2020 Ford Explorer Complaint Log

Power window switch driver window inoperative. Remaining windows works fine . Only the main driver window inoperative.

Daytime running light on drivers side not functioning at all.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lunged forward and jerked upon releasing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that on one occasion, the SRS warning light was illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure, but no service technicians were available to inspect the vehicle. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, where it was determined that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V069000(Power Train), and the contact was referred to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 96,500.

While driving at highway speeds I have had a engine malfunction warning or a power train warning appear on my dashboard. The vehicle losses power and has a rattling sound when there is a loss of power. The vehicle steers fine but starts to slow down with the engine rpm dropping to zero. After a few seconds of gliding the engine resumes and I have full power. It seems to happen when I try to accelerate to pass. On occasion it has happened with other vehicles being in the lane I intend to move into or with another car following too closely behind me. I have looked on line about this problem and other people have noted the same problem. I brought the car in to Ford service they had the car for a day and ran it without finding anything. I am not surprised as it only happens occasionally. Of course the day after I had the car in for service it happened when I was driving.

While driving on an interstate highway, my car slipped from drive to neutral on its own. Within a few seconds the transmission returned to drive. When the car reached its destination, it went into park, but wouldn't shift out of park for 20 minutes. It finally shifted into reverse, and drive as needed until reaching my home. While trying to shut off the car at my home, it showed that it was in park, put the car was rolling. Finally the car stopped rolling and appeared to be in park. The car hasn't been driven since that day. I had the car towed to the local Ford dealer who sold me the car. They determined that the parking pawl malfunctioned and part of it destroyed the transmission. When I researched recalls on this vehicle, I noticed NHTSA Recall #23v-069 appears to be the same problem that I experienced. The Ford dealership said that this recall didn't include my car's VIN #, so that is why I never received any notifications of this recall. I believe that my car should have been included in the recall and I wouldn't be facing an $8,000 + bill for a new transmission. Ford will not pay for the repair because the car has 66,000 miles, which is over the 60,000 limit. The service technician at the dealership said that I did nothing to cause the transmission to be destroyed. This obviously was a very dangerous situation, and this is why there is a recall on 2020 Ford Explorers. I believe that more cars need to be included in this recall.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle occasionally exceeded 85 MPH and accelerated independently. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at approximately 55 MPH and slowing to exit the highway, the vehicle downshifted hard, and the vehicle was jerking. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was recurring and was occurring while slowing down or while accelerating. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that there was coolant intrusion into the transmission and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

The shade covering the moon roof made a popping noise and began sagging, inhibiting visibility to the rear of the vehicle

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that after a hurricane, there was water damage inside the vehicle. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer to be inspected. The contact was informed that water had entered the vehicle through the rubber seal of the windshield. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage 76,290.

First I started randomly getting lights come up on my dash hill start assist not available powertrain malfunction traction control reduced power took it to ford multiple times they tell me there is nothing wrong. Finally I have to have my car towed due to not going into gear yet again they still find nothing wrong same thing happens again we tow it home my husband looks under the car it is pouring fluid out of the front axel seal and the inner cooler. He checks the transmission fluid there is no fluid in my transmission. Call ford again get no answers as to why they have looked at my car multiple times supposedly checked transmission fluid and continue to tell me there is nothing wrong. Then I find out there are TSBs for both these issues yet can’t find anything on my car being in that recall.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering assist and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was difficult to steer. The failure occurred while the contact was driving home from a trip. The contact made several attempts to have the vehicle inspected for the failure; however, there were no local dealers available. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that there was a failure with the steering. The contact was advised to safely drive the vehicle to his destination and then take the vehicle to a dealer. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a power steering control module failure. The contact was informed that the power steering control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The manufacturer agreed to cover 50% of the repair cost. The failure mileage was approximately 67,900.

2020 ford explorer police interceptor utility 27k miles has a broken differential bushing and axle bolt which in turn has cause the axle to fail thankfully not on the highway at full speed. This issue has a recall 22S27/22V255 but our vehicle and vin # aren't included in the recall even tho same issue is being reported. What can be done to add the other vins to this list because it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS OF UNKNOWN BUT POSSIBLE FAILURE

Car was bought from Healy Ford in Goshen Ny in January 2023. Car drove fine for the first 6 months. Out of no where all the lights on the dash came on. Hill assist 4wheel drive fault power train malfunction. Collision assist I mean everything. Took it it Rea Ford they looked at it and charged me for a system update. Was good for about 8 months still had a problem when in reverse splitting out of gear then would slam back in to gear. Then the power train malfunction comes on every time I drive it, Took it back to dealership he updated the software I was told it was a bulletin not a recall and it is going to cost me over 2000.00 to fix since the update didn’t fix the problem. I am truly disappointed but stuck with ford at the moment. How can this not be a recall when you go on and see the hundreds of complaints saying the same thing.

The drivers side outside seat valance broke and needs to be replaced.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the vehicle was shaking abnormally. The contact drove the vehicle to the side of the road and performed an inspection of the vehicle. The contact noticed that 3 of the 4 lug nuts were fractured on the driver's side rear tire. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with detached lug nuts. The contact was informed that the lug nuts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had occurred four times within the year. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Vehicle is giving a code C0631 and C0632 also has a wrench light indicator on it has something to do with the AWD the vehicle will become hard to turn stall completely will not move and a loss of power occurs

-Transmission fluid leak -Trans cooler broken/cracked -Check engine light never came on (I had to discover this problem by a noise I was hearing) -Problem has been prepared by auto mechanic ($2,600). I have read there has been a recall for 2020 explorer models but my VIN is not included (should it be?). Attached youtube video shows the problem and mechanic states it’s been a problem: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the transmission experienced hard downshifting while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated that the over time, the failure also occurred while depressing the accelerator pedal. The power train warning light was illuminated. A local dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle could not be seen until the end of the month. The manufacturer was then notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle would not be covered under warranty. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where a leak was discovered in the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired and remained with the independent mechanic. The failure mileage was approximately 52,500.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that upon exiting the vehicle, the driver's side seat belt failed to fully retract. Afterward, entering the vehicle to drive to the next destination, the contact became aware that upon fastening the seat belt, the seat belt hung loose, providing little to no restraining tension. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 49,000.

The transmission failed on my 2020 Ford Explorer with only 66,000. Ford knows there is an issue with the snap ring inside of the tranmission but won't do anything about it. This is a vehicle that is less than 5 years old and 6,000 out of warranty. There was no warning to the transmission going out, I was on my way to work and my car downshifted very hard and lost all power. I was on the 4 lane highway and thankfully was able to get over to the side of the road safely and call my husband. There were no warning lights or messages displayed but clearly the transmission was bad. I took my vehicle to my local Ford dealer and they confirmed the snap ring had come unseated and I was going to need a new transmission. I took it to a local transmission shop to get a second opinion and they also confirmed the same thing. I called Ford Customer Care and they weren't able to help. She stated there is a TSB out for this issue but no recall at the moment so they wouldn't cover anything under warranty. I paid $5,400 out of pocket to fix a repair that Ford knows is going on and that could have been a major safety issue, had I not been able to get off the highway.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle was recently repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V159000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the vehicle experienced a failure with the back over prevention system. The contact stated that the image on the screen was occasionally blue, or the image was frozen. The contact had taken the vehicle back to the same dealer and was informed there would be a charge for a diagnostic test and the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact also stated that the power window control switch failed to function properly. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the powertrain control module had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,518.

Passenger side seatbelt reactor is broken. Now I am unable to have a passenger safely due to faulty ford seatbelt. When I attempted to purchase seatbelt, ford had it on back order.

When slowing down around 27mph car downshifts so hard it jerks. If someone would have been behind me they would have probably hit me.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the parking brake inadvertently activated. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V675000 (Power Train). The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed as a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the parts not being available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that there were metal shavings inside the differential. The contact was informed that the differential needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 64,158.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the interior panoramic sunshade cover detached from the interior roof headliner and fell inside the cabin of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the sunshade cover needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 66,000.

We been getting AWD malfunctions alerts, causing the vehicle to not go into AWD. Took it to the dealership they say this isn't covered under the powertrain and we need to replace the AWD module on our 2020 Ford explorer. Reading other Forums, sounds like this is a common issue with the explorer but the dealership won't cover under powertrain warranty even thought this component powers the AWD part of the powertrain.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle drove over a pothole and made a metallic clunking sound. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with a failed driver’s side rear shock absorber. The contact was informed that the rear shocks needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that the engine coolant overheat warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was restarted, and the contact pulled over. The contact then continued driving at 10 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with coolant sensor failure. The contact was informed that the coolant sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 93,000.

Transmission does a hard downshift from gear 7 to gear 6. There is a TSB bulletin for it but no recall. Car is under 100k miles but out of warranty and estimated to cost $3500 to repair. Also, the screen and backup camera frequently freeze or go black

Rubber seal around sunroof failed, and vehicle is only 4 years old. Ford states the seal appears to have dried out and failed. This failure cause water to leak into the vehicle during a rainstorm, in the amount of 25 gallons based on what I pulled out by vaccuum and dehumidifier.

Lift gate stopped opening. Would no longer operate with any of the buttons in the car or key fob. Dealership states that they are seeing this happening a lot with this vehicle at around 60,000 miles. This is a safety issue. What if you needed to get out of your trunk due to an emergency. The lift gate latch quit working due to having 60,000 miles on your car. That makes absolutely no sense. I feel that this needs to be recalled. This is a necessary door that should no go out due to a certain mileage.

odd jerking during acceleration and deacceleration. More prominently noticed at 35MPH during deacceleration. Difficulty changing gears. Odd noises. Check engine light went on at

Check engine light came on. Code P0161 for O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Bank 2 Sensor 2. Found massive corrosion at connector. This is the second like make/model/year vehicle we have seen this on. MFG does not have pigtail repair kit available and entire harness would be needed to repair.

360 cameras are foggy and cannot see out of them causing false readings on parking alerts.This is the same issue the f150s have a recall about but there is not one for the explorer. The foggy display is getting worse over time. Hard to tell by the picture but in not very bright areas out of direct sun you cannot see anything on the 360 camera

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V675000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the contact became aware of an abnormal fuel odor inside the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was inspected by a relative who became aware that one of the fuel hoses was fractured. A local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.

The top brake light bar on the wing over the trunk consistently fails. I have had to replace almost yearly. Water gets into the light bar causing the LEDs to short out and fail. This makes my brake activity difficult to see for truckers and other tall cars. This is certainly a design defect that water should get in do easily. In regards to dates, the lamp fails annually.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed fluid leaking underneath the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission cooler was fractured. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

Transmission jerked in and out of low gears, causing very harsh shifting and lack of acceleration. Service shop at dealership found metal shaving in the transmission and replaced the whole thing. Vehicle only had 50k miles on it.

While driving down the road at approximately 45 miles per hour, the Explorer sounded as though gears were stripping. The vehicle lost power and we had to quickly pull over with vehicles behind us. We were able to put the vehicle in park and return home around 10 miles away. It is now hard shifting while decelerating around 30mph. It was a very scary situation with children in the car and almost being rear ended due to a known Ford issue, but Ford states they are unaware of these issues.

Tailgate does not work any longer. After a few days period of it getting progressively less functional, it just stopped working.

AWD system binding at low speeds, backing out of parking space, shift to drive, then vehicle suddenly lets loose the lurches forward. Known issue with front axle disconnect actuator present. Code C0631 - Front Axle Disconnect Actuator

Our explorer has had cascading warnings each time we drive the car for the past 7 days. Sometimes it takes a mile, sometimes it is immediate. The safety warnings include: 4-wheel drive fault, passenger air bag fault, forward Collision avoidance not working, powertrain malfunction, restraint indicator light warning, pre collision assist- . Not all appear each time, and some change ( 4wheel drive fault/ power train malfuntion- restraint warning/ airbag seem to alternate. Power train shows with restraint. 4 wd malfunction shows with airbag). Each time it occurs the airbag warning illuminates. Dealer cannot work on it until July 16th. Sounds like tsb 23-2174, but have been unable to codes when I stopped by a dealer Before July 1 we had no warnings. 48,582 miles. When faults appear- most systems appear to work, have tried 4wd and other modes and they appear to work. But cruise control, seatbelt chimes and others do not work.

The sunroof is leaking when closed when it rains or when the vehicle goes through car wash. Inside back passenger was getting wet and there was wet smell in the interior. Smell of wet interior can cause health safety issues/risks and car damage. When looking online may be caused by faulty lining or clogged drains.

August 22, 2024 Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center P.O. Box 6248 Dearborn, MI 48126 Regarding: Customer Satisfaction Program 24N01 I want to let you know how dissatisfied I am with your customer service claim to have happy satisfied customers, that is so proudly proclaimed in the introduction to this notice. We travel long distances in very remote areas of the Southwest. The last thing I want is to be stranded in the hot desert with an axle bolt beginning to or actually failing. Your policy to notify us of a potential problem, but not repair until the bolt fails gives me no confidence in my vehicle. In fact I am reluctant to make this trip again in this vehicle that has a known parts failure issue. It would have been better to have not notified me of this concern, in which Ford has no intention of repairing until it fails. If the issue was only non critical, such as the chrome around the window operation buttons this process would be acceptable. However this issue has the potential for severe mechanical failure, resulting in dropping the driveline. The approach presented in this letter for this issue demonstrates a lack of customer service. At this point I am ready to sell this vehicle and purchase a different vehicle from a different manufacturer before taking another long distance trip in it.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the charging system fault warning light illuminated, and the vehicle independently shifted into to park(P) and stalled. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed with a battery junction box and fuse failure. The vehicle was currently being repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

While vehicle was driving in motion, all system error messages began to sequence on the dashboard (Steering Assist Fault Service Required, Check Park Aid, See Manual, Service AdvanceTrac, Front Camera Fault Service Required, Full Accessory Power Active, Park Brake Fault Service Now, Pre-Collision Assist Not Available, Navigation Fault). Vehicle lost acceleration and had decreased steering and braking capability. This happened on 5/20/2024 and was "repaired" by dealership then happened again on 6/21/2024. It also happened in 08/17/2021 and was repaired by dealership until most recent reoccurrences. This DOES NOT include the instances where the same error messages sequenced prevented the vehicle from even starting (for hours) leaving the motorist stranded. This is also not the first time this concern has been submitted to the NHTSA.

The right windshield trim is separating from vehicle. Ford has recalled 2011-2019 vehicles for this due to safety risk of trim molding coming off in traffic. My vehicle is a 2020 and seems to have same issue.