Liftgate glass applique cracked. I notified the ford dealership, and they told me that because my car was no longer covered under warranty, ford would not replace this item. I explained to them that this was a structural defect, and that I did nothing to cause the plastic to crack. They were very unsympathetic to my needs. This is a two year-old car, and I feel that if they do not fix this problem, by back window will not be secure, therefore causing yet another problem for me. The service manager told me that he has seen a number of explorer's come in with the exact same defect. This crack has nothing to do with mileage or abuse to the car. I feel that ford should replace and repair this defect at no charge to me, and issue a recall on this model.
2002 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 15 of 17: complaints 401 to 430 of 486, newest first, as owners wrote them.
After I parked the explorer at the mall, I opened the rear liftgate glass to take out the stroller. After I set the stroller up, I reached up to close the liftgate glass. At this point, while my hand is still on the liftgate, the glass shattered and exploded with glasses flew everywhere. The baby stroller is covered with glasses. Unfortunately, I had not put my 8 months old baby is the stroller or else his face would be covered with glasses. At this point, I felt a sharp pain on my right hand and saw that there were two cuts and I was bleeding everywhere. After dropping the explorer at a dealer nearby, I went to the urgent care and got 12 stitches for the cuts. I called ford customer relationship center on monday to report the incident and was told to wait for 2 business days for the ford consumer affairs to call me back. After two days of waiting, I called back and this time I was told that it might take up to 7 days before they can call me back. I did some research on this problem and found out that there are numerous complaints filed with the federal safety agency regarding this problem and there is an open investigation by odi (opened on 06/02/2004). Apparently, shortly after the introducing the 2002 explorer for sale, ford issued a special service instruction (ssi 01i-010) in april of 2001 to correct a liftgate lift cylinder mount issued in 56,000 vehicles built from 2/5/2001 to 3/30/2001. All vehicles built after that period were to have an improved lift cylinder mounting design. My explorer was built on 04/20/2001. However, I am very suspicious that this build date might be wrong since I kept the window sticker and the dealer's invoice when I bought the explorer and the dates on those is 04/09/2001. Why is this date (04/09/2001) before my explorer's production date (04/20/2001)? My explorer might have been built during this 2/5/2001 - 3/20/2001 period since there are numerous complaints on this problem with known build dates after april 2001 period. *ak pe04045.pco
Returning home one sunday evening from grocery shopping with my grand-daughters(ages 4 and 5),I removed them from the vehicle and sent them in the house, while my teenage son and I unloaded the groceries. After the last of the groceries were removed, my son started to close the liftgate glass. As I stood next to him, the liftgate glass had only made it halfway down ,when there was an explosion .the liftgate glass had disintegrated as if shot with a gun. At the time of this incident, I had the explorer backed into the garage. So when the glass exploded,it flew outward towards us ,as well as inward into the vehicle. The next day, I drove the explorer back to the dealership with the liftgate glass missing. I was fortunate to still be under warranty, but when I asked the ford service advisor to confirm that this problem will be covered under the warranty, he was not reassuring. Not having that confirmation that the dealership was going to cover this upset me greatly. I was called by the dealership later that day (monday), only to try to persuade me to agree to $500 dollars worth of maintenance, unrelated to the liftgate problem. In this same call, the service advisor did confirm that the dealership would fix the problem.two days have gone by, and I haven't heard from the dealership so I called and found out they had ordered a new liftgate glass and would replace it. However, by the end of the week (friday), I called them again,since no one was calling me with updates and was told by the service advisor that they will have to replace the entire liftgate door. And because of this they will have to keep the vehicle for a few more days, since they now will have to paint the new liftgate door to match the color of the vehicle. At this writing,the dealership has had the vehicle for over a week now. I don't have an accurate account of what was specifically changed (I.e. Parts), but I will insist on a detailed list of what was done and why. Pe04045.
When unloading the vehicle liftgate glass shattered. *ak pe04045.pco
The liftgate latch appeared to be faulty. It broke while my wife was closing the liftgate and the liftgate came crashing down, shattering glass everywhere. Dealer wouldn't warranty, suggested that try to use my car insurance to cover the costs. *ak pe04045.pco
Manufacturer's defect with paint. Failure to properly apply under coat resulting in paint checking and oxidation. Entire car will need to be repainted.
Rear window was in the up/open position for about 30 minutes and shattered while attempting to close it. It seemed to bow slightly prior to exploding. Upon inspection, the hydraulic struts seem to have locked in place, with the resulting pressure on the glass causing the failure. The right hinge also sheared off. Shattered glass spread over a few feet to the interior and sides of the vehicle. Waiting for dealership to reopen after holiday weekend to discuss the matter.*ak pe04045_pco
On may 15, 2004 while at a walmart in niagara falls, new york, the rear hatch hinge bolt on my wife's 2002 ford explorer sheared off and fell on her head causing a concussion and other related injuries. *ak pe04045_pco
Mud, snow, dirt, debris and exhaust fumes was entering the vehicle from under the door. *ph ford is already aware of the problem and currently investigating.
On a hot day, I opened the glass liftgate & the passenger side strut glue came undone, causing the liftgate to not shut properly. I then removed the strut so that I could close the liftgate without breaking the glass, & continue to drive. I never opened it again. A month later, the glue on the holding strut & the glass on the driver side became undone. (also, on the first warm day of this spring season, I powered down the passenger side front seat window, but I was unable to get it to go back up, although the power was working. It became evident that this is also attributable to the inferior bonding product used on this window. The interim remedy was that I taped the window up with duct tape to protect the vehicle from the elements & theft.) it's clear that since this has happened in 2 sections of my new vehicle that there is a defect in the bonding product used on these windows. I found there is a recall for this very problem on my vehicle. (recall no. 01i010000.) there is also a phone no. To call regarding this problem as ford has decided to conduct a special service campaign to inspect and torque the liftgate glass bracket on affected vehicles. I called this number and was advised that, although I have the exact vehicle and problem as the recall requires, my VIN number does not render me eligible for the recall. In addition, although I clearly have an affected vehicle, I was not offered the opportunity to have the benefit of the special service campaign. given the nature of the problem, the newness of the vehicle & the fact that it has happened on two windows, this is clearly a manufacturer defect. In addition, there is a recall for the exact problem (on the back window) on my exact vehicle. If for some reason my VIN number is not included, it obviously should be included. After all, how do they initially determine which groups of cars have been affected if not by the consumers complaining of the problem? Being fixed tomorrow for $800.*ak pe04045.pco
I lifted the top portion of the tailgate to retrieve items from car. As it lifted, the bolt that hinges the right top side of the tailgate broke off, the hydrolic portion let go and the tailgate came down on my head. I was unable to close the tailgate after that, and it was hanging down on an angle, undriveable as it continued to fall further down and make "cracking" noises. It is currently being fixed, however ford is not too concerned! My car is 500 miles over warranty (1 1/2 years old), and they say I am responsible to pay a portion of this bill.*ak pe04045_pco
I was opening the door to get my daughters diaper bag and hinge broke. My husband was trying to put it back and the glass shattered in his hands. My daughter and I were standing next to the vehicle as the glass shattered. This could have taken my entire families eye sight. The glass literally exploded. This issue is definitely unsafe!!! Especially when there are young children around. And mothers are opening up the hatch to get out a diaper bag with a child in hand. Please note this is the second time we have had a problem with this hatch. We took it to ford. This should be a mandatory safety recall.*ak pe04045_pco
Rear hatch lift on my 2002 ford explorer glass shattered when I closed it after placing a diaper bag in the back I took the vehicle to texas ford to find out if there was a recall I was told none. They refused to replace my glass because it was out of warranty. That I should file on my insurance. *jb pe04045.pco
The consumer leaned over into the rear compartment of the vehicle when the rear window hinge broke and fell on top of the consumer's head. The hinge was replaced, but in the process, the "flip open" rear window shattered, subsequently the entire rear window along with the left and right hinges were replaced. (prior to the incident, the consumer noticed that the rear window would open without one opening the entire rear door to gain access to the back of the vehicle) *ak *sc pe04045_pco
While standing under the raised liftgate (top half) loading groceries, the glass suddenly and unexpectedly shattered causing my wife and I to be showered by shards of glass and then hit on our heads and backs with the falling liftgate assembly. This incident caused us head, neck and back trauma and also a scratched cornea to my wife's left eye. Ford refuses responsibility for this incident.*ak pe04045.pco
Glass lift hatch opens while driving. *ak rear door liftgate intermittently unlatches and unlocks while vehicle was moving. Dealer made four attempts to fix problem. Ford weren't able to find out the cause of the problem.
The consumer complained about a rear hatch back window problem. There was a crack at the base of the window approximately 8 inches wide. *ak
In august, 2003, the vehicle back window hinge broke while loading groceries, it caused damage to the tailgate frame and the glass cracked. Both were replaced taking over 7 days. The same component broke again in january, 2004, causing the rear glass to crash on my wifes head. Luckily she only had a minor bruise and bump from the impact. I asked the manager of maintenance about this problem, and he said it happens all the time.*ak pe04045_pco
Vehicle was parked with sunroof open. When trying to close hatchback after loading swimming equipment, glass shattered. *la this occurred twice, inconveniencing the consumer's daily routine. *ph pe04045.pco
I have a ford explorer 2002 xls. While opening my rear window door the left hinge (latch) broke and the window exploded throwing glass everywhere including pasengers inside the vehicle. I went to the vendor and was told that this was not anymore responsability of the manufacturer since the warranty was expired. I complaint was filed with the police department since in the incident there where people involved and happened in my workplace parking lot. Pe04045_pco
I am the owner of a 2002 explorer that for a year started with a squeak noise coming from the chassis supports. Every time that I took my vehicle for an oil change to the dealer I complain about this problem, and it was always mentioned to me that this type of car do not have any lub points for the chassis supports. They could not find the squeak noise from where it was coming. *ak the squeak noise started to be so bad, that I went underneath the car and found by myself from where the noise was coming. The chassis supports parts of the back were replaced. The same squeak noise started to happen on the front end and parts were changed. Well surprise, I got my car after repair and after checking it one more time by rocking the vehicle there still a squeak noise coming from the front area. Imagine that this a common problem on this explorer 2002 fleet, I had a '98 explorer that never developed this problem.
Consumer was responsible for repairing a customer's vehicle because the rear window shattered when he opened the rear hatch. When he closed the hatchback the rear liftgate window exploded. A recall was issued. But this vehicle was not included in the recall because of VIN, per manufacturer. *ak pe04045.pco dob is 12/02_061704_pco
Upon closing the hatchback the strut locked up and the glass shattered. Pieces of glass landed in consumer's eyes. Consumer was not injured since he wore glasses. Vehicle was turned off when this occurred.*ak pe04045.pco dob is 10/01_061704_pco
On may 8, I was placing some items in the rear of my 2002 explorer through the hatchback (the glass part, not the entire rear door). I heard a pop when the glass raised up. Since it was dark and I wasn't sure what that noise was, I slowly started to close the glass when it exploded. As it turns out, the right pneumatic shock mount had broken off the glass as it lifted. The glass must have been broken by a portion of that shock mount in the path during closing. Luckily, I only received a cut on my hand as glass was everywhere; in my shoes, hair, purse, etc. I am very thankful that my three-year-old was not with me, as she normally would be standing by my side in that situation. I can only imaging what could have happened. My husband drove the vehicle to the ford dealership the next day, anticipating the worst, but they fixed the vehicle free of charge. They claimed that was the first time they had heard of that happening, but they were very quick to give him a loaner and get him out of there. We purchased the vehicle in august of 2002. It had approximately 14,000 miles on it at the time of the incident. I hope this info helps. Pe04045_pco
Tailgate window shattered without warning when attempting to close it. Dealer stated the hydraulic cylinder twisted away from the bracket. *ak *jb *nm pe04045.pco
I have a crack down the back hatch of my explorer. It extends from underneath the back window to the latch of the back door. It developed without incident and steadily widens on a daily basis.
Found stress crack in rear hatch...goes from the bottom of glass to the bottom of the hatch...this is a dangerous problem that someone else reported to you on your site. This is a defect that could cause an accident or injury since the glass may dislodge and create a accident...bringing to dealer to get fixed.*ak panel cracked (vertical) down trim plate. Cold temp contraction. Purchased 08/02. 04/02 dob. New design
The hinges on the back hatch window separated from the body of the vehicle, causing the door to sag and lean outwards when the doors were opened. *ak the hinge on the back hatch window separated from the body and caused the window to be held on by one hinge. The window was hanging from the hinge only. The dealer replaced the hinges. (hatch door problem) *sc *jb pe04045_pco
While opening the rear lift gate the door hinge broke and caused the door not to close/latch properly. Please provide any additional information. *nm re-eval since pe opening and det to be valid pe04045_pco
Glass exploded out of the back window, injuring my daughter. Ford states that there is a campaign, not a recall. So I wasn't notified of the faulty plunger mechanism. Ford replaced the glass, but could not guarantee me that it would not happen again, so I turned in the lease since the vehicle is unsafe for my family (4 kids). They are suing me because I turned in the lease early.*ak pe04045.pco
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