2020 FORD EXPLORER Complaints

While driving around town when I am coming to a stop either at a red light or stop sign or even in the drive through at a restaurant I am getting a message that says "shift to P, then Restart Engine" and then the car just shut's off and I have to put it in park and restart the car. After restarting the car sometimes is very sluggish as if it is not going to get through the intersection or starting from a stop ... this is in my opinion a very serious problem and a safety risk for not just myself and family but that also of the general public.

Please find attached documents (including a Chat Script) related to an issue we are having with our 2020 Ford Explorer. Our vehicle has less than 10,000 miles on it and began having serious transmission issues to the point where it was unsafe to drive. The vehicle would completely stall out in the middle of an intersection or during acceleration at speed. On August 16, 2023, we made an appointment for Friday September 15, 2023, (earliest available appt) with a dealer to get the vehicle in. We parked the vehicle in our garage from 08-16-23 to 09-05-23 then took it to the dealer. On Wednesday, September 20th, 2023, the dealer notified me that the technicians found that the transmission fluid smells burnt, and they will be submitting their findings to Ford so they can find out how to proceed (either replace or repair). On Wednesday, September 20th, 2023, the dealer notified us that they got a response from Ford, and they are going to be replacing the entire transmission and they will be ordering it that day. We are still waiting for the new transmission to arrive and to get an estimate of how long the replacement will take. Now, I am not writing you to just complain about the amount of time we have been and continue to be without our vehicle, but rather to stress the fact that there is a HUGE issue with certain Ford transmissions that should be addressed through recalls not technical bulletins (as attached - TSB22-2428) as this is an extreme safety issue. I can tell you form experience that it is very scary when you start to accelerate from a red light and your vehicle completely stalls out and stops moving forward and the vehicles behind you have to slam on their brakes and swerve around you. It is also very scary when you try to accelerate at speed to change lanes etc., and the vehicle completely stalls out. This is why we parked our Explorer in our garage for over 2 weeks waiting for our scheduled appointment.

Vehicle lost power while driving at 75mph on major highway. Received power train malfunction warning light. Had to tow car to dealership and wait 9 days for the service technician to determine a repair. Now my parking brake light keeps coming on.

Complete loss of audio when using navigation system. All audio from built-in sound sound system is not available, which occurs intermittently and lasts for up to 3 days or more.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that upon entering the vehicle, the vehicle had electrical power but failed to start. The doors locked, after which several attempts to exit the vehicle failed, and smoke began to enter the interior through the vents. The contact called 911, who arrived right as she was able to exit the vehicle. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the fire department discovered faulty electrical wiring. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V687000 (Electrical System), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 69,000.

Back up camera stays on after selecting Drive and moving forward, it will either stay on showing what’s happening behind me or will stay on for 20-40 seconds than go to a blue screen or blue than black screen and stay in that screen. While this is happening I have no control over the display, sound, radio or heat. There has been time the back up camera has stayed on while in park. I have several pictures and videos of these incidents. In the incidents I was able to reboot my display it would be unresponsive and not update time these issues only happened when the back up camera would not properly shut off

The exhaust started making excessive noise about 07/15/2023. I had around 42,000 miles on the vehicle when the noise started. That means it was about 2 months and 6,000 miles out of warranty. Ford has a recall on the exhaust system (recall 21E11) for “thermal mechanical fatigue” of the welds on the left-hand side of the exhaust system. This is an emissions systems recall. I took the vehicle to my dealer, Serra Ford, Farmington Hills, MI on 07/19/2023. They did a repair per the recall but the excessive noise continued after I picked the vehicle up. I subsequently took my vehicle to a Midas muffler shop on 07/31/2023. They inspected my exhaust and found that the system was still leaking at the area where the exhaust system has been recalled and repaired and in addition the exhaust was completely broken and separated (weld failure) at the area at the right-hand muffler/tail pipe connection. Both problems are obviously the same type of failure. I have an inspection report and photos of the failed exhaust system from Midas. I took the vehicle back to the dealer. My repair invoice shows their diagnosis “found weld after exhaust on passenger side failed”. This is the right-hand side of the exhaust system. They determined that I needed a complete new exhaust system. I have my dealer repair invoice and photos of the failed exhaust system taken by Serra Ford. Ford has declined to repair and replace the exhaust system as part of my new car warranty or pursuant to the recall. I have obtained documentation relating to the above mentioned recall and to a “Customer Satisfaction Program 21B35” sent to all Ford dealers on November 7, 2022 showing that Ford knew on November 7, 2022 or earlier that it had problems with both the left-hand side and right-hand side exhaust system on vehicles like mine. This was well before my new car warranty expired.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at approximately 55 MPH, there was a beeping sound for the Hill Start Assist warning Power Train collision assist not available. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the axle disconnect actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Purchased this vehicle used exactly 2 months ago and put 1500 miles on it (now 56k miles). Within the last couple days, the vehicle started downshifting hard, similar to a punch type shift, under 35mph. After driving for a few minutes, it begins to shift the same while upshifting at similar speeds. While trying to go up a small hill on a curvy road, the vehicle decided it didn’t want to shift, began slowing down, and began making a grinding sound. The sound last a couple seconds before stopping then started again for a second. Vehicle doesn’t appear to have issues at a steady speed above 45mph due to not shifting at the time. I had both kids in the car with me at the time this was going on and the issue could have stalled us in the road and caused us to get rear ended due to the semi blind turns. We had a similar issue in a different vehicle but no where near as bad, especially instantly, where the throttle body had to be replaced. The vehicle drove fine after that. Diagnostic is a week out and the beginning of any transmission repairs approximately a month out. Vehicle is still under factory powertrain warranty by a couple thousand miles and covered under the extended warranty. However, the extended warranty only covers a max of 5 days rental although we could be without a vehicle for a month plus. I would not trust this car to go 5 miles down the road at this point, which is sad for something purchased 2 months ago from a reputable dealer.

On July 16th, 2023, while driving from Ohio to Indiana, my vehicle would not accelerate properly, and the power train malfunction warning illuminated on my dashboard. (The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.) My entire family's safety was put at risk as we were all in the vehicle at the time of the incident. We were on the toll road where other commuters were driving and were unable to accelerate as normal and other commuters were forced to go around us until the vehicle reached appropriate speed. Upon our arrival home the vehicle was taken to Ford for repair. Ford stated there was a recall for this issue and they programmed a software update which engages the parking break when the vehicle is placed in park and the warning light was no longer illuminated. I purchased the vehicle in December of 2021 and was not made aware of the recall in April of 2022. Prior to this incident my vehicle has showed no open safety recalls when entering the VIN online or checking the Ford Pass app. My vehicle has also never automatically engaged the parking break until after the service repair in July of 2023. Since there have not been any open safety recalls and my vehicle has never previously automatically engaged the parking break my belief is that the issue was marked as repaired without actually being repaired. The vehicle has been in for service for a separate issue at least 10 times prior to this incident and this "recall" was never brought to my attention or fixed at any of these service appointments.