2002 ford explorer, crack in rear panel below rear window. Ford will not repair, it is a common problem among many 2002 ford explorers.
2002 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 9 of 17: complaints 221 to 250 of 486, newest first, as owners wrote them.
In december, 2006, found crack in hatchack door just below the window. Called my dealership immediately to explain what I saw and what they would do to take care of this. I was told that it was only cosmetic and therefore would not pay to replace, that would be my responsiblility
Rear hatch on 2002 explorer trim piece at bottom cracks..thsi is a common problem and ford knows about it but will not fix
Daughter came out of school to find crack beneath rear window. Thought to be result of hit and run in parking lot. Took to dealer who said it is a known defect. Repaired at no cost to us, no problem. Good dealer! We are very good ford customers, having bought exclusively fords for 20+ years. This will not deter us from buying ford again.
On a cold day, I discovered that the body panel below the glass on the rear gate of my 2002 ford explorer cracked. Nothing hit the vehicle to cause the crack. The outside temperature was around 32 degree f at the time.
There is a large crack in my tailgate that starts at the back windshield glass and runs halfway down my tailgate. I guess there are a lot of people with these cracks and ford should be held responsible in paying for these repairs. I spoke with the local ford dealership and they said they know about the problem but they do not want to fix it. I will never buy a ford again if they are going to treat their customers like this...please help us get them to recall this. Thanks.
I own a 2002 ford explorer. On feb 3rd the lift gate split in 2 pieces. Manf. Defect. Ford is aware of this happening and has neither offered any kind of monterey assistance or issued a recall. They told me that I needed to pay the repair out of my pocket because it is no longer under warranty. They understand this is a hazard but are not willing to do anything about it. The only thing holding my liftgate closed is the 2 pumps on either side of the gate. Obvious hazard!! There are hundreds of vehicles just like mine where the tail gates are failing. Does someone need to die before ford does anything about it???
While closing rear tailgate window of 2002 ford explorer,fiberglass portion of the tailgate shattered. No injury was incurred; however, the potential does exist. Inquired manufacture, and was told they did not have a recall on this part therefore, they felt no liability to replace the part. Since the incident, I have noticed 5 explorers with the same defect.
Rear hatch cracked two spots.
The fiberglass panel on the back hatch of my 2002 ford explorer has cracked from the glass straight down apparently due to cold weather. I called the dealer and was told that for some reason this had happened a lot this winter. I was told to bring it in to be looked at by the service manager and that it would probably be taken care of or at least a 50/50 split. When I took it in the manager told me because of the miles on my vehicle there was nothing that they could do for me. I have since noticed that a lot of the ford explorers that have the 2 piece fiberglass panels are cracked also that are driving around. Can ford be held accountable for this? I have no other damages to my vehicle and take very good care of it. But this is very noticeable and you can bet when I go to trade it in ford will discount for this defect.
Tailgate exterior applique cracked for no apparent reason.
Tl*- the contacted stated that the rear liftgate applique on the 2002 ford explorer was cracked. The applique held the back rear glass onto the liftgate. The liftgate glass strut may become disengaged if the rear lift gate was opened. The contact was unwilling to open the rear liftgate due to the crack. The contact spoke with dealership and ford manufacturer, and was informed that the vehicle was not part of the recall due to the VIN. The vehicle had 67200 miles.
The tail gate door panel below the glass has to line cracks. It began to separate. It also happen to my father in-law. I have also seen it in many other explorers.
Left panel below tailgate window cracked without any contact to vehicle - nothing hit the car and the car did not hit another vehicle.
The liftgate exterior cracked down the middle with no pressure being applied, maybe the weather made it crack, but this is a manufacturers defect.
2002 ford explorer - panel below rear window (applique) cracked. Ford dealer claims it happens when weather is to hot or cold.
On a 10 degree night, I woke up to find a nasty crack in the rear liftgate under the glass. It not only cracked, but separated and made about an 1/8" gap. Another crack beside it forming a triangular shape as well. Looks like it will fall out any time. My insurance won't cover this because it is a known ford issue!!!!!!! Tell me how that is fair, that we pay the money for these very expensive vehicles, and there is a well known defect in them, but we have to pay for it. I can't blame the insurance companies for denial. It is fords place to pay for this. It is unethical for ford to treat their customers like this and very bad for business. I can't use my back hatch anymore for fear that it will crack again and pieces fall out. I carry full coverage insurance and do my part to take care of my vehicle, now I can't afford to cover something that is fords fault!!!!!! Come on ford, cut us some slack. Ch .
The back panel of our ford explorer has cracked the vertical length of the to panel. Have seen many other explorers with the same defect.
My 2002 ford explorer has a crack in the rear window as a result of a recall that occurred two years ago. I have personally seen 5 others with identical cracks. Ford is aware of it but refuses to take any accountable actions.
I walked around the back of my 2002 ford explorer today to find the panel directly below my rear window was severely cracked in 3 places. I had a minor crack which I repaired on my own before. In neither instance did I have an accident or anything along those lines to cause the cracks. After doing some research on the internet and contacting a few ford dealerships, I've discovered that hundreds, if not thousands of other 2002 explorer owners have had the misfortune of experiencing similar problems. The phantom splitting of a body panel on a modern vehicle is a major design flaw. My vehicle's safety is now in question; I am concerned that the hatch-back glass is now not adequately supported due to the multiple cracks below it. Please, for the safety of all 2002 explorer drivers and the travelers behind them on the road, see to it that this defect is remedied by ford motor company with a product recall.
I have a cracked panel in my ford explorer 2002. This panel could break in half while driving and cause a serious accidents. Ford refuses to do anything about it.
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.
I have a 2002 ford explorer. The panel below the rear window spontaneously cracked. It is a vertical crack the height of the panel to the left of the ford emblem. I have not had any success in getting ford or my dealership to make a repair to my vehicle. The estimated cost of the repair is $571.20. I am concerned that this crack may affect the stability of my rear window.
The plastic applique panel below the glass on the liftgate has developed two vertical cracks, approx 1/8th" in diameter running the length of the panel (approx 5 inches) to the left and to the right of the 'ford' emblem. These developed spontaneously over time, one after another. There was no collision or other trauma to trigger these cracks. Research reveals that _many_ other 2002 explorer owners are experiencing the same defect. I noticed the same condition on several other 2002 ford explorers simply driving around town. Ford will not repair this problem which is most obviously a manufacturer's defect.
The upper rear window liftgate was opened to access cargo and as soon as it was in the up position, the glass exploded sending shards of glass within the vehicle and outside the vehicle. Husband was showered with glass and just missed being hit by the attached lower panel that fell on the exterior of the car. This is a serious safety hazard. If passengers were sitting in the third row seats, they would have been showered in glass. If this happened while a parent is holding a child while retrieving items from the back, they could incur serious injuries. Glass shattering over your head for no apparent reason is extremely hazardous. This is a serious design flaw. The vehicle did go in for the recall sent out a couple of years ago to replace a bracket. Obviously, this did not do a thing to prevent this window from breaking, ford knows there is a problem and tried to do the cheapest thing possible to fix it, instead of replacing the entire rear liftgate assembly. Ford should be taking responsibility for this defect and albeit my opinion, I believe that a class action lawsuit should be on the horizon. We will be contacting the dealer tomorrow and finding out what they have to say. With all the information that is on the internet on the number of people having this same problem, this is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed and resolved before it causes a death or life changing injury.
There is a panel below the rear window gate that has a vertical crack.. Initially, the rear window was a recall, now the panel below the window has cracked. The rear window was replaced, at no cost, but ford will not replace the defect/crack on the back panel.
Crack in the plastic panel under the rear glass. 02 ford explorer. Went to pick up kids from mothers house, and walked around truck, and saw it. Cracked all the way from the bottom to the top, in an upside down fashion. All the way through from top to bottom. Lots of other complaints on the internet, and around town with the same problem. Afraid it is also a rear glass problem, as the rear glass is attached to the cracked peice. Also heard there was at one time a recall on the rear glass of the 02.
2002 ford explorer xlt. Noticed a crack in the rear panel located below tailgate glass the crack is from top to bottom. The location of this crack is approximately 3 inches to the right of the ford emblem under the rear tailgate window.
I have no idea what caused the problem but I believe it is a very common occurrence. I am (sorry 'was') the proud owner of a 2002 ford explorer eddie bauer v8 auto transmission. It has suddenly developed 2 stress cracks in the panel under the rear window - one actually goes right through the panel from end to end!. They were most certainly not there this morning when I parked my vehicle outside my office but it was extremely cold in atlanta today, I've read numerous articles on the internet this evening and I am absolutely alarmed to discover that the cracking is a common occurrence in this year/model explorer in cold conditions - why is ford not doing something about it??
The back liftgate or hatch back of my 2002 ford explorer limited has a large vertical crack that has just magically appeared. The crack is about 4 inches long and another 1 inch beside it. It is located directly under the rear glass. I was on a website that has about 65 of the same complaints for this year's model of explorer. I feel that ford has an obligation to pay for this since they did have a recall.
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