at speeds between, 35 and 45 mph. Ford had vehicle for two weeks total and confirmed issues. They did not know how tp fix. They said vehicle is within specifications' |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Mar 03, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | The brakes locked up, steering wheel locked, gas locked, all sensors went haywire and I slid off my driveway and into the woods thankfully avoiding collision on my property. Dealership could not duplicate the issue. I was leaving my house on my driveway when it happened.*dt*jb |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Warnings, Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 02, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | The most recent and severe incident occurred february 27 2021. I've started my 2020 ford explorer st via remote and entered it to move it in order to load the vehicle. The loading the vehicle all in all took about 15 minutes, the whole time, it was idling. I've put the vehicle in reverse, backed out of a spot and started driving forward in the lot I was in at about 10mph. I've attempted to stop the vehicle, but then it was not slowing down properly. I had to use the e-brake button to stop it. It came to an immediate stop. The dash was cycling through numerous warnings; 1. Hill descent control fault 2. Anti lock brake fault 3. Pre collision assist not available 4. Hill start assist warning 5. Hill descent control fault 6. Service advance track system 7. Check brake system 8. Park brake fault service now I tried testing the brakes, while going forward and backwards, the were weak and inconsistent. Like they were pulsing with full power and then nothing. Restarting the vehicle made all those warnings disappear. Took it to the dealership, which is the 2nd time that is it going in for brake and power train related issues. Few times a months since I've bought it, the only issue I would have, is on startup and immediate movement, the brakes would sometimes bottom out and not be able to stop the vehicle when in gear unless I put it in neutral or pump the brakes. Was told that they do not see any codes, and might be just a weird timing with my start ups. The most recent event on the 27th, was what prompted me to report this. Vehicle was idling for a while and moving with weak or no brakes to stop. That could have resulted in an incident. |
Category | Back Over Prevention |
Date | Mar 01, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that upon purchase of the vehicle, the rearview camera would lose stream upon use as the reverse brake assist not available; see manual warning message would illuminate on the instrument panel. The contact spoke with tomball ford (22702 tx-249, tomball, tx 77375) where he was informed that they were unaware of any issues with the rearview camera however, upon investigation, the contact discovered nhtsa campaign number: 20v575000 (visibility) which he linked to the failure. The dealer offered to repair the failure however, declined to repair the part for free. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 20. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 28, 2021 |
State | NC |
Description | Very hard jerky shifting. When accelerating and braking. 1st to 2nd gear and 2nd to 3rd. Has gotten worse over time. Happening for months |
Category | Suspension |
Date | Feb 27, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | Car was thumping at left rear after recall (for transmission oil cooler) was just completed. I hadn't left the parking lot. Ford mechanic said it was the shock. I was told that the car was safe to drive and to bring it back after 3 days. I'm having my doubts as to whether it's safe or not. They said they'd change only that absorber. If one is bad after 3 months, why wouldn't the others? I bought the car new in november 2020. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Feb 24, 2021 |
State | NH |
Description | When parking vehicle or backing out of garage slowly, you hear fuel sloshing under the front seats like there is no baffle in the tank. Very very noticeable and also mentioned on this site from other ford owners. A tsb should be issued by ford immediately as they did for the same issue with tsb 18-2378. This is not a normal condition and it's a cop out for ford not to address this problem that they have had in other ford products and this one now as well!! |
Category | Electrical System, Engine, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 21, 2021 |
State | MD |
Description | The vehicle will just shut off at anytime. It's not the auto start feature, all power will turn off at anytime. It has happened numerous times while driving waiting at a red light or to make a turn. It always happens while driving in the city. |
Category | Engine, Power Train |
Date | Feb 14, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | The transmission on the vehicle started going out as we were driving back from an out of town trip on a highway. My husband made a stop at a light and upon accelerating after the stop, the vehicle made a grinding sound and began having engine issues. We made an appointment at the local dealership where my husband drove the vehicle on city streets due to high rpms despite low speed. The vehicle is at the dealership as of monday february 8th and we have been told parts are on back order with no eta. The vehicle does have a recall for a transmission intercooler. We have read about this issue in numerous 2020 ford explorers. |
Category | Structure:body:door |
Date | Feb 12, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | Drivers door locks and will not let you enter and/or exit vehicle at its discretion . I am handicapped and cannot climb over seats to exit vehicle. Only happens to driver's door. Would be safety issue if in an accident and/or fire. |
Category | Back Over Prevention, Back Over Prevention: Camera System |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | DE |
Description | All cameras intermittently not functioning. Dealer replaced camera module. Rear camera still not functioning. Said current recall for rear camera does not apply because my vehicle manufacturer date is out of range for recall. Dealer blaming rear camera not working on ford accessory dash camera. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | DE |
Description | Rear hatch erratic behavior. Hatch closes by itself, while loading items into trunk area. Close button on hatch does not work. Hatch opened by itself. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | DE |
Description | I have received a auto hold system fault message on my cluster. The dealer is unable to replicate or produce any fault codes. This is part of the braking system. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | DE |
Description | Transmission shifts erratically, hard shifts, and twice press the accelerate and vehicle does not move. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | At 6700 miles transmission began harsh , jolting shifting mostly in low gears , downshifting . So bad as to be undriveable, been at the dealers service dept. For 8 days now. This problem totally eclipses the dead battery - deep sleep mode that the car experiences about once a month. Had it towed to ford the first time it happened , they say nothing wrong , that we probably leave our lights on . We don't go anywhere without jumper cables. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a stand still, she shifted the gear shifter to reverse and was unable to stop the vehicle in a reasonable amount of time while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated she had to depress the brake pedal to the floor to stop the vehicle. The contact stated she had experience the failure three times. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer autonation ford sanford (4911 wayside dr, sanford, fl 32771, (407)680-0781) where the dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
State | DE |
Description | Chrome on windows switches peels cutting user. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera |
Date | Feb 08, 2021 |
State | WA |
Description | When switched to reverse, the screen turns blue and says rear parking assist disabled. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Feb 04, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | I took my car to the bank and parked in the parking lot and while I went to the atm I left the car running I wasn't away from the car for more then three minutes and when I got back in the car it started sputtering and then just shut off. I tried to start it back up but upon doing so the vehicle wouldn't turn over. The engine sounded like it wanted to turn over but wouldn't. I tried this a bunch of times until the tow truck arrived( about an hour) but every time the vehicle still wouldn't turn over. Just continued to make the engine noise then would shut off. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 02, 2021 |
State | OK |
Description | Have had the vehicle for about 4 months. It isn't driven very much. Recently started to notice that went slowing down it downshift very roughly from 35 to 20 mph. About 2300 miles on the vehicle and they already said that they needed a new transmission and valve body. They said that it would be covered by warranty but it's odd that pretty much a brand new vehicle that's not driven often and that it's already needing a large scale replacement to nothing I've done wrong. |
Category | Electrical System, Lane Departure: Blind Spot Detection, Suspension |
Date | Jan 31, 2021 |
State | CA |
Description | This truck has a few different issues on and off issues 1. The reverse camera stops working turns blue when trying to reverse 2. All my warning sensors stop working going reverse or forward when trying to park there's even times when I'm driving and I get a warning that my sensor are not working to refer to manual 3. My car car has an auto shut off when on a red light for some reason this is not working I get the symbol on dash board but is crossed with a line 4. When driving and I step on gas the rpm stay high like if the engine or transmission is trying to catch up 5. When driving or you step on gas heavily I get a rotten egg smell or sewer type smell in cabin not a pleasant smell I'm constantly keep having this issues on and off will need to find out is ford is gonna fix this issues they keep giving me the run around that there's no worker right. Now |
Category | Engine, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Jan 30, 2021 |
State | ID |
Description | This particular problem has occurred on more than one occasion, most recently today (january 30, 2021). While driving and then accelerating, the car sputtered and almost died. We were pulling into oncoming traffic and needed to accelerate. We pushed on the accelerator and the car made a sound as if it would speed up, instead it stalled. (a message flashed on the screen, but it was too quick for me to read.) we were almost hit by a car before we were able to pull into a parking lot. We turned off the car and drove around for a few minutes. We went to pull back out onto the street and accelerate when it sputtered and stalled. We turned the car off and sat. We were lucky we were not on a highway or busier street. |
Category | Electrical System, Engine, Power Train |
Date | Jan 29, 2021 |
State | SC |
Description | I have a 2020 explorer limited edition, with just over 10,000 miles. Since I got it, I noticed that shifting from 2-4 gear was pretty rough, and jerky. About 2 months ago, I left the driveway, heard a thud when I put it in d, and it didn't move. I hit the gas harder, and it moved, but would not leave 1st gear. Got a check engine light. Turned it off, waited a while, tried it again, and it drove fine, but check engine light was still on. The car drove fine for a couple of weeks. The check engine light went off the next day. 2 weeks later, I took it out of the drive, put it in drive and again, it wouldn't leave first gear. Put the car back in the garage, waited a while, and it was fine. Called the dealer, and scheduled an appt because I can't have these serious issues continue. My concern was that they won't be able to duplicate the issue, and just send me on my way. Needless to say, they ran several diagnostics tests, and found some issues/codes. They performed a pinpoint test trace and found codes p062c, p2242. They then performed tsb 20-2217 again, and the codes were clear. For a short time after, the jerkiness in the shifting of the gears went away, however that has since returned. Stopping and starting, and driving especially in neighborhoods, is very frustrating. It is uncomfortable to say the. Least, the very aggressive shifting, and jerking of the vehicle at low speeds. I have not yet had the same issue where the vehicle refused to change gears, or was stuck without moving, however the transmission as a whole is very problematic, and somewhat scary to drive. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 28, 2021 |
State | MI |
Description | 11/6/20 driving home from work and transmission started to jerk and clunk twice each time I slowed down. Immediately drove to ford dealer and was given a loaner. 12/30/20 dealer called and said repair was complete and vehicle was delivered to my house. The following evening I drove it and found that it was not fixed. When driving over 30 and then slowing down, transmission would jerk and clunk at just below 30 mpg. Drove explorer to dealer on 1/5/21 (jerking and clunking each time I decelerated) and have been waiting for repair since. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 28, 2021 |
State | MO |
Description | The transmission is not functioning correctly. When shifting from second to third and third to second, the engine revs high. The car then jolts forward when moving back into second gear causing safety concers. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 26, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a ford explorer. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked on a hill with the emergency brake engaged, the vehicle rolled and crashed into a 2019 jeep commander without warning. There were no reported injuries, fire, air bag deployment or police report filed. The vehicle was towed to nemer ford( 323 quaker rd, queensbury, ny 12804;(518) 798-8834) where it was diagnosed that the relay and module needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified, where an extended warranty was provided. The failure mileage was 20,000. *dt*jb*dt*jb |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 26, 2021 |
State | SD |
Description | The vehicle displayed a check engine light and made a whining sound when shifting. The next day attempted to shift into reverse and the vehicle would not move. Had vehicle towed to dealership where we purchased the explorer. The dealer identified the issue as an electronic valve control for the transmission. 3+ weeks later we are still waiting for parts to be received by the dealer. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Jan 25, 2021 |
State | NJ |
Description | Vehicle will not start when parked on driveway w/ nose facing street if there is less than about a quarter of a tank of gas in it. When tried to many times the dash reads cranking limit exceeded. Vehicle was towed to dealership - 2021 loaner was provided and the same issue happened. Dealership also advised they had another customer with a 2021 explorer have the same issue a week prior. Was told to park my car in street and not use driveway or to always have more than a quarter tank of gas. These are not acceptable answers |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jan 25, 2021 |
State | MA |
Description | Our vehicle was in park in our driveway and rolled down to the street. The front wheels were on dry pavement and the rear on soft ice (it was 52 degrees outside at the time of the incident). The car rolled slowly backward down the driveway and was caught on our security camera doing so. I brought the car to ford (autofair of haverhill) and they have had the car for several weeks. They have no been able to determine was the issue is although they have admitted to me that there must be something wrong with the car. Ford corporate however has told them there is nothing wrong with the car and that it must have simply slid down the ice. This is not possible and the service manager at autofair ford also indicated that this was not possible. I can see that videos are unable to be uploaded here but I am happy to send the video of the car rolling with the tires visibly spinning, not sliding, down ice.*dt*dt*jb*dt consumer stated buy back was denied.*jb |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Jan 24, 2021 |
State | DE |
Description | I received my 2020 ford explorer back from the dealership on 01/23/2021, after it had been at the dealership since 12/22/2020 for an "overheating" issue, which turned out to be a module and sensor issue. While driving last night I received a warning for a "powertrain malfunction". I was able to get home with no issue by driving slowly. I parked the car overnight and checked the status this morning, 01/24/2021, in order to call roadside assistance and let them know what the current issue is. When I started the car I received warnings for "pre-collision assist" not available, "hill descent control" fault, "hill start assist" warning, and "anti-lock brake" fault. I attempted to move the vehicle in my driveway to make it easier to load on a tow truck, and I had almost no braking power. I had to put the vehicle in park to stop it from rolling down my driveway. This will be the third time in a month that the vehicle has to be towed to the dealership for a major issue that has left me stranded. This vehicle has 7,393 miles and was purchased 04/2020. |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking, Back Over Prevention: Warnings, Lane Departure: Assist |
Date | Jan 21, 2021 |
State | WA |
Description | When placed in reverse, the back up camera screen turns blue and you cannot see, error alarm sounds on dash. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 20, 2021 |
State | VA |
Description | Two days prior to the vehicle not working, I heard a whining and grinding sound. I took it to the nearest ford dealership and they said it was the transmission. I couldn't get an appointment until 10 days later. So, I went home. The next day I tried to take the vehicle to the dealership that I purchased it from and the vehicle wouldn't move. My ford app said it was the powertrain. I called a tow truck and they took it to the dealership (where I purchased it). The dealership called two days later and said it was the transmission. Now, I am awaiting a "new" transmission to be put in my vehicle. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 18, 2021 |
State | FL |
Description | Complete failure of the transmission. 16,000 miles a whining noise started while shifting in low gears (similar sound to low power steering fluid) while my family was 4 states away over the new year weekend. Upon stopping I checked under the vehicle for leaking transmission fluid but saw no wet spot. We continued to drive a few more hours to a hotel. When stopping to make a left turn the whole vehicle shuttered and suddenly downshifted very hard. It hesitated to accelerate again across 2 lanes. This time I got out and checked under the vehicle while it was still running and found fluid leaking from the transmission cooler. I have a video of fluid coming out. The next attempt to even move the vehicle it has no power and would not move. |
Category | Seats |
Date | Jan 15, 2021 |
State | NY |
Description | 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 . |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking, Back Over Prevention: Warnings, Electrical System |
Date | Jan 13, 2021 |
State | PA |
Description | Over the last several days of heavy snow and rain, I've noticed significant leaking in the rear storage are of my 2020 explorer. Water will run down the right side of the trunk space, over the speaker grille, and into the storage compartment and spare tire space. As a result of this leak, I have had issues with the tailgate release not operating correctly (won't open), and more importantly, the audio control module which powers audio to the speakers in the car stops working intermittently. This poses a safety issue, since without sound from the speakers, I have no rear collision detection, no forward crash detection, and no cross traffic detection while in reverse. Furthermore, I am concerned that the loud popping noises coming from the driver and passenger side as well as the subwoofer can potentially start a fire due to electrical issues. According to tsb 20-2425, it appears a water leak in the rear of 2020 explorers is a known issue. The dealership refuses to honor the repair under the bumper to bumper warranty which covers my car for 36 months or 35000 miles (which ever comes first), so I am left with a car that is a major safety concern for me. The car is 100% paid for, but with my current financial situation, I cannot afford another vehicle even with trade-in value. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jan 08, 2021 |
State | NJ |
Description | Driving normally and warnings illluminates collition steering and 4wd fault. All of the sudent sterring becomes hard to turn I had to stop at the hightway restart the car the sterring was the same faulty. Drive home at night slowly. Contact dealer after that |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jan 07, 2021 |
State | NC |
Description | I was stopped in a parking space with the car running. I put the car in reverse to leave and noticed a car coming so I pushed on the brakes to stop, however the brakes did not engage. I pushed all the way to the floor and the car kept rolling. There was no resistance to the brakes, they felt loose with no resistance. I checked my feet to make sure I was actually pressing the brake and I was. The car was not stopping, and another car was coming behind me, so in order to finally stop I had to put the car into park. I waited a minute and then tried to put the car into drive and the brakes worked. I then put the car in reverse again and the brakes were working. About 30 minutes later I was attempting to turn the car on after leaving a store, and when I pressed the brake and then pushed the start button I received an error message that said to press the brake to start the car. However I was pressing the brake. I took my foot off the brake and then tried again and the car started. So this was a second time in the span of an hour that the car did not recognize the brake was pressed. The car was taken the very next day to the dealership however they did not see a code that had been thrown and they have been unable to replicate the issue. |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train |
Date | Jan 04, 2021 |
State | GA |
Description | I purchased my 2020 ford explorer in february 2020. Since purchasing I've had several electrical and other problems. I wish I had never purchased ford. I've had issues with the camera which had a recall which was fixed in november. I've also had a problem with both passenger and driver window not being operable or operating incorrectly, which stills happens periodically. I also had to have the transmission repaired due to a recall. However, I still receive messages within dash that tells me transmission not in park when backing up. I sometimes am driving and it feels as if transmission is slipping. I've had nothing but problem after problem with ford and do not recommend that anyone purchases. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jan 03, 2021 |
State | TX |
Description | Rearview camera randomly stops working with the screen becoming blue. Randomly happens when putting in reverse. Happens 80% of the time. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 29, 2020 |
State | IN |
Description | I have a 2020 explorer platinum. I have owned it for less than 30 days. Mileage at time of accident is 6853. I was traveling on a two lane country road, there was about one inch of fresh snow on the road. I was driving 20mph. I came to an s curve that I was familiar with. I slowed to 10mph. I began my turn to the right, I lost all steering, was fighting with the wheel, then slid into a guard rail. Body damage was mild/moderate. However steering was out at that point. I received a flurry of error messages hill start assist not available / reverse brake assist not available / pre-collision assist not available / service advance trac. I notified both my insurance and ford motor company. I towed it home myself. Then it was towed from my home to the dealer. |
Category | Electrical System, Structure:body |
Date | Dec 28, 2020 |
State | WA |
Description | Door latch failure. Door will no shut. Stuck open. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Service Brakes |
Date | Dec 28, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | The vehicle has a 'wake up' noise unlike any other that ford can show me. Once you open the drivers door, it make an extremely loud metal grinding noise under the hood in the abs area. After you drive the vehicle and park it, it does it by itself 30 mins later then again once you open up the door again. Also, the break pedal and breaks lock in place at times when going from park to drive or reverse. Not immediately, but once you start to move causing the vehicle to violently jerk. The 'crash warning' for a vehicle stopping short in front of you also goes off by itself without anything at all in front of you causing the alarm to sound and the vehicle to break on its on. This happens a various speeds but especially on the highway. All of these issues have been happening since I purchased the vehicle brand new in may of 2020 |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Dec 28, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | The first issue was with the car accelerating without pressing the gas. Rpms would increase and car would sound as if it was accelerating as well, when slowing driving through a parking garage. The car also down shifts and accelerates roughly. It is not smooth when transitioning to acceleration or de acceleration. When braking the car jerks until stopped enough to where our heads jerk. Putting car into gear, to drive from reverse, it lags until it kicks in and jerks hard. When shifting into reverse with the foot firmly on the brake, the vehicle begins to roll backward with my foot still on the brake. When you try to press the brake pedal to get car to stop moving, brake pedal does not depress all the way and does not stop the vehicle from moving. If you attempt to pump the brakes, there is a hard stop that prevents the brake pedal from going all the way to the floor. The only way to stop the vehicle is to put it back into park. |
Category | Electrical System, Engine |
Date | Dec 27, 2020 |
State | GA |
Description | 2020 ford explorer xlt purchased new from dealer 04/2020. On two separate occasions the starter would not activate to start the car. When the brake is depressed the starter button and exterior lights flash. The car was towed to the ford dealer, but the car started immediately according to technician. No issues were found. On the second occasion, the issue resolved spontaneously as well. Since I am not able to duplicate the problem with any regularity, there is no sense in taking the vehicle to the dealer. In both instances the vehicle was parked in a public parking lot with the engine turned off. The vehicle has less than 10k on it. |
Category | Power Train, Seats, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 23, 2020 |
State | WA |
Description | 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. |
Category | Seat Belts |
Date | Dec 23, 2020 |
State | TN |
Description | No accident at this time. This is regarding the knob shifter and its ability to automatically shift the vehicle into park when disconnecting the seat belt and opening the drivers door. The system works great unless you are using a seatbelt extender. I think this should be addressed. I don't think drivers are made aware of this issue. I certainly was not. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 23, 2020 |
State | WA |
Description | Tl* the contact leased a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while in the reverse position, the vehicle would independently stop abruptly without warning. On one occasion, the contact stated that his wife suffered whiplash while she was driving the vehicle and experienced the failure. The contact's wife had received medical attention for inflammation to her neck and back; she had also received therapeutic treatment for her injury. The contact took the vehicle to frontier ford(12610 thompson rd, anacortes, wa 98221) where it remained in their possession and had yet to be diagnosed. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure and a claim was filed. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 6,000. |
Category | Electrical System, Seats, Service Brakes |
Date | Dec 18, 2020 |
State | SC |
Description | 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. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 16, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | No recalls or notices as of december 4th. Took a road trip for wifes birthday from texas to oklahoma, car has less than 10k miles on it. On december 5th while driving to get breakfast tranamition started to slip on hills and gears started grinding. Called ford when I was in an area with reception. Ford was notified that the tranamition was slipping in an out of gear and there was a grinding noise. We were 300 miles from home with no dealership or tow option and limited service. Service adviser asked if we had the recall done on the transmition and told him we have received no notice. We played a back and fourth game were I told him we got no notice of the recall and he thought I was wrong. On december 5th when we were schedule to drive back, car would not come out of park, had to rip apart the center console to get to the emergency park override. While driving back car would commonly go out of gear, grind and while at constant speed fall out of gear. Ford advisor confirmed there was no way to add or check transmition fluid. Almost got rear ended on highway, service roads and on ramps on numerous occasions but knew ford would not pay for tow. Ford confirmed that the oil cooler was leaking but only replaced the cooler. Transmitionwas running low on fluid the entire time so now we have a new car with a damaged transmission. Ford advisor confirmed after I showed proof that recall was not on ford pass app, nhtsa website under vin. Ford is hiding issue to save money. Long time ford customer in 30s with over 5 new cars but this will be the last ford. Only got recall notice 5 days after car was taken to shop. Nhtsa still does not have recall. "recall" notice cites its a customer satisfaction program 20b34 but the trasmition will latterly fail due to this part issue causing long term issues on reliability of a k car. Tried to call for recall hot line and was hung up on! |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 16, 2020 |
State | OH |
Description | My 2020 explorer st is displaying 4wd fault, drive mode unavailable, service 4wd. Reverse brake assist not available. The info screen stay black and will not load. The vehicle also displays pre collision fault and brakes hard on a clear and open road. Vehicle breaks by itself when reversing. The vehicle is also displaying numerous other faults. Vehicle will start on it's own. The break petal goes to the floor. The vehicle will sometimes break hard on it's own at highway speeds. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 14, 2020 |
State | ME |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the independent mechanic shop making necessary repairs for the police department. Without warning the vehicle went up in flames inside the garage of the independent shop. No injuries sustained. There was property damage. The fire department extinguished the flames and deemed the vehicle a total loss. A police report was made. The vehicle is awaiting insurance adjustor information for the cause of the failure that occurred. The contact mentioned nhtsa campaign number: 19v687000 (electrical system) as a possible solution to the failure however, the vin was not included. Darling's403 hogan rd, bangor, me 04401 (207) 992-1560 was contacted and informed the contact that no recalls were under the vin. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and has provided the contact with a case number. The failure mileage was unknown at this time. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 06, 2020 |
State | VA |
Description | All warning lights came on kept flashing that everything was wrong. Then the whole dash blacked out. I had no lights. No turn signals. Then they would come back on and off again. Had the car into the dealer on 7/20/20 when it keep saying head on collision and they told me nothing was wrong. On nov. 20 had wench light come on and said the car could not hold on hill. On nov. 24 they said they could not find any fault and problems. When I left I was at the light and the car accelerated trying to go forward. But I had my foot on the brake. So dec 5, is when all the lights and electrical issues are going on. I was driving with all this going on I have a video but don't know how to add to the file. Also I could not check all the warning light above |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking, Lane Departure: Blind Spot Detection |
Date | Nov 29, 2020 |
State | VA |
Description | Back up camera inoperative. In reverse, the vehcle will switch to the backup camera but the driver can not see the images, the screen would be dark and snowy. |
Category | Electrical System, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
Date | Nov 29, 2020 |
State | VA |
Description | Vehicle has been in multiple repair shops multiple times for fuel pump, electrical, and power train problems. The first time it shut down in the middle of a parking lot, it was towed was at 1720 miles. It currently has 7772 miles. I would get it out of the shop one day the car would either have the same warning lights appear or break down totally. Prime example picked it up on monday, november 23, 2020 and it started experiencing problems on the 24th as soon as the gas warning light came on the car shut off at 65 mph and all the cabin lights came on inside the car. I managed to get it restarted after 20 minutes around 8:15 pm and get to a gas station and I put gas in it and the gas warning lights went out. Then shut down completely at 70 mph on the 25th on highway 421 near yadkinville, nc. Warning lights would appear at the moment the car shuts down. (near hit by a tractor-trailer that swerved to miss hitting me.) had it towed to two separate ford dealerships. The first said they could not work on it because it was a holiday and they knew I was out-of-town from virginia. The second dealership inquired about the problem. Ohmed out the fuel component and discovered the connector was defective on the fuel pump and it had been wired improperly and replaced the missing screws on the fuel pump. The shop rewired the component correctly and the vehicle runs. I still consider the car unsafe because I can still feel the powertrain jerk subtlety. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Nov 27, 2020 |
State | HI |
Description | I was parked on an incline ramp in a parking lot and tried to maneuver out between the vehicle in front and behind me. I put the vehicle in drive and reverse a few times to get out. I maneuvered enough to get out of the space but when I put the vehicle in drive (d), it revved as I stepped on the gas (like it was in neutral) but the vehicle kicked back into reverse which is what my previous gear was. My vehicle then rolled back. When I looked at the gear select it was on drive (d). This caused me to hit the parked vehicle behind me causing minor damage to my vehicle but major damage to the other vehicle. The transmission lags but I was certain that it was in drive before I stepped on the gas. The cause is probably due to the drivetrain not engaging causing a loss of drive. I believe its related to ford recall 20s65 which I did not know of at the time of the crash. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Nov 25, 2020 |
State | OK |
Description | I had driven 8 hours, (around 575miles) into a 14. 5 hour drive. The mechanical shift default flashed on the dash screen & the wrench symbol. I exited the highway to the nearest gas station. I checked the manual, did a google search & it said this was a transmission fault. I checked to see if the car would start, after filling up the gas tank. It started, but as soon as the explorer was put into any gear, it shifted itself back into park & made an audible "clunk" sound. I called aaa to get it towed to the nearest dealership, which was chevy. This was sat, dealership didn't open until mon. Called the chevy dealer & he said he could not repair it. Called 5 ford dealerships & no one could get it repaired this week, so we had to have our explorer towed from al to ok to our mechanic. We were told by 3 dealerships that ford is having transmission problems with this model & we should check recalls. I don't see 2020 explorer included in the current transmission recalls, but this ford explorer 2020 has less than 3,000 miles & due to the "shift system fault" defect, it can't be driven without a major repair. I'm a very un-happy customer right now!🤬😡 |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Nov 24, 2020 |
State | AZ |
Description | This has happened over and over . . The car will not start. Sometimes it will just stop and will not start again. Sometimes it will happen in a parking lot. Sometimes it happens in the garage. I have had it towed to the dealership at least 4 times. They cannot find anything wrong with it. I can't be the only person this is happening to! |
Category | Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking, Electrical System, Visibility/wiper |
Date | Nov 22, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | When reversing camera will show blue screen and not give any additional warnings since nothing can be detected. This is and on and off issue so can happen at any time. I've added pictures taken at different days and times. I've just put today's date because I can't remember how long as this has been happening for. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Visibility/wiper |
Date | Nov 17, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Several times when the rear camera just doesn't work - no particular reason but it's just out. It usually resumes normal operation after shutting off the car and restarting but sometimes I've had to shutdown and restart more than once (see picture from most recent issue). The emergency breaking system, particularly when moving in reverse has engaged unexpectedly numerous times without warning and without any danger or obstructions in the way of my car. This has happened in my driveway well before the sidewalk and when there have been no people are animals anywhere nearby. This has also happened at other times and places beyond my driveway and I've had the emergency breaking system engaged while in drive and stopped at a stop light. There have been other unusual electrical issues where that aren't necessarily safety related but might indicate a broader electrical issue. For example, the radio often doesn't work or respond to commands to change channels, volume, etc. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Nov 17, 2020 |
State | WA |
Description | I had been driving with no problems. Turned in to a minimart, parked vehicle. When I returned a few minutes later, I started the vehicle, backed up, stopped, then started to pull out of the parking lot to turn onto the highway. I accelerated and the transmission would not go out of second gear. I pulled off the highway shut the vehicle off, restarted and tried to continue my trip. The transmission would not go out of second gear. I continued with the engine running at high rpm until I reached home. I called for assistance, and had the vehicle towed to the dealer where I got a rental car and returned home. They called the house and said the vehicle was ready. I returned and found that they reprogrammed the pcm module and road checked the car with no problems found. I had received a ford recall notice in late may about the problem and recall is good until may 31, 2021. Vehicle had 1406 miles when I left the dealer. |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes |
Date | Nov 15, 2020 |
State | MN |
Description | When put into gear, brakes would not apply had to press extremely hard both in reverse and forward. Had to put vehicle back in park and turn off. Let reset, turn back on, and brakes started to work normal. Back up camera went to blank blue screen also. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Nov 10, 2020 |
State | OH |
Description | 2020 ford explorer st with approximately 5,200 miles. Yesterday, I started the vehicle and put it into reverse and it started to roll backwards even though my foot was on the brake. Regardless of how hard I pushed the brake, the car continued to lunge backward until I fully depressed/repressed the brake. With my foot on the brake the vehicle continued to move. This same event occurred a few months ago but when in drive and the vehicle continued to lunge forward despite my foot full pressing the brake as much as possible. I shut off the vehicle, waited a few minutes, and attempted to restart. Restarted without issue. Today, I attempted to start the car and all lights on the dashboard began flashing and the engine failed to turnover. The in-dash display then began beeping, flashing all service/hazard/warning indicators, and cycling through the following error messages: - steering assist fault service required; - see manual (with wrench icon indicating powertrain fault); - front camera fault service required; - service advancetrac; - full accessory power active; - park brake fault service now; - pre-collision assist not available; - check park aid; - reverse brake assist not available see manual; - hill descent control fault; - normal cruise active adaptive braking off; I turned off the vehicle and attempted a few more restarts ranging in intervals from an immediate start/stop, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes without success (same error messages displayed as described above). My next attempt was a few hours later and the vehicle started without error, but did not give any indication that the vehicle had failed to start the previous time and the 'powertrain fault' wrench icon remained lit. |
Category | Electrical System, Steering |
Date | Oct 28, 2020 |
State | NY |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle loss motive power without warning. The contact stated that he slowed down and regained control of the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,440. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Oct 23, 2020 |
State | FL |
Description | Engine malfunction indicator lamp came on 10/15/20 while driving.. It was taken to the dealer and I was told that it was a thermostat problem which could wait until there was a loner car available. On 10/20/20 while driving 70 miles /hr, the engine coolant over temperature came on and it went into a powered down reported fail safe mode running on 5 cylinders . The vehicle had to be transported back to the dealer and now I am being told it is a wire harness which has to be replaced and there was no engine overheat or damage to the engine. Waiting for it to be replaced. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Oct 18, 2020 |
State | NC |
Description | When putting vehiclre into reverse, the backup camera works only intermittently. Warning comes up to see owners manual which provides no information to resolve this problem. |
Category | Engine, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Oct 16, 2020 |
State | OH |
Description | There are many issues with this vehicle. The first issue is that water is coming inside of the vehicle and pooling up on the passenger side floor. The second issue is water inside the passenger taillight. The third issue is the allwheel drive sensor is malfunctioning. The fourth and last issue with the vehicle is that the converter is cracked on the driver's side and exhaust fumes are coming into the cabin and is making the passengers sick. This is after ford had replaced the motor at 12,000 miles because cylinder two malfunctioned. |
Category | Engine, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Oct 15, 2020 |
State | NC |
Description | Car was in drive or reverse but would not move, like the gearing was not engaged. Pressed on gas it finally took off almost hitting another car. Took to ford, they fixed so they say, but it has happened 4 more times. Yesterday, was in parking lot and put in reverse and took off. When it is acting up, the transmission sounds like it clunks or gonna fall out. Back up camera is still not working and can not see behind you or when you are going to hit something. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Oct 14, 2020 |
State | PA |
Description | Vehicle jerked very hard while slowing down, around 30mph and 1500 rpm, worsening to include violent bucking when pulling out around 1000-2000 rpm and 20-30mph, worsening yet to affecting another gear while slowing down. Dealership told me to drive it until appt.(over a week later). Snap ring broke and transmission housing cracked upon inspection at dealership, new transmission installed |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Oct 09, 2020 |
State | NC |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while at a drive thru window, the vehicle caught on fire under the hood. The contact stated that the roadside assistance of ford had the vehicle towed to tri-city ford, 912 s van buren rd, eden, nc 27288, and was diagnosed that the wiring harness and starter battery needed to be replaced. The contact mentioned that the dealer informed him that the wire harness connected with the pulley between the starter and battery caused the failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired and still remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 7,850. |
Category | Electrical System, Electronic Stability Control, Service Brakes |
Date | Oct 07, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | The vechile abs brake system is not working. My new car has been increasing speed on its own. The agency has not been able to provide a resolution and warning sensor goes off that the brake system is not working. This happened from one day to the next, the truck is left in clean garage and minimally driven. This makes the truck unsafe. I have contacted ford multiple times but they end y call without a resolution. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Oct 01, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | Back up camera malfunctioning. My car was built nov 1, 2019 not covered by current recall but having same issues. |
Category | Electrical System, Electronic Stability Control |
Date | Sep 30, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | Was driving down the highway 70ish mph with the cruise control on and the following errors came out of no where less than 5,000 miles on the car and had the oil changed the day before (by a certified ford dealer) powertrain malfunction/reduced power, pre-collision assist not available, the hill start assist warning. The cruise control was no longer available after that. We were 1 hour from home. We did make it home just wasn't able to use the cruise control. Had the dealership hook it up to read the code errors. Has no explanation of why and cleared the codes. Just said that for some reason the car lost communication with the car. I have driven it for 2 days since no more errors so far but I am waiting.. |
Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Dynamic Brake Support/brake Assist |
Date | Sep 30, 2020 |
State | OH |
Description | Vehicle detected possible collision and applied brakes. There was nothing anywhere near me. Then several faults appeared. Service 4wd, pre collision assist fault, stabilitrack fault, drive mode unavailable fault. Info screen went all black. I was driving at 45 mph and a straight 2 lane road with no traffic in site. This is now the second time this has happened. |
Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
Date | Sep 26, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Received malfunction indicator lamp- regulatory |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Sep 25, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Vehicule was purchased new end of may 2020 and transsmission had to be replaced with less than 2500 miles in september 2020. Frecuents jolts would occur when I would hit over 40mph and when I would slow down around 20-25 mph. I brought my explorer to the dealership and I had to have my transmission replaced based on analysis performed by ford technicians. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Sep 24, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Hood has no safety latch. Car was in motion at approximately 10mph on a subdivision street and hood abruptly lifted onto windshield and busted windshield. This resulted in glass particles flying into the cab onto both front seating areas. |
Category | Steering:rack And Pinion |
Date | Sep 19, 2020 |
State | MD |
Description | Purchased new 2020 ford explorer st and the steering failed 3 times in 5 months. Returned the car to the dealer each time for repairs. In all cases some or all steering went out while I was driving the vehicle. On june 15th I had a severe wreck and totaled the car as I tried to navigate a slight curve in the road. |
Category | Electrical System, Engine, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Sep 17, 2020 |
State | PA |
Description | Tried to start the car and would not start. The screen on dash board went crazy and everything was flashing. Head lamps came on and air blower for heat came on high automatically. Seemed like some kind of electrical problem. The dash was flashing everything and would not start the car. Waiting for the tow truck for 2 hours and I tried again and it started just fine. Brought the car home but can not duplicated the problem. There is something wrong with it. I take 5 boys for football practice and don't want this car to let me and those boys sitting in the dark.. This is why I bought a new car so it would be more dependable. It would not allow me to start it and the whole dash was going crazy and flashing many things . Hope this helps. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Sep 15, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | Vehicle is jerking while accelerating. Rpm gauge hand is jumping back and forth between 1,750 and 2,250. Takes around 10 seconds to down shift when pressing the break after going freeway speeds. |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Sep 14, 2020 |
State | GA |
Description | Total electrical shutdown when stopped at turn lane of 6 lane hwy intersection. Reportedly due to low transmission fluid automatic shut-down. Vehicle was recall buy-back repair to transmission cooler failed to correct leaking line connections. No warning. Shuts down all power to all systems. No warning flasher. No window power; no door lock controls. Reset after 30 min. Stranded in center turn lane; could not open windows, rear hatch, or doors. Had disabled wife & 3 dogs in 95 deg. Temps. Inside car 115 deg. Plus. Computer protects drive trane over life & safety! When it reset after 30 min. Engine check light came on. No actual message. No way to check transmission fluid levels! No option to add fluid. Only dealer service option to check or remedy. This is unacceptable. I figured by-pass by turning transmission to park before each full stop. Kept running for 300 miles on return home to safety. Error message is appropriate. Safety over-ride is appropriate with warning signal like no seat-belt alarm. Shut-down of all systems is absurd response to low fluid levels. Add means to read fluid levels, mech. Or electronically. Add method to restore fluids w/o dealer service. My company owns 2 ford explorers & former ford vehicles. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Sep 08, 2020 |
State | IL |
Description | While driving across state, aug 3, the transmission experienced hard shifting between first and second gear and no warning light came on the dashboard. When taking it to the dealer the next morning the car, on it's own, went into park and would not shift out. This was frightening as it just it's self down shut down. It was towed to the dealership where they found a manual override switch to free it. The car was leaking transmission fluid and a new case installed. While driving it off the lot, it started doing it again. They looked at it for a second time, aug 10, and said a sensor needed to be reset so it could "relearn my driving habits" once again, driving it off the lot, it still had issues shifting but not as hard. I gave it the 2 weeks they said it would take for it to relearn and it made it worse! On sept 3, it then shifted hard when decelerating from second to firs and took it straight to the dealership. While going 50mph it did a hard shift and then started to decelerate on it's own like a break was being pushed and then hard shift out of it. It is now in the shop again, 3rd time in one month, waiting for a sensor from a tsb that came out sept 1 that "should fix the problem" but the part is on back order until october. I bought a brand new 2020 explorer in february and this is outrageous and had this many transmission issues. These bandages are not helping. |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes, Visibility/wiper |
Date | Sep 07, 2020 |
State | PA |
Description | Starting about the beginning of july my new 2020 explorer st started slamming on the brakes in reverse, with no objects near by. Then it started throwing a fault for the reverse braking system. I have had the vehicle back to the dealer 3 times for the same issue. After the second time it had more fault codes for hill assist, forward collision, and advanced trac. After the third time at dealer they assured me the issue was fixed. Needless to say it is having the issues again. I have also had the check engine light come on and they determined the temp sensor needed to be replaced. The flex pipe is making a horrible noise as well and the solution was to put a clamp on it and the sound is much better but still there! This vehicle seems to be a lemon. |
Category | Steering, Suspension |
Date | Sep 03, 2020 |
State | CO |
Description | On saturday august 22, I drove my 2020 ford explorer sport to work in my company parking lot. When I attempted to leave work to go home, after starting the car, I received a succession of warning notices - hill start assist not available / reverse brake assist not available / pre-collision assist not available / service advance trac / steering loss - stop safely. The car was brand new, not even a year old and has only 7,000 miles. The car was towed to summit ford in siverthorne colorado on august 23 where it has been for two weeks. It is absolutely outrageous that a relatively new car would have a catastrophic failure of the steering system without warning leaving me without a vehicle for over two weeks. Needless to say, I will never purchase another ford product but they need to be held accountable for the inconvenience they have caused me with this obviously inferior product. |
Category | Electrical System, Engine, Service Brakes |
Date | Sep 01, 2020 |
State | TN |
Description | I have had this vehicle since february and it has been in the shop 5 times for various things! There is a jolt when it changes gears and when hitting brakes. I have a delay when I put the car in reverse which has almost caused accidents. It rolls forward, even with my foot on the brake and the jerks hard when it finally catches up and goes in reverse. Corporate will not get me out of this vehicle, even after it broke down and had to be towed while I was out of state on vacation! |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Aug 31, 2020 |
State | FL |
Description | The vehicle malfunction while it was in motion on the highway going 70mph pulling a trailer. The car. Would not accelerates properly and it seem like it was not shifting gears properly. The car kept going from driving to parking automatically. There were no indication lights during this process. Once the vehicle was brought to a stop, all the indication on the ford pass app appear;powertrain malfunctions and indicator lamp. Once outside the vehicle, there was transmission fluid leaking. The car was not able to be driven and had to be towed to the nearest ford dealership. Since it was after hours that the incident happen I was stuck in the highway for nearly 3 hrs awaiting for road side assistance from ford I then had to sleep in the vehicle since the car broke down on highway I-71 ohio and I reside in florida. |
Category | Seats |
Date | Aug 31, 2020 |
State | IA |
Description | 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. |
Category | Electronic Stability Control, Power Train |
Date | Aug 13, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | While my vehicle was in motion there was a loud clank. The car would then not accelerate properly. After stopping the vehicle there was a leak in the transmission fluid and then the car would not move. There was never any lights that appeared or any warning signs. It had to be towed to the ford dealership at my expense. Less then 6000 miles on the vehicle. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Aug 11, 2020 |
State | VA |
Description | 2020 ford explorer have an issue with the pre-collision assist, which overrides the electrical system and effectively disables the vehicle. This happened to me numerous times while driving on a highway. The vehicle then puts itself into a safe mode, which prevents accelerating and is extremely dangerous to operate. Ford acknowledged that this issue has been occurring, but their system techs at ford hq have not looked into the issue. |
Category | Electrical System, Structure:body |
Date | Aug 05, 2020 |
State | NY |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a stand still and attempting to start the vehicle, the front passenger's side mirror failed to open. The climate control failed to operate correctly, which created a visibility hazard for the driver. The contact stated that the blind spot detection, cross track, side obstacle detection, pre-collision assist not available warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to empire ford of huntington located at 333 w jericho turnpike, huntington, ny 11743, where it was diagnosed with needing to update an unknown software and to replace an unknown module. The vehicle was repaired, however the failure recurred. The vehicle had not been diagnosed nor repaired as of yet. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case which was recently closed. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000. |
Category | Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Aug 03, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | The last week of june 2020 while driving my explorer xlt a check brake system warning message started flashing on and off when applying the breaks. The message was difficult to read since it would go on and quickly off. My fordpass message center noted antilock break fault pre-collision assist not available hill start assist warning 40 min later fordpass noted same messages. I took it in to be serviced. They found that the electronic break booster need to be replaced. Approximately 10 days later while driving @ 35 mph I applied the breaks and the car jolted when coming to a slow stop. It definitely caught our attention we drove to our our destination around the corner. The car was off for approximately one hour. We got in the car drove down the road then when applying the breaks the jolt happened again this time more forcefully kicking our heads back. Luckily no other cars were behind me otherwise they would have slammed into us. We took the vehicle to the dealership asap. The entire drive over we drove slowly and it jolted at very application of the breaks while decelerating. At that point it was determined that my vehicle that I've only had under 4months with approximately 1300 miles on it needed a transmission replacement. |
Category | Service Brakes, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Aug 01, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | After turning car on and taking it out of park, break becomes extremely hard when you lift up off of it making it impossible to break. The car then rolls forward or backwards depending on if in drive or reverse. Even when putting all my weight on the break, the car moves forward or backward for about a second or two before the break finally softens and I'm able to break. Car them works as normal. I have almost rolled into objects behind me or in front of me due to this. Bought it new. Took it to dealership but they cant recreate it as it happens only a couple times a week. We did hear something rolling around in the compartment below the steering wheel and they have found several factory screws just rolling around. Not sure if that is causing this. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jul 31, 2020 |
State | WI |
Description | Periodically when starting my 2020 ford explorer the brake pedal will become very hard to push and the vehicle will roll on its own. After about 15 seconds the brakes will respond and then brake very hard. Alternatively, I have to switch the explorer into park and restart the vehicle and the brakes will be fine. I would say this happens roughly 2-3 times a month. I believe this to be a programming issue with the electronic brake booster. |
Category | Engine, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jul 29, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Purchased ford explorer st in sept 2019 and windshield was not properly installed. Took multiple rips to dealership to correct. And it is still not properly fixed. They had to reinstall windshield and passenger side pillar. The electrically connectivity with sync 3 has never worked properly. I have been to dealership multiple times and they could nto fix it. Then I went to start the car (early in morning) and 3 different times white smoke came billowing from exhaust. The first time I shut off the car thinking it was on fire. The second time, it dissipated quickly. The third time, I drove to dealership. They could not fix it. 5 days later more white smoke when I started it, and the engine malfunction indicator light came on. After 7 days at the dealership, they replaced a ect sensor. Still pending to see if a 'sensor' causes billowing white smoke from exhaust. Dealership refused to check head gaskets, cylinder head, or engine block which are the main sources for white smoke. This vehicle has had nothing but problems. Such a frustrating turn of events that continue. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jul 26, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | The vehicle experiences various fault codes: blind spot system fault; cross traffic system fail; and reverse brake assist not available. In addition, air conditioning does not work, including right side passenger window and right side mirrors. Faults mainly occur after staring vehicle, but they have also occurred while driving. The ac failure occurs when starting vehicle and have occurred after first start in morning and at the end of the day after multiple starts. There is no identifiable pattern to failures. The vehicle was purchased in january and has 3254 miles. This is the third time the issue has occurred and ford can not identify the issue. The system provides daily codes and the dealership and focused on the sensors, including replacing on, but the issue is not resolved. Incidents occurred on march 16, 2020, march 26, 2020, april 14, 2020, july 4, 2020, july 14 and july 17 2020. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jul 23, 2020 |
State | OR |
Description | Vehicle was parked. Vehicle locked into park and would not shift out of park or start, brake pedal was depressed fully. Dashboard message: drive mode not available plus scrolled through every other mode or feature and indicated 'not available.' but lcd screen showed message 'turn off ignition.' ignition was off. Vehicle thought ignition still on. Would not start. I disconnected negative terminal of battery and reconnected and car then started with no error or code messages. |
Category | Steering |
Date | Jul 22, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | My 2020 ford explorer st power steering went out while the vehicle was driving in traffic on a freeway doing 70 mph going down a 6% grade at 6,000 ft. (cajon pass) while my wife was driving nearly causing a major accident. |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes |
Date | Jul 21, 2020 |
State | SC |
Description | On occasion when starting our 2020 explorer st, the brakes do not work... Resulting in the vehicle driving away. The only way to stop the vehicle, is to throw it back into park or neutral. This has occurred 1-2 times a month, and ford has been reluctant to fix the issue. The vehicle was almost involved in a low-speed crash, due to fords inability to fix the problem. We have attempted to get a buyback, but they have not resolved it as of now. |
Category | Electrical System, Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Jul 18, 2020 |
State | OH |
Description | I have numerous fault messages, pre collision assist fault, 4wd temp disabled, 4wd system fault service required, service required, drive mode unavailable fault,auto hold system fault,service advancetrac, vehicle will not swtich into park or neutral. I was in motion at the state speed limit of 70 on the ohio turnpike when out of the bule the warning cluster lit up like a christmas tree with mutiple faults and system errors. Vehicle has limited braking. |
Category | Engine, Power Train |
Date | Jul 18, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | I was driving going to get food and when I press on my break to slow down, I had a huge jolt, like it was shifting gears not correctly(it's an automatic)the jolt would occur when I would hit over 46mph and when I would slow down to 26mph. I brought my explorer to the dealership and I had to have my transmission replaced by the dealership. I have heard of 3 other people who had a ford explorer 2020 this happened to! |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes |
Date | Jul 15, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Several times the reverse camera and sensor have not worked (blue screen) one of the times almost hitting a car behind me, once the center screen went black while driving while using the navigation system, this morning, put the transmission in reverse and the brake pedal became really hard when stepping on it and again almost hit a car behind me, suddenly it went to the floor causing the car to stop suddenly all this while getting out of a parking space |
Category | Engine, Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Jul 13, 2020 |
State | OH |
Description | 2020 ford explorer st with approximately 1,927 miles. I started the vehicle and put it into drive and it started to roll forward even though my foot was on the brake. Regardless of how hard I pushed the brake, the car continued to inch forward until I fully depressed/repressed the brake. I shut off the vehicle, waited a few minutes, and attempted to restart. Upon the attempted restart, all lights on the dashboard began flashing and the engine failed to turnover. The in-dash display then began beeping, flashing service/hazard/warning indicators, and cycling through the following error messages: -park brake fault service now; -pre-collision assist not available; -service advancetrac; -driver door ajar; -steering assist fault service required; -check park aid; -see manual; -front camera fault service required; -full accessory power active; I turned off the vehicle and attempted a few more restarts ranging in intervals from an immediate start/stop, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes without success (same error messages displayed as described above). There were also no alert messages/notification in the fordpass mobile app indicating the above failures. My next attempt was a few hours later and the vehicle started without error, but did not give any indication that the vehicle had failed to start the previous time. I stopped/restarted the vehicle again without error and put it into reverse and then drive and there did not appear to be any failure of the brake pedal. I took the vehicle for a test drive around my neighborhood and noticed that 1st and 2nd gear appeared to shift just fine, 3rd gear made a loud grinding/vibrating noise and took longer to shift than normal, and then the vehicle did a hard shift into 4th gear. I only got up to about 35 miles per hour, but the vehicle never shifted out of 4th gear, but appeared to hold the rpms higher than normal. |
Category | Electrical System, Power Train |
Date | Jul 10, 2020 |
State | NM |
Description | I just pulled out from a parking lot into traffic and there was a loud clunk and warning lights appeared on the dash. One said "service advancetrac" and the other said "4wd fault service required." the vehicle would not shift out of low gear and would not accelerate over 25mph. Then, several other warning lights came on, such as "pre-collision assist not available." I took the vehicle to the dealership the next day and they were unable to repair/resolve the issue. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jul 08, 2020 |
State | NC |
Description | The electronics in sync have been generating blue screens, which disable: tront & rear sensors & cameras, front & rear collision avoidance, cruise control, lane departure, and advancetrac. Ford thus far is unable to fix issue. 3 attempts have been made to fix this, a 4th is pending. Ford supposedly has no repair parts available for this issue. Vehicle safety is an issue. Two ford cases have been opened: ford vehicle buy back case no.[xxx]crm:0688061 ford sync problems case no.[xxx]crm:0382088 information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jul 02, 2020 |
State | VA |
Description | On occasion, the brakes do not work properly when the car is first put into drive or reverse after starting. When shifting into drive or park with the foot firmly on the brake, the vehicle begins to move, and the brake pedal does not depress all the way and does not stop the vehicle from moving. If you attempt to pump the brakes, there is a hard stop that prevents the brake pedal from going all the way to the floor. The only way to stop the vehicle is to put it back into park. *tr |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jun 29, 2020 |
State | NJ |
Description | After starting the vehicle in park and with brake depressed shifting to reverse the car moves regardless of brake pressure applied. Issue only stops after pumping the brakes or shifting back to park our neutral. All situations have been on flat land and has occurred with multiple drivers. Brake pedal is noted to be 'hard' when event occurs, almost like it is locked. |
Category | Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Jun 26, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 10,200. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 23, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the residence and the contact discovered an unknown leak. The vehicle was taken to boggus ford (2521 south expressway 83, harlington, tx 78550 (956)423-2580, to be inspected. The contact was informed that when the transmission coolant system came in contact with air, the transmission coolant lines would leak. The transmission fluid system was repaired. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 6,000. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Jun 21, 2020 |
State | NH |
Description | On sunday, june 14th, 2020 at 12:10 pm, I was headed east bound on a two lane state road with double yellow lines. My vehicle (new ford explorer st, 2407 miles on odometer) was on intelligent cruise control set for 37 mph and in 'normal drive' mode. Without any warning, the engine began to shake violently and the car began to slow down. The engine appeared to be running but would not accelerate. The vehicle came to a complete stop about 300 feet from where the problem started. The engine was stalled and would not start. No warning lights or messages. Called aaa and they called local police. An officer directed traffic as I was blocking the right hand lane. There was no shoulder to pull off on. Road was in residential area with curbs. A flat bed tow truck arrived at 12:35 pm and towed the vehicle to my local ford dealer. Fault code showed a defective camshaft position sensor. There also is evidence that the timing belt has slipped. Scoring can be seen on top of #6 piston through borescope. The #6 spark plug shows impact damage from piston. Battery is draining and car is going into sleep mode. Service department manager stated the engine will likely require replacement. The dealership contacted ford engineering and established a case number. Dealership is working with ford engineering to determine the root cause of failure. A catastrophic engine failure of this type is extremely dangerous and life threatening. Three days earlier, a 140 mile round trip was made to boston without incident. If the failure had occurred on I-93 traveling at 70 mph, the end result could have been disastrous. |
Category | Seats |
Date | Jun 08, 2020 |
State | IA |
Description | 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. *tr |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jun 05, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the instrument panel stated that the vehicle was driving at 85 mph. The service engine soon warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to geweke ford located at 871 e. Onstott rd, yuba city, ca 95991, (530) 821-2121, to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that an unknown electronic component needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of failure. The failure mileage was 12,000. |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jun 05, 2020 |
State | NY |
Description | The vehicle was driving on a local highway when the message 'service charge system now'. The battery icon appeared briefly on the dashboard. I continued driving and the same message reappeared every 5 minutes. The dealer told me they did not recognize the message, and to bring the vehicle in for service soon. They ran a 'diagnostic ' and determined it needed a new alternator. The vehicle is seven months old and has less than 15,000 miles. It is still in for service as the dealer did not have a replacement alternator in stock. *tr |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jun 03, 2020 |
State | MO |
Description | Strong jerking when slowing for corner or stop sign... Sudden abrupt downshifting. Transmission failure at 8,500. Told that a ring or clip in the transmission had broken, allowing some parts to move forward. Currently waiting for a complete transmission replacement, but transmissions are evidently back-ordered. *tr |
Category | Power Train, Service Brakes |
Date | Jun 01, 2020 |
State | MA |
Description | Has happened to me a few times. Foot on brake, put the car in gear and it starts rolling. Brake pedal won't depress any further, but it definitely was not all the way in, almost like it was locked or something. Only way to get it to stop is to put it back in park or neutral and let off the brake. *tr |
Category | Structure:body, Visibility |
Date | May 28, 2020 |
State | OR |
Description | Driver door and window vibrating when rear windows are rolled down in excess of 40 mph. *tr |
Category | Tires, Wheels |
Date | May 24, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | My 2020 ford explorer which I purchased a week ago and is equipped with hankook kinergy gt tires has me all over the road when traveling on the freeway at speeds above 55 miles per hour on straight aways along with curves. It is dangerous because with short notice the vehicle will drift to the left or right because of the quality of the tires, upon further investigation it appears that many others that have vehicle's with these tires experience blow-outs, uneven wearing, and complaints about ride quality. *tr |
Category | Engine |
Date | May 22, 2020 |
State | MT |
Description | I was driving to work and suddenly heard a strange soft repetitive noise. There were no indicator lights/warnings on the dash. I was going approximately 40 mph and thankfully decided to pull over into the service lane. The vehicle struggled to pull over and then stopped moving. An engine malfunction indicator light then came on. The vehicle was towed by the dealership. I was told later that day that the engine was end of life, in other words, dead. My 2020 explorer had 7,038 miles. I finally got my suv back 1 month later. *tr |
Category | Electronic Stability Control, Seats, Service Brakes |
Date | May 21, 2020 |
State | FL |
Description | 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. *tr |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | May 20, 2020 |
State | OR |
Description | Periodically, after starting the vehicle, and selecting a gear (either drive or reverse), I experience a "hard brake" where I cannot press down the break pedal but the vehicle will begin to roll. The vehicle will continue to roll and I cannot use the brake pedal (therefore I cannot stop). The only solution I have found is to switch the vehicle to park, turn off the vehicle, and turn back on the vehicle. This happens approximately 2 times per month. The 2020 ford explorer uses an electric brake booster, and I believe it may be a calibration issue upon ignition/vehicle start up. If it does not calibrate properly, the brakes will not work. This is a common issue, and there is a thread at the explorer forum with various members experiencing this safety issue. You can find the thread, and statements from others, at the below webpage: https://www. Explorerforum. Com/forums/threads/brake-issue. 483026/ *tr |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | May 14, 2020 |
State | AL |
Description | Since we have purchased the suv it has on multiple occasions flashed cross traffic system fault, blind spot system fault, ac shuts off, and the windows will not roll down. Have taken to the dealership twice, once they charged the battery, the last time they reset a module. It did it again today so we will have to take it back. We have had the problem happen while moving but today we were stationary when it happened. *tr |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | May 14, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Immediately after starting vehicle (in garage) and while it was still in park, I saw white smoke rising up to the driver side visor. It looked as if the smoke had come from the driver side window defroster vent. As a result, I turned off the vehicle and went to grab the fire extinguisher. I let the vehicle set for a couple of minutes and then pulled it out of the garage; however, I did not notice any more smoke when I moved it. *tr |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Apr 28, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Car goes into deep sleep after two days of being parked and has to be jumped to start. Happens on regular basis. Dealer unable to correct problem after numerous attempts to repair the car since it was purchased. |
Category | Steering |
Date | Mar 29, 2020 |
State | MN |
Description | When outside temp is below minus 5 degrees steering is hard, at slow speed steering locked had to jerk it to control. Above 60mph steering ok. Happened at parking lot speed (locking up) and below 60mph hard steering. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Mar 24, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Transmission issues again. Same broken / cracked weld at transmission oil cooler. Part replaced. This is the vehicle's 3rd oil cooler (we're at 12,600 miles now) |
Category | Electrical System, Engine |
Date | Mar 22, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | False engine coolant temperature alarm issue - vehicle believes it is overheating when it isn't. This results in the loss of engine power, where the vehicle is unable to drive faster than 50mph and is extremely slow to accelerate causing a major safety hazard. This has occurred on my explorer st model 3 different times all while traveling at highway speeds. The second time while I was trying to merge onto the freeway and nearly collided with a semi truck since I lost all ability to accelerate. All times the vehicle was taken to ford dealership for repair. My vehicle has currently been waiting for repair for over 30 days & only has 13,000 miles on it. |
Category | Service Brakes, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Mar 14, 2020 |
State | KY |
Description | Auto hold feature continues to display fault. I've taken it to the dealership 3 times and each time they say it's fixed. Im concerned that it will fault when im stopped and cause a collision. Ford customer care can barely understand english let alone listen to me describe the issue. For a vehicle with 700 miles this is ridiculous. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Mar 09, 2020 |
State | FL |
Description | Abs brake light came on at aprox. 3,000 miles. Took to dealer told bad ground at module connector. Dealer said would have to order 2 nuts and bolts would call when parts arrived. Two weeks later no call. Called dealer & got voice mail, lefft message no call back after 2 hours. Dealer could have provided loaner till fixed as we are driving a car without abs brakes. Paid 63k and driving a vehicle not as safe as represented at purchase after only 3k miles!. There should be a service letter at least for this problem. Concerned mechanic will make unapproved improvised repair. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Mar 07, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | Vehicle suddenly begins jerking hard at speeds of 45 mph going down a two lane road, then wrench warning light comes on dashboard and vehicle suddenly stops and no longer will accelerate forward or reverse. Message appears and says gear will engage in low speed only, however gears no longer move the vehicle. Warning appears that powertrain issue has occurred contact your dealer, there may be a problem with the powertrain or 4x4 system. This is a new 2020 explorer with 453 miles on it at this time. Had to have vehicle towed back to dealer. |
Category | Power Train, Steering |
Date | Mar 02, 2020 |
State | NJ |
Description | While driving on the highwaythe 'steering fault service now light' came up on the dashboard while traveling 75 mph miles on odometer 900. After stopping the car and restarting it the 'steering loss stop safely' message popped up on the dashboard I had to drive to the dealership with no power steering or any transmission options like sport, economy, regular, deep snow, no assist for uphill or downhill parking |
Category | Electrical System, Engine, Power Train |
Date | Mar 01, 2020 |
State | SC |
Description | When trying to move the vehicle out of park, either reverse or drive the vehicle jerks into gear hard and then stalls. Tried multiple times to get the vehicle out of the drive way starts up no issue, no check engine light yet keeps stalling. This is new owned for 3 days with less than 200 miles on it. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 23, 2020 |
State | NV |
Description | Driving the vehicle at highway speeds between 65-75 mph and noticed a medium vibration at about 2500 miles. At about 3000 miles the transmission would jerk and start whining at low speeds under mild acceleration. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Feb 21, 2020 |
State | KY |
Description | When starting at intersections or stopping you can hear and feel the fuel in the tank sloshing back and forth. I've taken my vehicle to the dealership and they confirmed the noise and documented it. They reached out to ford which said they knew of the issue and at this time there is no fix. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 19, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | This vehicle was a loner car that was given to me when my transmission went out on my 2020 explorer. The transmission went out on this vehicle as well, at 1800 miles leaking transmission fluid everywhere and not shifting, making a very dangerous highway drive to the nearest dealership. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 19, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Transmission went out at 3481 miles. Broke a weld at the oil cooler assembly. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Feb 14, 2020 |
State | NY |
Description | Purchased a 2020 explorer on feb 11, noticed smoke from the hood right when I arrived home from the dealer, contacted them and they said it might be normal for a new vehicle to have some smoke in the beginning, later I noticed that the interior heat is only blowing cold air so I was about to take it to the nearest dealer to check it out, I remote started the car through the official fordpass app and then 10 minutes later I entered the car and the engine light and the coolant light was on before I even started driving (car has 78 miles on it) , ( I also got 2 notifications from the app that the engine is overheating) so I called ford to tow it, now its sitting by ford service for 2 days and they are saying that it's a coolant leak but they don't know where it leaks to and they are waiting to hear back from ford engineers on how to proceed, it seems like ford may have serious issues with the engine coolant system and this is potentially putting any explorer driver at risk of the vehicle stalling while driving, increasing the risk of injury |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 13, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | We bought the car on 9/21/19 from upland ford. We had an issue where the infotainment screen blacked out, but thankfully, after letting the car sit for an hour, all is working fine on that matter. However, very early on, we noticed rough shifts, and other red flags, coming from the drivetrain. If I had to guess, we noticed it before 3k miles. Took it to vista ford in oxnard on 1/04/2020 (odo: 4960), where they diagnosed the transmission oil cooler. While they replaced the cooler, there are still signs of the issues... Especially in the lower gears. I have concerns about damage to the transmission. The car has 6200 miles on it, as of today, 2/13. I also have an issue of the car not shifting into reverse, until after a long delay, and with some jerking. This issue has been there rom the very beginning. As a tall man (6-foot4, with 36-inch inseam), I have growing concerns about how uncomfortable it is for me to drive this car. These problems on a brand new car, from a brand like ford, are disappointing and unacceptable. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 13, 2020 |
State | CA |
Description | Transmission cooler drain system leaked metal found in transmission pan replaced with an oem transmission. Causing powertrain malfunction |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Feb 11, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | I was driving vehicle and all of sudden it stopped, starting jolting us... Then no longer would accelerate.. We had to have it towed to the dealership. With less than 400 miles on it |
Category | Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Feb 11, 2020 |
State | IA |
Description | Cruise control can not be disabled by pressing brake pedal. Requires passing steering wheel button to turn off. Also "pre-collision assist not available" message comes on dash every time vehicle is started. |
Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Feb 10, 2020 |
State | NC |
Description | The vehicle is randomly braking for no unknown reason. Almost like if I was driving and put on emergency brake. It mostly does it while in reverse when there is literally nothing around me. There is an option and it has still does it with option off. It has nearly caused 1 accident when I was in my sons car pool line at school. Otherwise it has caused extreme anxiety because I don't know when it will happen. The brake assist fault is also on, and dealer cannot find fix to that either. The dealer (capital ford raleigh) was aware of sensor issues, as well as faults the day I took delivery on vehicle. They knowingly sold it to us anyways. I took vehicle to service dept the very day after we took delivery. There is no fix for these dangerous issues, and I am forced to keep driving with my kids in this dangerous vehicle. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Feb 10, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Fuel tank sloshing and clunking noise underneath the driver and passenger seats. The vehicle fuel tank design locates a portion of the gas tank under the vehicle and below the seats. When the gas tank is above half full, you can hear and feel the gas moving in the tank, especially at low speed, during traffic with frequent stopping. Not sure how safe is to feel the gas moving inside the fuel tank and the noise when the gas impacts the gas tank walls. When the tank is full and you brake, the fuel sloshes forward and moves something inside and slams against the inside of the tank. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
Date | Feb 08, 2020 |
State | CO |
Description | During low speed maneuvers like parking and when coming to a stop, the fuel sloshes loudly and can be heard inside the vehicle. It sloshes most noticeably when the fuel level is above 3/4 full. The fuel moves so much it sometimes sounds like there's something hitting the floor underneath the driver seat or a driveline issue. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System, Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Feb 05, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | The explorer was put into reverse. The vehicle drove forward about 3 ft, jerked, then slammed into reverse. Reaction time on my behalf was slow as it was unexpected, I almost hit a light pole. This occurred in a parking lot |
Category | Power Train, Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
Date | Feb 05, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | Vehicle unexpectedly breaks, as if detecting a crash, when there is clearly no car ahead. Vehicle takes over control of breaks unexpectedly. Has happened on repeated occasions and already reported to manufacturer months ago. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 30, 2020 |
State | IL |
Description | At 4,000 miles the transmission started slipping in and out of gears until it was almost not drive able. While driving it would slip out of gear and at 26 miles per hour is would jump gears. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Jan 30, 2020 |
State | FL |
Description | After initially starting the vehicle and backing out of a parking spot it was shifted to drive. While driving through the parking lot the engine was revving higher than normal. Upon making a right turn onto a divided boulevard the vehicle would not shift out of 1st gear. There was traffic coming but luckily it was far enough back that I could pull to the side of the road. I pulled to the side of the road and attempted to shift the transmission back into park and then back into drive. When I started moving forward again it would not shift past 1st gear still. . I pulled into a gas station parking lot and let my husband try to see if he could figure it out. We turned the vehicle off and back on. Still wpuld not shift past 1st gear. He attempted to use manual shifting and it would only go to 2nd gear then chug several times and go come to almost a complete stop. Shut it off again and back on. This time it seamed to be working. He pulled out on to the road and the vehicle again almost stopped half way through an intersection. He pulled off into a parking lot and turned it off and let it sit for 15 min. When it turned back on it worked fine. The check engine light did come on at this point. We were able to make the 10 mile drive home. This is very concerning as the vehicle is only a week and a half old with less than 600 miles on it. I was skeptical of the electronic transmission to start with but this does not help build my confidence. Also important to note that our 10 month old baby was in the vehicle as well and had we needed to make any type of quick acceleration we would not have been able to and could very well have caused an accident. The ground was dry and smooth. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Jan 25, 2020 |
State | GA |
Description | Vehicle stalled when pulling out from a stop light onto a highway (65mph). It took several attempts to restart. The vehicle once put in drive jerked forward/backward when I hit the gas. The rpms went up but the car was not driving well. It stalled again. I had to repeat this process 4 more times. It finally began to drive and then the engine light came on. The ford pass app gave me an error code. Malfunction indicator lamp. The vehicle has 109 miles. The car is with the dealer less than 2 days after purchase. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Jan 14, 2020 |
State | NJ |
Description | I belong to a ford forum and they're has been some talk about an air deflector missing in the rear bottom of the vehicle between the mufflers part # 17788. They're are many claiming that they don't have it on they're st level explorer. Please check on see this matter. Rumor is that at high speed the wind can damage the rear bumper and rip it of the vehicle. |
Category | Service Brakes |
Date | Jan 12, 2020 |
State | MI |
Description | On january 6, 2020, I was driving to work, approaching a red light and could not stop. I was going around 40 mph. Then, I begin pressing on the break with my right foot and could not stop. Next, I used both feet pressing the break pedal to the floor and could barely bring the truck to a stop. At the same time, there were warning lights flashing (parking break, all wheel drive, traction control) on the dash. I immediately took the vehicle to dealership where I purchased it. They provided me with a loaner vehicle. On friday, january 10, 2020, the dealership contacted me to provide me an update. They advised that ford motor company advised them that this was a service announcement (meaning this information is known to ford and all ford dealerships not to the customers). Dealership advised rear break calibers needs replacing, rear break motor needs replacing, and rear break pads needs replacing. Dealership advised all parts are on national back order and does not know when they will be available. |
Category | Engine |
Date | Jan 11, 2020 |
State | TX |
Description | My brand new 2020 ford explorer platinum top of line model (vin [xxx]) broke down on christmas eve 2019 after a complete engine seizure with less than 2000 miles and left us stranded with my family for hours in the middle of the road. The vehicle lost all power and control and had this happened on an interstate highway doing 80 miles per hour the result could have been catastrophic and potentially fatal. It has been at the dealership since and I am being told it needs a new engine but ford cannot provide a date when the engine will be available. Remember.... This vehicle was only a month old! A 2020 vehicle broke down in 2019!!! The dealership is being fantastic and trying to swap the vehicle out for me but ford has denied their request. I finally spoke with a ford customer service rep ([xxx]) and she told me that the engines for this model (yes engines plural!) are being shipped at the end of the month. I asked her directly if I was the only one experiencing this issue and she flat out said "no, you're not". I regret having purchased a new model year vehicle of this explorer and now fully think this is a dangerous vehicle. I hope ford sees this. I think they have a serious issue and soon it will come out that there are serious problems with the 2020 explorer. Just wait. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). *tr |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Jan 01, 2020 |
State | VA |
Description | Deep sleep mode activates after 2 days. Most recent experience involved having to jump start the car after setting 3 days. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 20, 2019 |
State | CT |
Description | Vehicle doesn't move for long seconds when I switch to reverse. |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 13, 2019 |
State | TX |
Description | This vehicle was given to me on or about 12 november 2019 as a replacement for a 2020 ford explorer, vin [xxx], purchased from sames ford in laredo, which twice had failure of the transmission cooling system while in motion on the highway. This new vehicle broke down while in motion in the highway with the same problem (transmission oil cooler) in new boston, texas on 22 nov 2019 (mileage 1021). Johnston ford in new boston could not immediately secure the parts as they were in high demand from ford, and the vehicle was not fully repaired until 10 december 2019. I intend to sell this vehicle as soon as it is returned to me as I no longer have faith that this model can be relied on for safe highway performance. On both vehicles, the transmission oil cooler failure occurred after a minimum of two hours of constant highway driving. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). *tr |
Category | Power Train |
Date | Dec 13, 2019 |
State | TX |
Description | I purchased a 2020 ford explorer at sames ford in laredo, tx. The vehicle was received 11 sept 2019. The vehicle broke down on 18 sept 2019 in indiana (mileage 1896) while in motion on the highway. The vehicle was towed to auto park ford in stergis, michigan. The problem was the transmission oil cooler, which I now know is endemic to this model. I was told the failure of the transmission oil cooler had also caused the transmission to fail. The transmission & oil cooler were replaced and I had to drive from new york to michigan at my own expense to get the car when it was repaired and returned to me 4 oct 2019. This vehicle broke down again while in motion on the highway with the same problem (transmission oil cooler) 5 nov 2019 (mileage approx.. 5,300) in laredo, tx. At that time, they took the original car back and gave me an identical, new 2020 ford explorer which subsequently broke down with the exact same transmission oil cooler failure. |
Category | Fuel/propulsion System, Service Brakes, Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 10, 2019 |
State | NE |
Description | Breaks gave out while backing out of lane. Separate issue pressed on gas no response or delayed response in stop and go traffic. Acted like it was almost out of gas but not. Also other small issue is loud high whistle noise above 70mph. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Dec 08, 2019 |
State | VA |
Description | On a 400 mile road trip on a highway, we started feeling exhaust fumes in the inside cabin. Felt nausea and watery eyes and had to stop couple of time to get a breath of fresh air. Not sure what the issue was it disappeared after an hour. Scary thing is I see some else also has reported the same issue. Could be very hazardous having exhaust fumes coming in side the cabin. |
Category | Unknown Or Other |
Date | Nov 27, 2019 |
State | ND |
Description | Have extremely strong exhaust fumes coming in the fresh air intake-making me and my passengers extremely sick-nauseus, really bad headaches, extremely sleepy, acid reflux and even have people ask half hour after leaving the vehicle if we've been standing next to an exhaust pipe!!!! One of these times, im not going to realise just how tired its making me-that I crash and kill myself or worse kill someone else or family!! Serious issue ans ford claims...... Nothing wrong!! [xxx]!! This is a deadly flaw that needs to be dealt with right now!!! Way stronger when idling, not as bad if you put the hvac on recirculate cabin air-but even that wont stay engaged for more than 15minutes!! That in itself tells me theres a flaw with the fresh air intake mode door solenoid!!! Please help me and my family. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). |
Category | Electrical System |
Date | Nov 12, 2019 |
State | NY |
Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 ford explorer. While the vehicle was parked, the engine suddenly began to rev very highly and the vehicle attempted to accelerate forward. The driver depressed the brake pedal to prevent the vehicle from moving. The transmission was switched into neutral, but the failure continued. After turning the vehicle off and back on, it resumed normal operation. The manufacturer and levitown ford (3195 hempstead tpke, levitown, ny) were notified. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vin was not available. The failure mileage was 2,000. *dt*jb |
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Took my 2020 Explorer in for the 21E11 recall (left hand catalytic converter) only to find out BOTH of my catalytic converters are cracked. Ford won’t cover the right hand catalytic converter because I’m over 36,000 miles. HOWEVER, this recall is an emissions recall and the emissions warranty is 8yr/80,000 miles. How does that make sense? Anyone else having this issue and was it covered.
My 2023 explorer XLT has a computer fault
I have a 2020 Ford Explorer. Last weekend while backing up to park my truck when I heard something drop. Suddenly, I couldn’t turn the wheel to back up. After calling for a tow truck because I needed the vehicle moved. When he went to move it to get it on the flatbed, we saw on the front Passenger side the Outer Arm had broken.
One thing I know for sure, I am the only one who drives my truck and I take care of it. I am wondering if anyone else has had this experience? This must be a malfunction for the Outer Arm to break already.
Ford said wasn’t and it is costing me $2,000. to get this truck out.
My 2020 Ford Explorer has lots of humming noise as it takes off and also as I’m driving it is nerve racking I sometimes feel that something is rubbing and might start on fire when I turn the AC off it stops taken it to two dealerships and was told they could not fix it till the AC went out it will probably go out when it is out of warranty or the noise makes me go crazy we paid so much money to drive a car that is very noisy I traded a very good car that had no noise because we wanted a new reliable car to travel now I’m very disappointed at ford
I need help my 2020 explore is crap going for arbitration. If that’s denied what do I do? I want my money back. It’s a lemon and they know it… Over a month to start off with in the shop had ford engineers try and fix it electrical problems all the time they don’t care. Denied my buy back twice. Please help me. Leave a voicemail if I do not answer.