In 2021, driving down the highway, our driver side windshield trim partially broke free and started smacking against the driver side window before breaking off and flying behind the vehicle. Then in July 2023, the passenger side windshield trim broke free on the highway. Appears the rubber seal disintegrates allowing the wind to grab it and rip the plastic trim piece off the vehicle. Currently, the rubber seal on the engine cowl windshield trim is disintegrating also.
2016 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 16 of 21: complaints 431 to 460 of 594, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Passenger Side windshield molding Trim flew off on the highway speed.
The driver side panels on my front windshield flew off while driving on the highway and then the passenger side broke and the lining ripped out slapping the side window. I know at least 4 other people whose Explorers have done the same and see them all the time driving around broken and gone. How is this ok? It could have hit another car or person when it flew off.
The windshield trim on the passenger side of my 2016 Ford Explorer came flying off my car while I was traveling at about 70mph. The piece flew upwards and backwards. I was not able to see if it hit any of the cars behind me. I was not able to stop to retrieve the piece. I've included a picture below. My car is available for inspection upon request. The safety of the drivers behind me was obviously put at risk having to dodge the flying part. I have not brought the car in for the repair yet, so they have not inspected it, nor has the police or insurance company. I just wanted you to know about it. There were no symptoms before the incident occurred.
Both Front windshield trims flew off while driving. Each side different days. On highway driving when saw something fly on side of my vehicle and almost hit vehicle beside me. I was forced to pull over check my vehicle and noticed windshield trim missing.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that after it had rained, water entered the vehicle through the sunroof and would accumulate inside the roof of the vehicle. While coming to a stop while driving, the water would flow to the front of the vehicle and leak inside the cabin through the ceiling light console. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer on multiple occasions where they replaced the flooring and the sunroof; however, the failure returned after each repair. The vehicle was also taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the drain tube inside the sunroof had become clogged which resulted in water accumulation inside the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
The power liftgate stop working. The liftgate light on dashboard shows liftgate open and the power liftgate does not work open nor closes.
The windshield trim on the passenger side flew off the vehicle unexpectedly while driving at highway speeds. The piece hit the windshield and then flew off causing me to almost run off the road. Thankfully, it did not strike another vehicle.
While driving on the freeway, the driver side windshield trim broke and flew off the vehicle. The safety of the vehicle traveling behind us was put at risk due to the flying debris. There were no warning lamps or messages displayed prior to this happening. The vehicle has not been inspected yet.
Twice I have been driving down the highway and have had the right front passenger side trim break off of the car. The first time it was caught between the door and the passenger side mirror and I was able to retrieve. Took to the dealer and they repaired. The second time it happened the same piece came off and flew off into freeway. A month ago I heard a loud noise while driving sounding like something struck my car and it was the molding on the passenger side door window that came off while driving down the interstate and was unretrievable. I have taken to repair shop to be replaced and see if any other possible issues with the trim and they have found cracks in the same trim pieces on both side rear windows.
As I was driving over a bridge at approximately 45 mph, the A-pillar trim on the driver's side of the windshield broke and flew off of my car and hit the car behind me. Then, a few days later, as I was getting my car washed, the luggage rack cover blew off while going through the dryer at the end. Coincidentally, I received notice of a recall on the luggage rack system in the mail about 2 months after it happened and that has been replaced but my A-pillars have not.....seems to me they are related issues. Luckily, no one was hurt and no accident was caused.
Driving highway speed, top part of driver's side B pillar trim (key entry pad) broke off. This required emergency pullover to try and secure remaining bottom part of the pillar that was attached with keypad wiring. Unable to secure, I continued travel on service road at slow rate of speed and secured with duct tape later for my drive home. Since Ford refused assistance for first incident (11543574 passenger side A pillar trim) I did not report this incident. Self-repaired later. Additional complaint filed 11543575 for passenger side B pillar trim.
Driving highway speed, passenger side B pillar trim flew off of the vehicle. Since Ford denied any responsibility with first call (complaint 11543574) I did not contact. Self-repaired.
Driving highway speed, passenger side A pillar trim flew off of vehicle. Called Ford, they responded that no support was available for this incident. Self-repaired.
While driving on the highway the drivers side windshield trim flew off the vehicle, narrowly missing the car behind me. Soon after, the rubber weatherstripping came loose and I had to open my window and pull it inside the vehicle before it, too, flew off and had the potential to hit another vehicle.
Passenger side windshield trim broke and flew off of vehicle as it was being driven.
The roof rail on my explorer came off while driving down the road. I did not realize until I got home. It could’ve hit the car behind me, cause them to wreck, etc. I see that Ford has a recall for this issue but my model (platinum) is not part of that recall.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she noticed that the driver's side windshield trim panel had detached. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Action Number PE23001 (Structure). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 48,700.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the driver's side windshield trim panel detached and was hitting against the vehicle. The contact veered to the side of the road and cut the trim panel. The contact stated that the failure recurred with the passenger's side windshield trim panel. Additionally, the contact stated that the trim panel at the base of the windshield was fractured. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer, where it was determined that the entire windshield trim panel needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that he would be charged a fee for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Action Number: PE23001 (Structure). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Passenger side A Pillar Trim (OEM Part # BB5Z-7803144-AA) detached while driving at Highway speed.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from underneath the hood. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the motor mounts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the motor mounts had been replaced three times by the dealer since December 2022. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,300.
The body-A pillar trim panel doorman on the passenger side. Flew off while driving on the highway. I happened to be the passenger this day and if I had the window rolled down a little more, this piece would have hit me in the face. At first, we thought it was a piece of debris from the ground on the highway so we kept driving. But then the rubber part that sits underneath the trim began to flap and that’s when we realized we needed to exit. There’s no way we were going to be able to recovery that piece from the highway. Luckily no one got hurt.
I purchased this car in January of 2021 and in April of 2022 the passenger side front window A pillar trim flew off while driving down the highway. Since then, the same thing has happened to my driver’s side A pillar exterior trim, and just this week (August 2023) the B pillar trim that also held my keyless entry keypad has also flown off while driving down the highway. I’ve joined a “5th Generation Ford explorer” Facebook group, and it seems that this is a VERY common occurrence to many users of this vehicle. I’ve also seen many ford explorers driving around that have the trim pieces missing meaning that either they fly off so often that I am seeing these vehicles during this short time before the owner’s get them replaced, or they flew off and people just didn’t want to fix it because they fly off so often. I’m lucky that all 3 times it happened to me, there weren’t any motorcycles driving behind me that could have gotten seriously injured by these pieces flying off at highway speeds. I really believe something needs to happen to fix this. These seem to be poorly engineered parts if they continually fly off the vehicles, plus ford doesn’t make or sell these parts very cheap so it’s obvious they are just trying to make money while putting lives at risk. I unfortunately do not have specific dates/milage/pictures of my previous incidents, and didn’t think of filling out a report until now when I’m in the middle of replacing my B-Pillar, but I can provide the dates and pictures of the piece off of my B-pillar below. I hope this helps. Please investigate this and really review this issue. I’ve seen previous articles that mention the federal safety agency has received reports of these flying off, but the number of reports was only around 160. I’m sure if anyone from the government reached out to the Facebook group mentioned above, along with other ford Facebook/Social Media groups that this would cover like the ford Edge groups, they would easily find that this is a major safety issu
Trim piece on the front of the vehicle beside the windshield flew off while driving on the interstate. It smacked my windshield and flew off behind me. Very big safety concern considering there were other vehicles driving behind me and it could have hit them. I did not see where it went as I was confused as I did not know what the sound/item was at first.
The mouldings on the side of the windshield have detached multiple times. There is no warning lights, and I have been told by the dealership and outside repair shops that it is a common problem. Detachment of these parts puts other motorists at risk of injury. July 2021 driver side flew off on the highway - parts on backorder from dealership so they never repaired it. May 2022 had both sides replaced for $160 since they were done at time of windshield replacement. June 2022 passenger side flew off on the highway (no cost replacement since so soon after last replacement). August 2023 passenger side flew off on the highway and hit a semi, $100 repair quote.
Passenger side frame on windshield flew off my car while I was driving on the highway.
Both A-pillar pieces have blown off while driving. The first time this happened I had them replaced at a local windshield repair. And now they have both blown off again.
On 07/30/2023 The right passenger front windshield trim plus rubber stripping flew off our 2016 Ford Explorer XL. We were travelling 60 mph down a mountain area from San Diego, CA heading into Yuma, AZ. The noise of the trim was so loud hitting the windshield then the windshield panel blew off and the windshield stripping blew off. We made sure no one was behind us as it could have caused damage if the cover would have hit car behind us. Vehicle inspection yearly and no signs of any areas of concern. No warning or signs of this part coming off.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, he heard an abnormal vibration coming from the passenger’s side front door. The contact stated that a plastic panel had partially detached from the windshield pillar. The contact stated that the plastic trim was held on by glue. The contact pulled over and removed the trim. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the passenger’s side and driver's side windshield pillar trim needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the driver’s and passenger’s side windshield trim panel detached. Additionally, while driving, the roof rail detached. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline. The contact stated that the failure was related to the federal safety agency Action Number: PE23001 (Structure). The failure mileage was 98,000.
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