I have a 2003 eddie bauer ford explorer. Last night, when my son was attempting to close the rear lift gate glass door, the hinge on the passenger side broke off. The glass liftgate is presently being held up by the other hinge and it won't be long before that one breaks also. I spoke with an andrea at ford 1‑800‑392‑3673 and she basically told me that I was out of luck, that I would have to pay for the repairs because my vehicle was not included in the recall. I don't understand why, I told her the description of my vehicle. I have a friend who owns a ford explorer and he had the same problem, and since his was included in the recall, he didn't encounter any problems in having it repaired. You wonder why so many people buy japanese cars and trucks. Here is one of many reasons. Ford motor company is obviously attempting to save money at the expense of our safety.
2003 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 8 of 13: complaints 191 to 220 of 354, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer eddie bauer edition. While attempting to close the lift gate glass, the hinge on the passenger side failed. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not included in a recall; therefore, they were not liable for the repairs. The dealer has not been notified. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 98,773.
Applique underneath the rear window cracked next to emblem with no impact.
Cracked rear panel below the windshield. I have seen several ford explorers with the same problem as mine. I have also noticed several complaints on line at carcomplaints.com for the same problem. I reported the problem to ford customer relations, but they are not doing anything to fix the problem.
I was driving on the highway before dawn and heard a very loud noise (it was the sound of an explosion). I thought that a tire may have blowout, which was strange since the car has a set of new tires and I did not notice any changes in the driving of the vehicle. I stopped on the side of the highway and checked the car using a flash light. I saw nothing. Later that day when I went to get gasoline, I saw a crack in the panel that contained the ford logo, about 2 inches to the right of the logo that extended from the top of the panel to the bottom. It was just a clean crack on the panel below the rear window. This happened on a cold night (19 deg. F). From what I have seen and read it sounds like a design flaw with the fact that a plastic part is glue to a metal part with a different coefficient of expansion. The car is a ford explorer xlt 2003. Although the cracked panel does not seem to be a safety defect, the distraction caused by the loud bang noise while driving the car in heavy traffic and stopping in the highway at night to determine the cause of the noise clearly put me and my family at risk. Moreover, there is a good chance the rear window panel may separate from the vehicle at speed, being a safety issue for other motorists.
Ford explorer rear hatch defect, crack in hatch, ford has released a technical bulletin but says it is an owner responsibility to have it repaired. As a disabled veteran on a fixed income I cannot afford to have it repaired. There are hundreds of complaints on the internet regarding this issue with basically the same answer from ford.
2003 for explorer eddie bauer - the rear liftgate panel under the rear glass has a crack all the way through it. No known cause. There appear to be a large number of vehicles with this problem.
The rear panel below the window on the hatch just suddenly cracked... It wasn't hit or anything, it just cracked.
Trim panel on the bottom of rear hatch window developed a large crack unexpectedly. Crack is vertical from window to bottom of liftgate glass.
Plastic body part below rear window glass cracked.
2003 ford explorer paint peeling.
The back liftgate panel is cracked on my 2003 ford explorer. I live in colorado and the local ford service department said it was likely due to our dry weather, they haven't heard of it occurring in other states. I travel beyond colorado frequently and have seen several other vehicles with the same problem. This sounds like a manufacturer/ford defect that should be considered under a recall.
Factory paint blistering on hood. Vehicle is 5 years old and has 44,000 miles. There are a large number of complaints about this problem on a long list of internet sites. Ford is not acknowledging this issue. Apparently this is affecting 2000-2005 vehicles.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. While the vehicle was parked, the contact pressed the button on her key fob to open the glass on the rear hatch. As a result, one of the two hinges fractured as the window was opening. She attempted to close the glass, but apparently it was misaligned. Due to excessive pressure, the glass shattered and debris fell onto the contact and the ground. She called the dealer in reference to the federal safety agency campaign id number 04v442000 (structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:hinge and attachments) and was informed that the coverage date for the recall expired. The dealer would have to personally petition to the manufacturer for the vehicle to be repaired. The manufacturer stated that they would not assume financial responsibility for the repair. The contact's insurance company is in the process of notifying the manufacturer on her behalf. As of september 24, 2008, the vehicle has not been properly repaired. The failure mileage was 58,600 and current mileage was 59,600.
There is a crack on my 2003 ford explorer eddie bauer edition lift gate. I have seen other cars of the same make and model with the same crack in the same spot.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. The contact noticed that the liftgate glass applique was damaged and cracked. The dealer stated that because there was no recall for the failed component, the contact would be responsible for the repair costs. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 60,000. Updated 10/16/08. *lj updated 10/17/08.
Paint peeling off my car.
Vertical crack in the back hatch of my ford explorer 2003 just below the glass and going down.
Factory rearend was replaced in my 03 ford explorer. Since then the problem of gradual rearend deterioration has not been fixed. If the rearend fails catastrophically then a serious accident could occur. Ford motors does not consider this to be a safety concern, but it definitely is. Ford should recall all vehicles with the defective rearends and fix their problem.
There is a vertical crack that just appeared in the rear hatch of my 2003 ford explorer. We take very good care of our vehicles and this truck is rarely driven. It is also parked in our garage except when being driven. I have read that this problem is very common in this truck. Our "door ajar" light and warning regularly indicates that the door is not closed properly. It has even flung open while we are driving. We have the third row seat in this model and keep my two 5 year-olds in that seat. It was very frightening when this happened and we had to pull over suddenly to remedy the problem. There is a serious defect in this design which can cause injury to those in the vehicle or around you since the hatch opening out of no where is startling.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. The rear liftgate glass hinge has fractured. The contact opened the rear liftgate glass and, when he attempted to close it, the liftgate would not shut correctly. The hinge split into two pieces. The contact feels that if he attempts to open the rear liftgate, the glass will shatter. He discovered a recall for this failure, but the dealer stated that his VIN was not included in the recall. The recall number was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 63,000.
The back lift gate panel is cracked on my 2003 explorer. I have had the crack for approx. 2 years. The crack has progressively worsened. I took it to the dealer and they said " there has been several cases such as this, but ford has not issued a recall" I have seen several explorers with this problem. I do not think it should be my responsibility to cover this when it is obviously a ford defect.
My back windshield exploded last thursday while parked in my driveway. Not only did the glass explode, but the fiberglass underneath the glass was pulled away from the backend of the truck in a bowing position. I had the back hinge replaced after the recall, it's been less than 12 months and the ford dealership in nashua will do nothing for me, stating that they have never seen anything like that before and there are no other complaints. When I asked to speak to the area factory rep, they informed me that they didn't have one. I asked to speak to the manager, who pretty much said, here's your hat, what's your hurry, out you go...he then flagged me as being an "irate" customer. I am a mother of 4 young children, god forbid they had been in the car when that had happened. Ford should be ashamed of themselves..ford-built strong my leg! Anyone interested in filing a class action lawsuit in the state of nh, please let me know, I am going to contact my lawyer today.
July of 2007 the rear window on our 2003 ford explorer xlt had broken at one of the hinges and the window sagged. After researching on the internet we found out there was a recall, (04v44200). We then contacted ford and they agreed to fix the problem at no charge. Now 10 months later while the auto was parked in our driveway the window shattered with no one around. There was a neighbor working in the yard who witnessed this happen. Glass was both inside the vehicle and outside the vehicle. After a week of phone calls with no luck, I was finally in touch with a one of the parts guys at ford who said this is an ongoing problem that he was aware of. He even stated that they only replaced the hinges and not the glass which is known to shatter. After several phone calls, we were notified that the recall was only on the hinges (even though they know the glass is defective as well) and they would not help us out. Well im not paying $1,600 out of my pocket for another product that ford knows has a problem and doesn't back up there warranties.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. When the contact opened the liftgate, the right hinge swung out and became detached. The hinge nearly struck his child. He called the dealer and was notified of a recall on his year, make, and model vehicle for this identical failure. He called the manufacturer and was informed that his VIN was not included in the recall. The contact believes that if the failures are the same, his VIN should be included. The recall number was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 70,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. While driving 55 MPH with the cruise control activated, the cruise control failed without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and they stated that the cruise control wiring failed. There is a recall for the vehicle speed control, but his VIN was not included. The recall number was unknown. The current mileage was 11,550 and failure mileage was 11,330. Updated 06/25/08. *lj the consumer stated after the dealer fixed the recalled rear hatch probelm, the cargo hatch flew open while driving down the highway. A
Crack in panel on rear hatch I see same crack in same sport on all same vehicles.
2003 ford explorer with crack in rear door panel (cargo door) we noticed this crack after a cold night. It was no fault of our own, and since then we have noticed many other ford explorers with this same vertical crack in the back door. I really think this is a defect of ford motor company,and expect them to recall this product. Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated. I have also read many of these same stories about the cracked rear door online. With so many people complaining, it's a shame that nothing has been done by ford to correct this issue. Thank you for your time and help.
As many others have reported and am sure countless others do not know what to do, I am complaining about the crack in the rear of the 2003 explorers. Is anything going to be done about this that you know about? I have talked to ford and to dealers and they have done nothing. My concern became larger then cosmetic today when I left the car wash. Now not only is there that huge crack but also the seal around the window is falling out and water is getting in. If this is starting to happen I wonder now is it just a matter of time before these windows start to fall out??? Does ford really need another huge lawsuit when what I see starting to happen to me starts with others if it has not already. Will ford just wait for rear windows to fall out going down the interstate causing wrecks, or will they finally own up to the thousands of 2002-2004 explorer owners that they made an error in production. No one is perfect but we should be responsible for our actions.
The back panel of my 2003 explorer is cracked. The truck was purchased at liberty ford in randallstown. They admit as well as the ford corp. Office that the panels are cracking but they will not replace them. They are saying the problem is under investigation. They could not tell me when the investigation started or when they think it will end. They are only saying that although there is no particular reason that these panels are cracking they are not responsible to replace them.
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