2020 FORD EXPLORER Complaints

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle experienced a hard downshift which caused the vehicle to jerk and independently shift into park. The contact smelled an abnormal burning odor. The vehicle lost power motive and stalled. The contact pulled over and was able to restart the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.

On September 10, 2023 our 2020 Ford Explorer ST with 26,800 miles began experiencing a harsh downshift in the transmission between gears 7 and 6. I contacted the Ford dealer where purchased (Germain Ford in Dublin, OH) however they said they could not look at it until November 2023. I contacted another Ford dealer (Buckeye Ford in London, OH) and made an appointment for Friday September 15, 2023. I drove the vehicle to them and they confirmed a transmission problem, but could not get their transmission tech to look into it until Monday September 25th. They said the vehicle was OK to drive and released it back to me. The problem continued throughout the next week and on Saturday September 23, 2023 while driving on a major roadway the vehicle began lurching and losing all power. At a stoplight on a 6 lane road, the vehicle would not move at all. The transmission was unresponsive and the car would not move. I could not even put the vehicle into neutral to try to push it out of the traffic. This put me in an incredibly dangerous situation. I ended up having it towed back to Buckeye Ford in London, OH (a $385 tow job). They had the vehicle from Saturday September 23, 2023 until Friday October 20, 2023 when they told me they had repaired the transmission and it was ready to go. I picked it up that afternoon and drove it home, but while driving, I could tell the transmission was still not shifting correctly. When I reached home I parked it in the garage and when I exited the vehicle I noticed a strong burning smell. Shortly thereafter I noticed a puddle of transmission fluid (or possibly transfer case fluid) puddling underneath the vehicle. I immediately contacted the dealer and made arrangements to have it taken back to them the next morning (Saturday October 21, 2023). I would like to know why Ford did not authorize a complete transmission replacement as there are many documented issues with this particular transmission in the 2020 Ford Explorer ST.

Our 3rd car (used by our daughter) has started to smell like mold. I then noticed the back seat behind the driver side was wet. All windows were up and fully closed - never left open. I soaked up the water. Days later the water returned. I did some research online and found this is a recurring issues were weld joints breakdown and then leak. In that same forum the post referenced water built up where the spare tire is keep. I just opened up the spare tire area and noticed 3" of water and the mechanism for holding down the tire is rusty, suggesting the water has been there for sometime. As reference, here is the forum I mentioned above: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t51317_ds819498

The camera system does not work and disables the reverse braking and other safety features while reversing. This is a safety concern as while backing up to a trailer I have hit it 2 times, as the image will freeze and seems as if there is still room to continue backing up. I have taken this 4 times for recalls (since 2020) and none of them resolved it.

Two days after purchasing the light warning alert system started coming on. CHECK SYSTEMS HEADLIGHTS WARNING comes on EVERY MONTH THEN THE HEADLIGHTS WILL GO OUT first the left them the right…Ford can’t fix the problem because they don’t know what and why this keeps happening. The lights have been replaced 4-5 times and reprogrammed. I have took it Ford dealership 7 times, and the last time I was told it can’t be fixed because Ford has to send an update for the electrical system… plus one for the back up camera going blue/black as well…..They also have to send an update program for the other warning as well….so no end to the problems to date…

Driving 55 mph in a costuction zone lost power and 2020 explorer stated bucking violently with no place to pullover. Power came back and took to dealer. Drove it while waiting for parts when the tansmission went completely out. This happened on June 21 2023. Only 19500 miles. They replaced the trasmission.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V735000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear-view camera needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacture had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000.

My 2020 Explorer ST has been in the shop off and on for three months. The engine had to be replaced at about 45K miles. The transmission whines. The latest issue occurred while driving in downtown Chicago. I was coming up on a light and moved to the left turn lane to turn into oncoming traffic. When I went to go - I pressed the pedal and nothing happened. I ended up rolling into oncoming traffic when finally, the vehicle responded. On the way home this happened about 10 times on the interstate. It would happen when you quickly decelerate and then accelerate after the transmission downshifted. The loss of responsiveness lasted about 5-10 seconds each time and was accompanied by a loud clicking sound under the vehicle. It is still at the dealership and waiting to hear back from them.

Was at a complete stop heading Westbound on State Road 200 at Amelia Island Parkway (rd name?) at approximately 9:35 AM. I was behind a semi truck in the right hand lane. No one was ahead of him. There were two cars in the left hand lane, no one in the turning lane onto Amelia Island Parkway. I decided to get into the left lane behind those two cars so I wasn’t stuck behind the semi. I very slowly moved to the left lane, pushed on the brake the first time and kept moving, second time pushed as hard as I could and kept rolling, now close to hitting the car ahead of me. I immediately put the vehicle in park and which also activated the parking brake. The light turned green and I put the car back into drive and drove no faster than probably 45 mph. Stopped into the ulta parking lot parked and called Paul Clark Ford who insisted I bring the car in right away. Drove approx 2-5 min to Paul Clark Ford slowly. Ford was not able to reproduce the issue. No warning lamps came on.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle became hesitant while downshifting. The vehicle independently jerked. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had been diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty transmission that needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to call NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 92,200.