Problems with 2002 Ford Explorer STRUCTURE

While vehicle was parked consumer saw the tailgate frame cracked around the glass window. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. the contact stated that the hinge in the rear liftgate was fractured and the liftgate would not remain in place. the vehicle was repaired under nhtsa campaign id number: 04v442000 (structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:hinge and attachments) yet the failure recurred. the dealer advised the contact that he would be liable for repairs. the manufacturer was not notified. the vehicle was not further repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 60,000 and the current mileage was approximately 115,000.

Nhtsa campaign number 04v442000/rear liftgate glass. the consumer received notification from the manufacturer regarding the recall on the lift gate. parts to repair the recall will not be available for at least 5 months. now, the lift gate has crashed and broken and the dealer is telling the owner that the vehicle is 4000 miles out of warranty and the owner will have to pay out of pocket. provide further details. *jb the recall part was not available. the hatchback slammed down and broke the back panel. *tc

Recall campaign: the consumer received a recall notice(04v442000) rear liftgate glass. no parts available. *nm *bf *nm

I own a 2002 ford explorer xls bought new from the dealership. there was a recall issued in october 2004 for the rear lift glass hinge (04s20). i have been waiting over 2 months for parts to be available. it was finally repaired on 1/6/05 at keating ford dealership. today 1/9/05 my wife had driven to the gym and was called to the front desk. crackling had been heard by fellow gym members prior to the rear glass shattering to pieces and metal frame is buckled. no evidence of vandalism was present. the new parts must have been defective or installed improperly. i have filed a claim with my insurance company, liberty mutual. the representative stated she had a call a few days ago about a similar incident from another ford explorer owner. i have contacted my dealer and left a message but unfortunately, being a sunday, it is closed. *ak

The panel just below the back lift gate window on my 2002 ford explorer has cracked from top to bottom in two places. i have found that this is a common problem on the 2002 ford explorer. i have seen numerous other vehicles with the exact same cracks and there are 100's of reports of the same problem on the internet. this is obviously a defect. ford corporate said to contact a dealer about the problem so they offered no help with the situation. i took the car to the hoffman ford dealership in east hartford, ct and they said they would split the repair cost with me. they never followed thru with the offer. they were supposed to call me when they had the part but that never happened. it is obvious ford corporate knows this is a problem and that this is a defect. the outside of a car should never crack for no reason. *tr

1. no event leading to failure. 2. rear hatch applique panel is damaged and cracked. 3. nothing. i had to pay for the repair since the vehicle has 45k miles. 9000 miles beyond the warranty. *jb

The parts have not come in for the liftgate rear glass brackett nhtsa recall 04v442000. manufacturer does not know when the parts will be made available. *ak

No parts for tailgate. nhtsa's recall # 04v442000. *nm

Recall campaign: the consumer received a recall notice on the strut mounting brackets (04s20) but hasn't been able to have them replaced due to lack of parts. *nm *tc (recall# 03v094000) *jb

Two large cracks in back body panel below back window. appeared spontaneously and have steadily worsened. two separate dealers have stated this is a common problem, but is not covered under warranty, and i would have to pay $400-500 to have it fixed. have seen this problem in many other 2002 explorers and have never heard of ford owning up to the problem or fixing these cars. *jb

This started in october 2004 and we still on january 19th haven't gotten any repairs made to our vehicle. i have a written statement that wouldn't fit here that i would love to send you with all the details. please allow me to fax or mail it in. *nm

Crack in rear liftgate due to the misalignment of the hinges which led to the window not being able to close correctly. *nm

There is a crack in the plastic just under the liftgate glass down to the liftgate handle. it just appeared on a cold morning in new jersey with nothing done to cause it. i know ford makes vehicles that can withstand the cold without cracking, right? hopefully, this will not affect the sturdiness of the rear glass. because the vehicle has 37000 miles on it, ford would not fix it. not the way to get return customers.*ak

Nhtsa campaign 04v442000; ford issued a rear liftgate glass recall. this vehicle is included in the recall, but the dealer does not have the available parts in order to repair.

At 74000 miles our transmission went out completely while we were on vacation! the dealership where we bought the vehicle, said that "we were the only one's who have had this problem" (yeah right!) it cost us $6000 out of our pocket to fix. at 86000 miles the rear window cracked right below the window. ford and the dealership refuses to fix it. again, stayton ford told us that,"we were the only people who have had this particular issue." at around 85000, 95000 and 105000 miles, the rear seals leaked. we were promised each time that they would last "for at least 50000 miles." we were always a few miles away from getting them replaced for free since they're limited warranty is only good for 10000 miles. at 111000 miles the electrical system went "haywire." even when all of the door and hatch are closed, the dome light continues to go on and off (making it hard to drive at night) because it senses that a "door is a jar." sometimes, the key pad that's located on the drivers side window sets off the alarm when we push the first number on the key. totally unreliable vehicle that i'm afraid to drive! *nm

Car was parked. when my wife was walking to the vehicle, she noticed a large crack down the back door (hatch area) of vehicle which is directly below the glass. take note that if this panel falls off (and could with the crack), it could fall onto another vehicle causing harm or tragedy. if the panel also falls off, the glass is no longer supported which also can result in it falling off onto another vehicle or onto the highway causing an accident.

End gate cracked, no appearant reason. *ak

Recall 04v442000 concerning rear liftgate glass. after recall repairs were made the rear glass shattered while opening the liftgate. the vehicle is at the dealer.*ak

Nhtsa recall campaign 04v442000; ford issued a rear liftgate recall. this vehicle was included in the recall, but the vehicle was not repaired in a timely manner. as a result, the liftgate broke. manufacturer was contacted by owner.

Ford explorer, 2002. stress crack (about one eighth inch wide, seven inches long) in frame below rear hatch window, to the left of the ford name plate. crack occured without any external force being applied (no collision, not struck by foreign object, etc.) the frame is simply not able to carry the weight of the glass window. consequently, the rear glass window appears to be in danger of falling out. this is the identical problem as reported at www.nhtsa.dot.gov in oid numbers: 10049180, 10052830, 10052901, 10053989, 10079762, 10104457, 10105660. in each case, neither the dealer nor ford would fix the defective window frame. and likewise, they will not fix the one on my vehicle, even though i have an extended warrenty in effect. an individual in the body shop at my dealer said that he has recently seen about a dozen similar problems.*ak

The panel on the rear liftgate which contains the ford emblem cracked for no reason and i was informed by 2 dealerships that it has happened many times in the past to similar ford vehicles but that they will not repair mines because it has over 36,000 miles on it, but my complaint is that it is a factory defect and the amount of miles should not matter towards ford repairing this defect.*ak

The back hatch on my ford explorer has a crack in the plastic. ford has told us that this is an on going problem but will not fix the problem. my truck is not the only one that i have seen. *ak

Recall campaign: the liftgate on the consumer's 2002 ford explorer was recall but no parts were available to repair it. *bf prior to the liftgate being repaired it opened twice without using the latch release. the plastic panel which is a part of the liftgate cracked but the dealer refused to replace it under the recall. *nm

Panel directly below rear windshield cracked from top to bottom. ford delorships and the ford motor corporation refuse to repair it. i was told by the delorship and ford that this was happening to hundreds 2002 explorers nationwide. some how, they still believe its not necessary to recall. they have, however, issued a techinical service bulletin to delorships nationwide with intructions on exactly how to fix it.*ak

Recall campaign 04v442000 concerning rear liftgate glass. consumer was unable to get the dealer to honor this recall since mid december 2004. dealer kept insisting that no parts were available.*ak

Broken plastic body panel on rear hatch of explorer 2002--vertical break in panel piece occurred just after purchase. crack widens in cold weather and shrinks in warm, so it can't be patched. just cosmetic, but rampant with this car. ford apparently developed a "better" panel, but it is not considering this a recall defect. very frustrating, but probably should be expected behavior. *jb

This vehicle experienced multiple problems, and the dealer was aware of the problems. consumer applied the brakes, and the pedal went to the floor. vehicle swayed from left to right on its own. consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle. also, door rubber panel failed to stay attached to the door. mechanic determined that the brake problem could not be duplicated,and vehicle was operating as designed. however, the rubber panel was adjusted properly by the mechanic. consumer informed the mechanic this problem still occurred. *ak

By the ford symbol in the back there is a crack about 6-8 inches long. no dents or debris around crack. the crack just happened.*ak

The parts to perform the rear liftgate glass recall 04v442000 weren't available on the dates indicated in the recall letter. the dealership nor the manufacturer had any indication on when the parts will be available. *ak

After receiving the recall for the tailgate lift consumer was unable to get the vehicle serviced because there were no parts. consumer contacted the manufacturer.*ak recall campaign nhtsa campaign id number : 04v442000. the consumer was told that the repair could not be preformed until the weather warmed. *tc

No parts were available for recall 04v442000 concerning liftgate glass. dealership was aware of the problem. mallen, 440-442-8000. *ak

Plastic body piece under rear glass on door cracked due to stress. broke while driving down road. no impact. *ak

Huge crack on back panel below window!!!!!!!!!!!! *tr

Recall campaign: no parts available for recall#04s20 rear liftgate. freeway ford 281-588-5000. please provide more information. *nm

No parts were available for recall 04s20 repairs concerning liftgate window. dealership was contacted. family ford 973-347-5379. *ak recall campaign; nhtsa campaign id number : 04v442000. *tc

Originally informed ford dealer of loud shudder in vehicle upon starting when cold at about 11,000 miles and was told that is "normal" for this transmission and they do not know what causes it--"keep on driving it." transmission over-drive light began to flicker at about 69,400 miles. ford service department looked into the problem and had the vehicle for repair for over three weeks. reported broken seal in trans and worn torque converter. trouble "locking out" after repair so they replaced the warped valve body.

My children and i went to the bowling alley and my son went to the back of the vehicle to get his bowling ball bag and when he went to close the liftgate it shifted to the left and exploded around him. i took vehicle to fritts ford saturday to have it looked at. the service manager told me that ford was not responsible because the glue holding the hinge was still there and that there was damage on the panel and it had broken the glass inside the panel where we could not see it. the damage he "saw" was 2 superficial scrapes on the paint, there was not any dents, creases or bowing of any kind to the panel. even though i had done my research on this site and knew that there was a problem with the struts, i could tell that this man would not listen to me and i would not get it repaired there. i have since taken my vehicle to raceway ford and am waiting for the advisor to call me back. at raceway they acknowledged there was a recall and seem willing to help me. *ak

No parts were available for recall 04v442000 concerning rear liftgate glass. sarasota ford, 941-366-3673. *ak

Nhtsa recall campaign 04v442000 concerning rear liftgate glass. no parts available.*ak

The parts to perform the rear liftgate recall 04v442000 has'nt been available for 3 months, and the dealership didn't know when they would become available. *jb

04 v 442 000/rear liftgate glass: the consumer was unable to get the dealer to honor the recall. *jb

Consumer received a recall notice. however, consumer was still waiting for parts, and recall repairs had not been performed. *ak

Nhtsa recall 04v442000 on the rear liftgate glass. dealer refused to honor the recall because the computer showed that the vin number was not part of the recall. however, consumer received the recall notice . *ak

Nhtsa recall campaign 04v442000; ford issued a rear liftgate recall. this vehicle was included in the recall, but there were no available parts in order to do recall repairs. this was dangerous because the liftgate could fall off.*ak

The consumer received recall campaign #04v442000 in october of 2004 regarding the liftgate. she continued to contact the ford dealer and the manufacturer. the recall repairs had not been performed as of yet because there were no parts. *ak *sc *jb

Consumer stated a recall for the liftgate has was issued. when the consumer attempted to set up an appointment dealer stated the part was not available, and they did not know when it will be available. *ak *tt

recall 04v442000 was issued for the liftgate in october 2004. dealer stated the part was not available. *ak

While the vehicle was parked consumer was closing the rear hatch and the entire window shattered. consumer contacted the manufacturer, and although the ball and socket joint to the hatch window was recalled, manufacturer refused to assist consumer unless a waiver was signed so that consumer will not sue the manufacturer. consumer refused to sign waiver, but would only like to get the defect repaired. this occurred prior to consumer receiving notification not to open the hatch after this defect happened. *ak

The rear liftgate window assembly came completely out of the frame. vehicle was immobile at the time of the occurrence. consumer contacted the dealer, who was unable to assist the consumer. vehicle was 2000 miles over warranty. *ak