2018 FORD EXPLORER Structurebody Problems

While driving 75 mph on I-80 in Nebraska, the passenger side windshield trim flew off my 2018 Ford Explorer with no warning. This is the second time it has happened, although we heard something hitting the car before it flew off the first time. This was in 2020.

I was driving on the interstate, traveling about 70 MPH, when my windshield trim piece of my car just detached and flew off the car. There was no initial impact or causing factor when this occurred. I was confused and looked back when it happened not knowing that a piece of my car had flown off in the moment. I do not know if it struck another car or caused any damage to other vehicles. The car behind me was still behind me and did not crash at least. There was no warning lights or prior accidents or damage to the car when this occurred. The vehicle other than this is still in good shape and has not had any other problems. I called my dealership about getting the piece to be replaced and the dealership said that this was a very common occurrence on Ford Explorers.

The windshield trim is dethatching from the vehicle. The detached item can cause damage to other vehicles or injury to other motorist. The problem has been confirmed by a service center but not inspected. There is no warning lamp, discovered after hearing a noise while driving.

The windshield trim flew off of my car as we were driving down the highway and behind us into traffic. The whole chunk is missing.

The trim around my windshield on my driver's side blew off of the car. It is totally missing. Upon research, this appears to be a pretty common problem and it is very dangerous. Parts coming loose while driving could injure other drivers. No warning that the piece was loose. I am not sure who to report the problem to, I am going to call the dealership tomorrow and my warranty company. My concern is that the replacement piece may not stay on the car.

Passenger side A Pillar outside trim became loose starting at the top. Clips failed to hold it secure. Broke off in rain storm while driving on expressway.

While traveling at highway speed, the driver's side windshield pillar trim detached itself from the vehicle and flew into the roadway resulting in the following vehicle needing to take evasive maneuvers to avoid collision. In June of 2021 the passenger side piece also detached at highway speed and collided with the following vehicle. Ford does not offer a more robust replacement part, so there is no way for drivers to remedy this hazard.

Driving on interstate and driver's side panel trim of windshield come off over the weekend. There were no known symptoms or problems prior to the failure. The passenger side looks like it's loose. Have been by the dealer but they have no recall information.

Windshield trim piece came off while driving on the interstate

Driving on the highway and drivers side windshield trim blew off at highway speeds almost hitting vehicles behind me. I'm not sure if it hit anyone. I pulled over as soon as I could and no one else pulled over. It could have caused serious accidents.

On a trip from South Carolina to New York, both A-pillar trims blew off on the highway. I am attributing this to both the fluctuations in temperature in the prior 12 hours (over 30 degrees) and a known issue with this vehicle. It was also very windy out.

roof rail cover flew off on interstate

The passenger side front windshield A pillar outer trim flew off the car when we were driving on CA freeway 15 on Saturday, February 25, 2023. The entire molding flew off and we don’t know if it hit any cars behind us since we were going at least 70 mph.

Windshield pillar driverside flew off driving up interstate.

The passenger roof "A" pillar (lower half) blew off the vehicle at about 70 MPH. The pillar was not damaged prior to the failure and was not vibrating or making noise prior to suddenly blowing off.

While driving at highway speed, both windshield trim covers flew off and away from our vehicle. Fortunately there were no cars behind us at the time but had there been that piece would have surely hit and potentially impacted their vehicle. I understand this is happening to many of the ford explorers on the road and it is extremely unsafe.

ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, WITHOUT WARNING, IN 8/2022 AND AGAIN IN 12/2022, THE VERTICAL WINDSHIELD PANELS FLEW OFF MY 2018 FORD EXPLORER SUV WHILE DRIVING AT NORMAL SPEED ON US RT. 495 IN HAVERHILL MA., POTENTIALLY POSING A HAZARD TO FOLLOWING VEHICLES.

The passenger side windshield panel dislodged and flew off the car while driving on the highway at highway speeds. It was sudden event and I had no warning or noise before it happened.

On or about January 4, 2023, while travelling on Hwy 22 in Texas at approximately 65 mph the right (passenger) side window trim unexpectedly flew off, landing in the road behind me. There was no previous indication of the trim being loose. The safety of others is a concern because the trim could have hit, or cause a diversion from, traffic in either direction. When I called the dealer to schedule the repair, the Parts person explained that this was a "routine" occurrence for this Make/Model of vehicle (they knew the part number), but the vehicle was safe to drive until the part was replaced. The part was replaced on Jan 16 at a cost of $438. There has been no subsequent inspection of the replacement trim/parts, but there are no indications of an issue since replacing the trim/parts.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the rear windshield trim separated from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear windshield trim needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that he needed to pay for the repair because the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 57,000.

i SEEN WHERE THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE ROOF RACK COVERS ON EXPLORERS. MINE ON MY PASSENGER SIDE BLEW OFF IN THE WIND. SHOULD MY VEHICLE HAVE BEEN IN THIS RECALL. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

Roof rack cover blew off while driving and snapped 3/4 of the cover off. Part was not recovered. Research shows this was an issue on the vehicle and there was a recall. When entering the vin # it shows no recalls?

Roof rack rail cover came off on highway, almost caused an accident. The other roof rack rail cover is lose but I have yet to receive the recall for the roof rack rail cover.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that moisture had been entering the vehicle from an unknown place. The moisture had acuminated on the front driver’s side floor and later spread throughout the entire floor of the vehicle. The contact also stated that a strong mold odor was inside the vehicle. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer where they informed her that the failure was not related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V316000 (Structure) for which the Vin was included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.

Roof Rail cap flew off on Highway. Complained of issue was told its under investigation but no fix is available

Roofrack became detached while driving on freeway. Almost flew off in traffic and had to hold onto it while driving until I was able to pull over and tape it down. Almost flew off road while holding it down.

ON JANUARY 24, 2021 I BOUGHT MY CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED 2018 FORD EXPLORER SPORT. THE FOLLOWING WEEK I HEARD AN INTERMITTENT BANGING SOUND WHEN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AT APPROX. 60 MPH. WHEN I GOT HOME I SAW THAT THE PLASTIC COVERINGS OF THE ROOF RACK RAILS WERE COMING OFF AND WERE WHAT WAS MAKING THE BANGING SOUND. FROM RESEARCHING THE ISSUE ONLINE IT APPEARS IF LEFT UNADDRESSED THE COVERS CAN FLY OFF THE VEHICLE WHILE ON THE ROAD. UNFORTUNATELY FORD HAS YET TO PROVIDE A FIX. THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS FROM PEOPLE ONLINE SHOW THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND FORD HAS YET TO PROVIDE A ADEQUATE SOLUTION FOR. SOME PEOPLE HAVE STATED THAT FORD'S FIX IS TO APPLY SILICONE TO THE CLIPS THAT COME LOOSE. UPON INSPECTION I SEE THAT SILICONE HAD BEEN APPLIED TO MINE PREVIOUSLY (NOT BY ME) AND THAT, LIKE MANY OTHER REPORT, THIS...

THIS CAR HAS A LEAK ISSUE. MULTIPLE POINTS OF ENTRY FOR WATER LEAVE THE CAR SOAKING WET AFTER RAIN. THIS ISSUE WAS UNKNOWN AS ALL-WEATHER LINERS WERE PLACED INTO THE CAR BLOCKING OCCUPANTS FROM BEING ABLE TO FEEL LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER ACCUMULATED ON THE FLOOR. MOLD GREW IN CAR AS OCCUPANTS DID NOT KNOW THAT THEIR WAS AN ISSUE POSING AN EXTREME HEALTH HAZARD TO ADULTS AND CHILDREN. THIS IS NOT SAFE. FORD KNOWS THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND HAS NOT TAKEN ANY ACTION TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM. THE CAR LEAKS WHILE IN MOTION AND STATIONARY. CARS ARE LEAKING FROM SUNROOFS, BOLTS, AND FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THIS IS MAKING PEOPLE SICK AND THEY DO NOT CARE. A CLASS ACTION SUIT NEEDS TO BE FILED AGAINST FORD. MY CAR HAD TO BE REPAIRED TWICE AT HAWKS PRAIRIE AUTOMOTIVE IN LACEY, WA IN DECEMBER 2020 AND JANUARY 2021. RECEIPTS...

WATER LEAK, PASSENGER SIDE 3RD ROW FIXED POSITION WINDOW EVERY TIME IT RAINS, WATER ACCUMULATES IN REAR OF VEHICLE

WHILE DRIVING THE OTHER NIGHT IN RAIN, NIGHT AND HEAVY TRAFFIC, I HEARD SOME FLAPPING FROM THE ROOF OF THE CAR, BUT COULD NOT STOP BECAUSE WE WERE IN A MOUNTAIN PASS AND WINDING ROADS. I DID SEE SOMETHING LIKE FLY OFF OF MY CAR AND CARS BEHIND ME WERE SWERVING, I THOUGHT MAYBE A SMALL BRANCH. BUT NO IT WAS THE TOP CAP OF MY ROOF RAIL ON THE DRIVER SIDE. THE PART IS $450, AND WHEN I GOOGLED IT, IT IS DEFINITELY A KNOWN PROBLEM AT FORD. HUNDREDS OF HITS WITH THE SAME ISSUE

THE RAIL COVER ON TOP OF THE CAR JUST CAME OFF WITH NO ONE MESSING WITH OR BEING DAMAGED. I RESEARCHED TO SEE IF OTHER HAS A PROBLEM LIKE THIS AND I FOUND NUMEROUS OF PEOPLE SAYING THE RAIL COVER JUST DETACHED FORM THE ACTUAL RAIL. WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY.

MY 2018 FORD EXPLORER ROOF RACKS FLEW OFF (BROKE OFF) WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY CAUSING CARS BEHIND ME TO SWERVE TO AVOID IMPACT THIS OCCURRED IN JANUARY 2019.

THE GAS DOOR DOES NOT SEAL AND PROPS OPEN ALL TIME, THE VEHICLE COMES WITH NO FUEL CAP AND DOOR DOES NOT LOCK ALLOWING ANYONE TO PUT CONTAINMENTS IN THE FUEL

2018 FORD EXPLORER HAS A ROOF RAIL ISSUE WHERE THE TOP PART THE THE ROOF RAIL THAT COMES FACTORY ON THE VEHICLE WILL POP OUT OF PLACE AND NOT CLAMP DOWN PROPERLY THE FOR PART NUMBER IS FB5Z 78551A47 AA AND ALSO FB5Z 78551A46 AA ONE BELONGS TO THE LEFT AND THE OTHER THE RIGHT. I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGH WAY WITH THEM NOT FULLY SEATED IN THE BACK END OF THE RAILING AND NOTICED WHEN I GOT HOME THAT THEY MUST HAVE FLOWN OFF WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY. THIS IS THE SECOND SIME I HAVE HAD THEM FIXED AND THEY ARE NOW NOT STAYING DOWN PROPERLY SEATED. LUCKLY MY VEHICLE HAS WARRANTY ON IT STILL TO GET IT FIXED BUT IF THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY ITS NOT A CHEAP FIX UNFORTUNATLY.

BOTH. VEHICLES WERE MOVING. THE EXPLORER FRONT HIT THE RIGHT REAR PANEL OF A 2011 FORD RANGER. BOTH VEHICLES WERE GOING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH. NO INJURIES SUSTAINED BY EITHER DRIVER. MY FORD EXPLORER AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. I WAS ON A CITY STREET THE OTHER VEHICLE WAS JUST BEGINNING TO TURN.

I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW FORD EXPLORER, THE PASSENGER DOOR FLEW OPEN WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT 40 MPH. RAY SKILLMAN DEALERSHIP HAVE TO "FIX" THE DOOR THAT WAS TWISTED AND WARPED. THEN IT LEAKED. THEY PUT ON A NEW GASKET. IT STILL LEAKS AND SOAKS ME WHEN I OPEN THE DOOR AFTER A RAIN. SO FORD TOLD ME THEY WOULD SEND A FIELD INSPECTOR TO CHECK MY VEHICLE MY EXPLORER SAT AT RAY SKILLMAN FORD A WEEK, NO ONE FROM FORD CAME. NOW THE PATRONIZE ME. I PAY ALMOST 900 A MONTH FOR THIS NEW EXPLORER, AND I NOTICE THINGS ARE SHIFTED TO THE RIGHT, LIKE THE PANELS DOORS, ECT. THE DOOR WAS POPPING OPEN WHILE LOCKED, WHICH SET THE ALARM OFF ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT. THEY WILL DO NOTHING. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS NEW VEHICLE. FORD WILL NOT REPLACE IT. I HAVE MADE 12 COMPLAINTS TO...

THE 2018 FORD EXPLORER XLT WITH BLACK PLASTIC ROOF RACKS. I HAVE HAD A RACK BLOW OFF TWICE IN HIGHER SPEED SITUATIONS! THREE TIMES TO DEALERSHIP, REPLACED NOW, TRIED NEW CLIPS, TRIED GLUEING, THEY STILL CANNOT CORRECT, AND ARE UNWILLING TO FULLY REPLACE BOTH RACKS ENTIRELY UNLESS IT FLIES OFF AGAIN. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! I WAS TRAVELING 50MPH WHEN I WATCHED IT LAND IN THE ROAD. HAD A CAR BEEN BEHIND ME AND SWERVED TO MISS IT, ACCIDENT FOR SURE! A MOTORCYCLIST OR HORSE DRAW BUGGY COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A FATALITY. THIS IS NOT A SMALL PART, IT'S A LONG LUGGAGE RACK RAIL. ACCORDING TO CUSTOMERS ONLINE, FORD HAS DONE MANY OF THESE REPAIRS ON MANY EXPLORERS AND NOT ISSUED A RECALL OR AT LEAST CHANGED THE PART ? DOES A HUMAN HAVE TO GET INJURED OR KILLED BEFORE SOMETHING GETS ACCOMPLISHED?

WHILE PARKING VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED WHEN MOVING FORWARD SO MUCH THAT HAD TO TURN WHEEL TO RIGHT SIDE TO TRY TO AVOID CAR PARKED IN FRONT TO NO AVAIL HIT CAR PARKED IN FRONT WITH DRIVER SIDE BUMPER AND FENDER.THANK GOD THERE WAS LIGHT POLE IN SIDEWALK WHICH SLOWED DOWN CAR ENOUGH TO BE SHUT OFF.

THE ROOF RAILS ON WILL NOT STAY ATTACHED. HAVE HAD THIS VEHICLE SINCE JAN 2019. BOUGHT NEW. THE DEALERSHIP HAS TRIED 3 NOW 4 TIME'S TO MAKE REPAIRS. THE DRIVERSIDE WILL NOT STAY SEATED TO BOTTOM MOUNT. HAS COME LOOS ON TURNPIKE AND BEGAN BEATING THE ROOF OF OUR VEHICLE. MOST OFTENHIGH WINDS WILL UNSET AND DETACH THE PLASTIC COVER FROM THE BASE MOUNT. IT HAS COME LOOSE MANY TIMES LEAVING THE CAR WASH JUST AS THE BLOWERS WOULD DRY THE CAR.

PURCHASED 2018 FORD EXPLORER XLT W/ AUTO NATION FORD CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS MAY 29, 2018. JUNE 20, 2018 I NOTICED THE PASSENGER SIDE FLOOR BOARD WAS COMPLETELY DRENCHED W/ H2O. THIS WAS DURING THE TIME WE HAD HEAVY RAINFALL. MY VEHICLE WAS PARKED AT WORK, NO FLOODING IN THE AREA, NO WINDOWS LEFT DOWN.THE H2O WAS ONLY ON THE PASSENGER SIDE FLOOR BOARD & UNDER THE PASSENGER SEAT. JUNE 21, 2018-DROPPED VEHICLE OFF AT SERVICE DEPARTMENT. SERVICE DEPARTMENT CLAIMS THEY CHECKED EVERYWHERE. CAN'T IDENTIFY WATER LEAK. IN 2015 THE FORD MOTOR CO. ORDERS: STOP SELLING SOME 2015 FORD EDGE CROSSOVERS FOR THIS EXACT REASON. TECHNICIAN ARE NOT ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE LEAK EVEN AFTER A "WATER TEST". 2015 FORD EDGE: PROBLEM INVOLVED WATER SEEPING THROUGH A JOINT IN THE FRONT PILLAR, BEHIND THE HOOD HINGES. SERVICE DIRECTOR IS INVOLVED. INFORMS ME THEY CANT FIND THE LEAK. I ADVISED HIM TO...

WE WERE TRAVELING ON I-10 IN OUR RENTAL CAR..GOING ABOUT 75 MILES PER HOUR IN TEXAS WHEN THE DRIVERS SIDE FRONT WINDSHIELD MOULDING FLEW OFF THE WINDSHIELD HITTING THE WINDOW AND CONTINUING TO FLY OVER THE CAR. WE SWERVED BECAUSE WE THOUGHT IT WAS A BIRD STRIKE OR SOMETHING CAME OFF A TRUCK. WE TOOK THE NEXT EXIT AND STOPPED TO FIND THE MOLDING GONE. AT THE NEXT PLACE WE GOT GAS WE NOTICED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE WAS ALSO READY TO FLY OFF SO WE TOOK IT OFF BEFORE IT COULD COME OFF.

CRACK ON WINDSHIELD BY BODY AT TOP, NO SCRATCH ABOVE ON PAINT, STRATCH STARTED SMALL AND IS GROWING