the windshield seal and trim are deteriorating and coming off. because of the risk, i have scheduled an appointment (April 2023) to repair at the dealer i purchased the vehicle from. windshield could fall out, pieces of material could hit other vehicles, leaks will damage the vehicle. the dealer will confirm at the appointment in April. no others have inspected the vehicle to date. no warning indicators
2017 Ford Explorer visibility complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 77, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving on the freeway the passenger side windshield side panel flew off the car completely. It looks as though the clips that hold it on all failed. This seems to be a known issue with this model of car.
The trim and seals around the front windshield are cracked and coming apart. This has caused parts to fly off potentially hitting other cars. This has happened in multiple occasions.
While driving under 80 mph on the highway my passenger side panel flew off and almost hit the vehicle behind me. I was able to locate the panel after having to drive in reverse on the shoulder for a few minutes. This is my second ford explorer and it flew off on my drive side on the first vehicle.
Windshield trim piece covering passgener side windshield pillar flew off while driving at highway speed. Sounded like something hit the vehicle, but once we stopped, I realized a piece of the car had flown off.
The trim and gasket around the windshield has become broken and cracked within the first 60k miles. The gasket has come loose and was flapping against the windshield while driving. In order to replace the trim must be broken off. Ford refused to fix and said would be $1200 to fix. If you look at many explorers from these model years it’s a recurring thing they they know about. This needs to be recalled because it can come off and fly and hit the vehicle behind us.
In October, 2022 I was traveling on interstate 75 in GA. Heard a strange sound in front of vehicle. When I stopped later, I noticed that the trim along the edge of my windshield was no longer there. Upon arriving in FL, later that week, I had Sunrise Ford in Ft. Pierce replace that windshield trim. They said that it was a pretty common problem.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at approximately 40-45 MPH, the windshield trim panel detached from the windshield. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the contact was informed that the failure was not covered under warranty. The vehicle was repaired however, the contact stated that she repaired the trim panel at her own expense. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.
In Jan 2023, the driver's side windshield plastic trim flew off my car. It was at night so I do not know if there was an issue behind me. This is the second time we experienced this issue. It happened last year on the same side. We brought it to the Ford dealership and their parts person told me that she had seen this regularly and have talked to Ford about it. They fixed it, and were going to charge me $600 for each side, total $1200 (asked them to reseat the other side). There was no warning that the trim was going to separate from the car and fly off. I see there is a Safety probe on this issue and believe there should be a recall and force Ford to fix this since there could be accidents, injuries and potential for death if the trim comes off and causes other drivers to lose control or hit a motorcycle driver directly. It would be like a spear coming at the motorcycle rider. Thank you.
The trim on my windshield is coming off. I saw an article about people reporting this. Due to funds I have just put some medical tape on it to keep it on. It was flying off on the interstate and I had to pull off the road and only had a first aid kit with medical tape in it. The trim is unfortunately built into the plastic of the car so you have to replace the entire thing. There are also small chips of glass coming off the actual windshield. My car has its original windshield. I feel like this is unsafe because it could just go flying off an impair your vision. My car is available for inspection. There were no warnings. The dealer inspected it and said it is a common problem and would be $700-$800 to repair.
While driving down the road, the right-side windshield trim came off and struck the vehicle following me.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the driver's side front window trim detached. The contact pulled over but was unable to locate the window trim. The dealer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the driver's side front window trim needed to be replaced; however, the replacement part was on backorder. The contact was able to purchase the replacement part online; however, he had to glue it to the front driver's side window due to fractured clips used to secure the window trim in place. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.
The windshield trim became detached near the hood of the vehicle while driving on the freeway. I attempted to secure it back down but some of the clips had gotten brittle and broken. I taped it down until I could get off the freeway and get it repaired. It ended up detaching again and flying off the car. The replacement piece doesn’t seem to attach well either and seems like it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the passenger's side windshield rubber seal detached. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was caused by wear and tear. The dealer determined that the front windshield rubber seal needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the side window molding was peeling off. The contact then stated that the driver's side molding was coming apart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the contact was informed that the driver's and passenger's side window molding needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to cover only a portion of the repair. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at 80 MPH, the driver's side front windshield molding detached. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN and that the replacement part was not covered under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.
The gasket or weatherstripping around windshield is falling away from the windshield. This has led to leaking into the headliner to the map light around the frame of the door on body of car and flooded floorboard.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the front side of the roof connected to the upper center of the windshield was severely corroded. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist unless the part was perforated. The contact stated that as the roof became perforated, the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the roof and the windshield needed to be replaced. The dealer sent a diagnostic report with pictures to the manufacturer. The manufacturer advised that they would cover the repair of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the windshield molding on the passenger's side of the vehicle detached, flew off and hit the windshield of the vehicle behind her. There were no injuries sustained. The contact veered to the side of the road and made sure that the passenger of the other vehicle was safe; then she continued to drive to her destination. The contact stated that the windshield molding on the driver's side of the vehicle was also detaching. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
Both back doors of explorer closed at same time and back window completely shattered. It was cracked around edges and had a giant hole in it. (Husband took the photos and didn’t take one of whole window.)
The contact's wife owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 25 MPH, the defroster was engaged but failed to respond and the windshield became foggy. The contact's wife pulled to the side of the road and wiped the windshield. The contact stated that his wife then disengaged and reengaged the defroster however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that his wife continued to drive the vehicle and almost was involved in an accident. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while the defroster was engaged and the blower motor would blow air through the vents. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.
Back window Just spontaneously shattered, nothing hit came out from work and it was shattered.
Rear window glass spontaneously shattered while sitting at stop light. Defroster was off, outside temp was 38 degrees fahrenheit. No known reason. Google shows this happening to other 2017 ford explorers, but when I called ford, they denied any knowledge of this problem.
Used auto start feature to start the car.when I got in the car the rear glass exploded. Temperature was around 15 degrees fahrenheit. I believe the window heater caused the failure.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford explorer. The contact stated that the passenger front power window activated independently. The contact was concerned that the passenger in the front seat might be injured in the event the window should roll up independently with an arm or finger outside of the window. The contact called gosch ford temecula dealer, (26895 ynez rd, temecula, ca 92591) and informed them of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
On january 11, 2020, I turned on the ignition of my 2017 explorer sitting in my driveway and immediately had 4 warning lights and multiple error messages appear. It was the ABS, stability control on and off lights and a wrench. Then there were multiple messages about my four wheel drive not working. I turned the car on and off several times trying to get all of the messages and to see if it would clear. After the third restart the entire dash panel went out completely except for the radio which stayed on continuously for 3 days until it got to the dealership on monday. None of the vehicles basic necessities were working...no speedometer, gas lights, wipers, or climate control, etc. Only the engine, headlights, and taillights worked. The dealership is currently working on the vehicle and is claiming it is a battery problem. The service department has admitted they don't know if it will fix the problem but they are going to try it. They also stated that "the vehicle cleared itself after the battery died which it's not supposed to do". I have seen multiple reports about the exact same problem with different items being replaced, including the battery, to no avail. This is my family's primary vehicle and I regularly drive my 6 and 11 yr old children around in this vehicle. We also travel the highway and 4 lane suspension bridge extensively. Losing these basic systems could result in a life threatening situation for me and my family. I have seen complaints on the internet dating back to december 2016 and the problem is still occurring. The vehicle was in proper working condition, no major problems prior, and well below the mileage expected for a vehicle of this age when the issues occurred. I don't trust it now.
Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford explorer. While driving 70 MPH, the sun roof exploded without warning. The contact stated that the explosion sounded like a gun shot. There were no injuries. The vehicle was driven to bill collins ford (4220 bardstown rd, louisville, ky 40218, (502) 459-9550) where the mechanics stated that they did not know how to repair the failure. The vehicle was still at the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was 27,000. The VIN was unknown.
Driving on interstate, temperature around 54 degrees, light rain, no traffic, heard a loud "pop" noise. Broken glass from the sunroof slid off the roof on to the road. Found a large hole in the center of the sunroof window. Insurance adjuster found no point of impact and declared it an internal stress fracture/part failure/manufacturer defect. It was not covered by insurance. Mileage was at 19,000.
Driving down the road I turned on the rear windshield wiper. When I looked the window was completely shattered.
Took my 2017 ford explorer in to auto dealer for service (under 11,000 miles) and had oil change and windshield wiper changed for a trip I was taking. I turned the rear windshield wiper on due to the rain and the blade flew off , permanelty scratching my rear window. Dealer stated it was not thier fault so must be an issue with the wiper blade.
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