NHTSA Complaint #11434532 — 2014 FORD C-MAX

The passenger side rear door plastic panel keeps dislodging from its metal casing, then gets stuck on part of the interior frame, causing the door to not be operational. The plastic overlaps the frame once it is dislodged; the metal part of the door is opening, but the plastic panel holds it back from being able to go past an inch. The door is, essentially, stuck. One must reach in and manually push the plastic panel back into place (sticking fingers in to first dislodge from where it's stuck, then guide it back to where it's supposed to be, then bang on it to get it back in place). There are plastic pegs that are supposed to hold the door panels on, but they don't (and they fall out). There are many message boards, Consumer Reports, and other sites showing this is a common problem for 2013-2014 C Max Hybrid doors. Ford is making consumers pay to replace the panels. They need to change the plastic pegs so that they actually hold, or affix the whole panel is a much more secure way! This is extremely unsafe because we cannot exit the car sometimes, and in an accident that could be dangerous. More importantly, it affects us every day because my children cannot exit our vehicle on the sidewalk side; they must open the driver's side rear door and exit the car into the street, oftentimes into traffic! They need to be able to exit on the SAFE side of the car!! Ford issued a repair for 2013 model cars but not for ours. They know this is a problem. Here is a link to the repair order: https://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/4807-tsb-14-0030-rear-door-trim-panels-loose-built-on-or-before-6282013/ I will put today's date as today was the most recent time my daughter walked into traffic outside school because her door was jammed. But this has happened many, many times over the course of our ownership, and has been getting worse over the last year (if we had driven more often -- like we did pre-pandemic -- I'm sure it would be even worse now).