Purchased a 2002 ford exp eddie bauer ed used with 35,000 miles. Transmission had to be repaired within 3 weeks due to 4wd malfunction covered by warranty. Passenger side window motor assembly has been replaced once, and window regulator has been replaced once, and is in need of a second replacement. Took to local dealership and was told window was not meant to be lowered halfway. The rear hatch has also cracked completely down from window to lower panel. Dealership will not acknowledge issues with this occurring, but upon further research have found this to be a common problem with this vehicle make and model. Overdrive light blinks continuously and dealership reports it to be a malfunctioning electrical switch repair cost at around $400. Have continued to drive vehicle, but will no longer drive vehicle after discovering that this is a precursor to transmission failure. May possibly trade-in this vehicle and lose monetary value for private sale. Will not be responsible for selling this vehicle to a private party and risk injury to next owner. Shame on ford for not taking care of their customers.
2002 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 7 of 17: complaints 161 to 190 of 486, newest first, as owners wrote them.
A cracked rear panel on my 2002 ford explorer. To date, I haven't had any safety issues, but I've checked other online sites and seen quite a few submissions from other owners with the same issue. I cannot afford to have it replaced, and according to other owners, the problem will probably reoccur (it seems to happen during cold weather). Ford has not listed it on their recall site.
My husband opened the liftgate to my 2002 eddie bauer ford explorer to bring our hurricane supply kit into the house. Afterwards, he went to close the liftgate, just as normal, and the glass, without any warning, exploded into hundreds of pieces and the frame below the glass crashed to the ground. Glass was found halfway down the driveway, under the car, inside the car, and on top of the car. The hinges were clearly both broken and wires were separated from the liftgate. My husband was standing to the side of the car when he closed the liftgate and luckily only had a minor cut on his toe. The liftgate did not touch anything and was not hit by anything or forced to close immediately prior to it exploding. I essentially have a three-sided car right now. Ford issued a recall (04s20) on the liftgate glass hinge and ball stud bracket earlier and I had that repair completed on 09/25/07. The description of the explosion is verbatim of what was described in the recall, however ford customer care denies any responsibility stating that part is no longer under warranty as does the dealer who originally repaired the recalled part. This could have been extremely disastrous if my husband had not been standing off to the side or if anyone had been inside the car, especially children. Ford should be required to pay for any incidents that happen involving the hinge and ball bracket even if the repair was made as they requested per the recall. Doors do not just 'come off' for no reason. Their method of 'repairing' the recall is not sufficient as there are blogs online with many other exact complaints.
Paint is blistering and chipping on the hood and fender of my 2002 explorer. Abs light comes on and airbag light stays on.
This is the second time my rear panel below the window hatch on my 2002 ford explorer has cracked. This time it cracked and flew off on the highway. 2 vehicles behind me had to dodge the debris, and fortunately there were no accidents.
March '07: rear gate split under window december '07 through jan '08: rear differential rebuilt twice, rear axel hubs and bearings replaced; differential noise still loud june '08: torque converter replaced.
I have problems closing the back window. Yesterday I was simply trying to close the back window, then about 1/3 way down out of no where the back window shattered all over me for the second time! Very dangerous, especially around children. (good thing my children were about 15ft away, but they witness the whole thing). The first time the window shattered, it was maybe around 2004-05. (I can verify upon request). Supposedly dealership fixed the problem. (yeah right!) very disappointed in ford!!
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. While the vehicle was parked and the rear tailgate hatch window was a quarter of the way down, the contact's son retrieved items from the trunk and the middle piece of the rear end was literally hanging off. The window glass shattered everywhere. His son was uninjured, but the contact believes that this should not have occurred if no pressure was applied to the window itself. The contact drove to the dealer and was informed that the failure was not covered under warranty, nor a recall. The current and failure mileages were 136,739.
Last summer 2007, I noticed a crack in the plastic panel beneath the rear window in my ford explorer. I took it into a body shop to ask how this could have happened and they told me that they had seen several ford explorers with the same defect and that the part had been recalled by the manufacturer. I looked up online the recall and saw that it was for the same year, make, and model of my explorer so I took it to the dealership and they ran the VIN number and said that my particular car wasn't a part of the recall even though it is the same exact part and car. I then called the ford national customer service line and filed a complaint and they did nothing about it. I was told by 2 autoshops that if I don't get the part replaced it could crack completely and the window can fall out of the car. *tr *dt*jb *dt
I was loading groceries into the back of my 2002 ford explorer when the liftgate window exploded. The hinge on the liftgate had actually broken, shattering glass everywhere. My hand was cut and I was hit in the head by the liftgate. While devastating, it could have been tragic. I had the hinges and liftgate serviced and repaired several years ago due to a recall issued by ford for a manufacturer's defect. Apparently, the problem was repaired with other defective parts or wasn't repaired at all. When I contacted ford, they refused to pay for repairs and referred me to my insurance company, who said it was a ford problem. I am stuck with the 1,400.00 bill but ford loses my business.
Crack on rear hatch of vehicle, this is the second time that it has happened. First time it was replaced at our cost.
I have a 2002 ford explorer xlt, a couple weeks ago I went to open the back lift glass, and the window fell, and combustion in thousands of little pieces, right in my face! I have pictures, anyway I proceeded to take my vehicle to ford motor company in horseheads, ny, they replaced the window due to the explosion, and I have had my truck back there 4 times because they wired it wrong, and they refuse to fix this problem, if my wiring from the back windshield to the dash of my truck does not get fixed I am sorry to say that I will be forced to obtain an attorney for ford! Please help!!!!!!
The fuel system on my ford explorer went out completely at 40,000 miles. Also, the black panels between the windows are faded and peeling.
I recently purchased a used 2002 ford explorer. The middle section of the hatch cracked down the middle. Upon further research I found this is a widespread problem with explorers of this year model. It's obvious to all those who own one that the problem was a defect in material from the manufacturer. Ford refuses to fix it or even make partial restitution for having it repaired.
A crack appeared on the rear hatch door under the rear window. The crack just appeared one morning without any direct action. A search on the internet showed that this problem is happening to many 2002 ford explorers.
Crack appeared in winter 2006 in hatch below rear window. This was a florida car up to june 2006. All was fine in florida. I suspect cold has something to do with these cracks. No repair has been made as I am hoping for a recall.
Rear tailgate on my 2002 ford explorer was recalled for the hinges to be exposed since then the tailgate would exhibit random door ajar indications. Recently the plastic panel on the outside under the glass has split vertically in the middle.
The paint on my 2002 ford explorer was peeling off the panels between the windows after 3 years (and it's primarily parked in my garage). After contacting ford and appealing to 2 different dealers for assistance, I decided I could live with it because it was cosmetic flaw even though the dealers admitted that this was "normal" for this to happen. However, on dec 26, 2007, I went out to my car in the morning while out of town,and noticed a three inch crack in the body of the rear hatch, just to the right of the ford logo. This did not happen as a result of being closed too hard or any other logical cause. It just cracked on its own. I called ford about this problem and they said that I would need to take it to a dealer for an estimate. I complied with this request and took it in. The dealers service manager told me that at one time, there had been funds available for this repair, but not anymore. I was told by ford that since it was out of warranty, they could not help me. So ford is well aware of this problem but will do nothing to remedy the problem. This happened as a result of a manufacturer's defect, but since I took care of my vehicle by parking it out of the elements, it did not manifest until the car was out of the warranty period. I also believe this poses a safety issue because the cracked plastic is a bit sharp and I do not wish to cut my hand when closing the door.
A crack from top to bottom, on the fiberglass panel below the rear window of my 2002 ford explorer xls 2wd, 4.0 fi. I took the car in at about a year and a half old, while it was still under warranty for the same issue and it was "taken care of" at ford's cost. About 3-6 months after the 36 month warranty expired I noticed the same crack start to reappear and with it being out of warranty, the ford dealership refused to repair/replace at their cost. As of 4/10/08 I have yet to receive any recall notices for my vehicle.
2002 crack on hatchback panel under rear window. On december 26, 2007 I went into my garage and noticed 2 cracks, one on each side of the ford emblem, each about 3 to 4 inches long. I know for sure they were not there the night before because we had taken some packages out of the hatchback, and there were no cracks. It is evident that the 2002 ford explorer has a faulty manufactured hatchback. When I searched this problem on the web, it was surprising to find out that it had the highest amount of complaints than any other exterior complain. This is an accident waiting to happen. Once the cracks run down to the bottom of the panel there is big potential that the window will fall out. This leaves the window at risk to fall out and injure someone.
About three weeks ago I noticed a crack on the fiberglass piece of the rear hatch lid of my 2002 ford explorer. I didn't think much about it until today when I got to looking for the price of a rear window. While searching I seen that there was alot of people that had this problem and that some had even had the window shatter on them. Well I am now one of them. Today as I opened my rear hatch the passenger side piece that secures the window to the body of the explorer just fell off causing the window to shatter and glass to cut my arms, and face, and also sent pieces of glass into my eye.
Cracked lift gate/ upper half.
After seeing other 2002-2006 ford explorers on the street with the same problem of having a crack in the rear panel right below the rear window I decided to see if there was anything we could do about it. I know there was a recall to replace the hinges because the door would slam shut which I believe caused the crack. I talked to ford when it first occurred and they said based on my mileage they would not fix it and it would cost about 500. My question to ford was what does the mileage have to do with what I believe was a recall defect that ultimately caused this problem? I noticed on the new model explorers they redesigned them so the glass opens up without the panel. After reading other complaints I am now concerned that the window could actually fall out if the door is shut and could break and cause an injury. I would like to file a formal complaint and hopefully get this resolved soon.
Outside cover on hatch lid cracked just below the glass. Have seen several other explorers with the same problem. I talked to the owners and they also have had no response from the dealerships in our area. I have talked to 15 other owners and have seen many more cars with this crack.
2002 ford explorer xlt rear window lift panel cracked (dealer replaced once due to small stress fractures was the explanation given me) replacement panel cracked within 6 months, same place as first crack, but extending all the way through panel. Dealer and ford motor company contacted and refused to replace. This posses a danger if the panel flies off during vehicle operation. I have seen many other fords with the same defect and ford should offer a recall. Please advise.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. The back hatch was partially opened, and when opened all the way it shattered. There is a safety recall 04v442000 - structure:body:hatchback/liftgate: hinge and attachments. The vehicle is currently at the dealer. The current and failure mileage was 80,000. The purchase date was not available. Kg
The rear liftgate applique cracked in the middle resulting in the right side completely falling off the vehicle. The part that is still attached to the vehicle is loose on the edges due to inefficient adhesive. Apparently there are hundreds of complaints of this exact defect occurring to other owners of 2002 explorers. This is also a completely replaced rear window following the shattering of the original one in march 2004 due to bad struts. After having the shattered window replaced, it completely fell off the following year due to the faulty hinge (which was recalled). I have an estimate of over $700 from the ford dealer to fix this applique. I feel that with this many complaints it's inexcusable for ford to not issue a recall. I will never purchase a ford again after this nor will anyone in my family with this type of customer service.
The body panel below the back window is cracked for no reason when I took my truck into a ford dealer they said that is normal and ford knew about the problem and there isn't anything they could due. So I called the ford service number in my ford handbook and the manager confirmed they knew about the problem but its not a recall out because its not a major problem and if I wanted it fixed I would have to pay. So I also asked about the transmission failure rate and I was also told they knew about that too (the transmissions fail under 100,000 miles) but there isn't a recall and I would have to pay to get the transmission fixed as well.
Rear lift gate cracked in the middle.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. The contact noticed that the rear glass was cracked from the top to the bottom of the glass. He noticed another crack beginning to form at the top as well. One crack is in the center and the other is on the top right. The manufacturer stated that they would assume a small portion of the cost to have the glass replaced, but did not state whether the failure would recur. The failure mileage was 25,000 and current mileage was 46,700. Updated 04-02-08
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