Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | |||
| 06/04/2011 | 86000 | ||
| Concrning my 2004 explorer xlt. the rear hatchback that opens the back windows has a broken latch. i am very upset that this part just seemed to implode and left me unable to close the rear back window. the garage i took it to said ford informed them the part was on back order until 07-18-2011. i am wondering if this is going to be a recalled item for the garage informed me it happens quite regularly. please let me know if i have any recourse or am entitled to reimbursement for the needed repair. . | |||
| 05/07/2011 | 127000 | ||
| A couple of weekends ago, the passenger side hinge on our rear window hatch broke. my mom opened the back window hatch on my vehicle & when she went to shut it, the entire window came down on her. then we could not get it shut. we had to stand there in 80+ degree heat holding the entire window (which is quite heavy), while my 2 year old baked in the car, until my dad & brother could get to the store we were at to rescue us. we were able to get it to shut (though we were terrified the glass was going to shatter at any moment due to the tension on it) & we duct taped it to keep it in place. we had the hinge repaired by our local body shop, & had them replace both hinges to be proactive. it cost about $200. after this happened i did some internet searches & was upset to find so many other 2004 ford explorer owners had experienced the exact same problem & i also found out that ford has recalled the same hinges on 2002 & 2003 models. i don't understand why the 2004 explorer has not had the same recall when they're the same hinges? this seems like such a blatant disregard by ford. people could be seriously injured by this window either falling on their head, or falling off while driving. the 2003 ford explorer recall was explained as this: on certain sport utility vehicles, the liftgate glass strut may become disengaged or the hinge may fracture allowing the glass to fall and possibly break. the exact same thing could be said of 2004 ford explorers. i am writing this in the hopes that a recall can be made on this equipment. it needs to be recalled before someone is hurt. thank goodness my 11 yr old wasn't the one under this window when it broke!! i did email ford regarding this issue & they weren't exactly helpful. they basically said, sorry & that there were no recalls on the 04 at this time & that they work with nhtsa to stay on top of areas of concern. | |||
| 12/03/2010 | |||
| I have had my 2004 fdord explorer for 3 years now. today i went to open my rear hatch and the window hinges just broke. now my window is hanging thereand i i don't know how i am going to get them fixed since i don't have any extra money. i think this should be a recalll since there has been a lot of complaints about this problem. | |||
| 11/28/2010 | 102000 | ||
| Tailgate window hinges failed on 2004 ford explorer. the window fell out and damaged the lift struts. i was not injured. | |||
| 09/29/2010 | 110000 | ||
| 2004 explorer with 110k miles - developed crack in liftgate panel app dec 2008. ford covered 80% of repair cost of $750 since vehicle was under 75k miles, evene though an obvious design flaw. sept 29, 2010 rear hatch window hinge breaks causing door to fall onto my hands and legs...sore but not permanent. two co-workers had to help me raise it up enough to lock it in place. dealer repaired for $65 parts in $170 labor. dangerous and unsafe. | |||
| 07/26/2010 | 86000 | ||
| In july 2010, i noticed a crack in the panel portion of the back window hatch of my 2004 ford explorer. i reported this to my dealer, who more or less said welcome to the club, and told me to contact the body shop. the cost of $500-600 would have to be paid by me and there is no reason to think that it won't happen again. i am so disappointed in ford motor co., i thought i could expect more from a local manufacturer. it seems to me that this is something that should have been discovered in product tests and/or trials. why didn't ford know that the material they used was not capable of standing up to the use in the area they placed it? | |||
| 08/22/2010 | 51283 | ||
| Defective rear window hidges on my 2004 ford explorer. i rarely use the window hatch and today i am sorry i did. while opening the rear window it fell on to my head. the brackets on the window broke. i am waitng for my mech. to help me remove the window so i can bring it into to get repaired. i own a 2002 ford explorer and it had a recall for the same thing. so why not the 2004, it is the same hinge. | |||
| 08/17/2010 | 80000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. while parked she attempted to close the window on the rear lift gate and the hinges broke causing the glass to fall and break over her head. she suffered minor injuries. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where it was in the process of having the failure diagnosed. the failure and current mileages were 80,000. sm. | |||
| 08/22/2010 | 51283 | ||
| Defective rear window hidges on my 2004 ford explorer. i rarely use the window hatch and today i am sorry i did. while opening the rear window it fell on to my head. the brackets on the window broke. i am waitng for my mech. to help me remove the window so i can bring it into to get repaired. i own a 2002 ford explorer and it had a recall for the same thing. so why not the 2004, it is the same hinge. | |||
| 08/17/2010 | 80000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. while parked she attempted to close the window on the rear lift gate and the hinges broke causing the glass to fall and break over her head. she suffered minor injuries. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where it was in the process of having the failure diagnosed. the failure and current mileages were 80,000. sm. | |||
| 08/22/2010 | 51283 | ||
| Defective rear window hidges on my 2004 ford explorer. i rarely use the window hatch and today i am sorry i did. while opening the rear window it fell on to my head. the brackets on the window broke. i am waitng for my mech. to help me remove the window so i can bring it into to get repaired. i own a 2002 ford explorer and it had a recall for the same thing. so why not the 2004, it is the same hinge. | |||
| 08/17/2010 | 80000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. while parked she attempted to close the window on the rear lift gate and the hinges broke causing the glass to fall and break over her head. she suffered minor injuries. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where it was in the process of having the failure diagnosed. the failure and current mileages were 80,000. sm. | |||
| 05/28/2010 | 118000 | ||
| On friday, may 28, 2010 my husband attempted to open the liftgate on our 2004 ford explorer when the glass separated from the vehicle and landed in his hands. it did not shatter because he was holding onto it. upon inspection, we discovered that the left hinge that connects the liftgate to the vehicle had snapped. the liftgate is currently hanging on the right hinge as we do not have the resources at this time to have it repaired. i have since learned that investigation of the same part was opened in june 23, 2004 and closed on october 24, 2008. although on page 12 of the response to nhtsa ford motor company admits that this failure is caused by the use of non-optimal coating on the steel pin that joins the two zinc die-cast sections of the hinge, the company assumes no financial reponsibility in covering the repairs because no recall has been issued. i urge you to take a proactive approach to this issue as it could cause serious injury and there are numerous complaints from consumers who are not aware that they can report them to this agency. | |||
| 04/14/2010 | 130000 | ||
| Rear rh hinge failed on 2004 ford explorer, when wife was closing glass hatch, she was very lucky she did not get hurt, because it put to much strain on lh hinge, damaging it almost to point of failure also. | |||
| 04/05/2010 | 74000 | ||
| The hatchback hinge on my 2004 ford explorer broke yesterday, luckily i caught it before it hit my 4 year old in the head. the same thing happened on a 2002 ford explorer i owned before, but that was recalled and ford fixed it. this model is not included in the recall, but the part is obviously defective. it could have easily hit someone and hurt them, or fallen off while i was driving and caused an accident. | |||
| 08/23/2009 | 71000 | 1 | |
| 2004 ford explorer, rear lift hatch failure. the hinge simply broke while the hatch was being closed. there were no injuries but could have been serious issues. the part was ordered and replaced at ford in annapolis, md for $150.00. i note there have been several recalls for prior years and investigations for the 2004 model. *tr | |||
| 10/07/2007 | 51215 | 1 | |
| While opening the rear liftgate of our 2004 explorer and reaching the max extension of the left strut, the strut became lock and wouldn't retrieve causing the left hinge to come off and the entire liftgate to hang from the right hinge. the dealer looked at the strut and tried to repair it. i requested a new one to be installed since i had serious concerns about the same problem happening again. the dealer agreed and my extended warranty covered the expense. however, my deductible applied. *tr | |||
| 07/08/2009 | 145000 | 1 | |
| I noticed my 2004 ford explorer has developed a vertical crack in the plastic tailgate attached to the rear window left of the ford emblem. i took it to the dealership and they recognized it as a common problem with the 2004 explorer and also warned me the hinges on the rear glass fail often as was the case on my vehicle. service tech stated there was no recall as yet and i got to pay for the new hinges and holding off on the crack thinking ford made do the right thing and repair the fault. *tr | |||
| 06/21/2009 | 1 | ||
| Rear hatch hinge pin broke breaking glass. *tr | |||
| 08/01/2008 | 66000 | 1 | |
| Hinge oh rear lift-gate fractured causing lift gate to sag down and break hydraulic lift on that side. *tr | |||
| 10/19/2008 | 55000 | 1 | |
| 2004 ford explorer right rear liftgate glass hatch hinge has failed. glass hatch did not fall but is hanging by remaining hinge and is unstable or unsafe. issue same as nhtsa action number: rq08003. *tr | |||
| 06/02/2008 | 1 | ||
| I own a 2004 ford explorer 4x4 xlt. i opened the top portion of the hatch and 100+ lbs. came crashing on my head. (the weight is from more than just glass.) i am pregnant and almost passed out on my concrete drive. the left hinge broke off and obviously did not support the weight anymore. i was told there was not a recall and was given a $500.00 bill. i still believe this is a safety issue and there was nothing i could have done to warrant it falling on my head. i guess my question is, when does a safety issue become a recall? *tr | |||
| LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES - HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE - LOCK | |||
| 03/07/2008 | 58300 | 1 | 11/20/2006 |
| On friday the 7th of march 2008 i went to open the tailgate of my 2004 ford explorer when the hinges broke and the gate fell off. i called the ford dealer where i purchased my car and was initially told that the hinges were on a recall. the collision center of the dealer picked up my vehicle and took it in for repair. when i got to my place of employment i had a call from the dealer stating that my car was not on the recall. i called ford motor and was told that my car was indeed not on the recall and that the recall had been on the 2002 and 2003 models. i felt that maybe the problem had not been fixed on the 04 models as they stated because it was obviously still happening. i took my car to another body shop that was quite reputable and had it repaired at a considerable lower rate per labor hour. why would the hinges just break; supposed my grand child had gone to get something out of the back, he could have been hurt when that gate fell. i feel that ford had not corrected the problem of the faulty tail gate hinges by the time they got to the 2004 models or at least not all were replaced with the updated ones. i was told that recalls are vin specific, but i feel that if you have a parts problem on a grand scale some may have been put on other cars without being recognized on a specific vin. i think this problem needs to be addressed as there maybe more trucks out there that this has happened to or can happen to. *tr | |||
| 02/02/2008 | 70000 | 1 | 12/31/2004 |
| While going to open the rear hatch of my 2004 ford explorer, i noticed a crack in the hatch door from just below the window down to the next panel. when i opened the window on the hatch door, i noticed that the left hinge that holds the glass is coming loose. i am unable to utilize the rear cargo area of my vehicle now for fear that the left hinge will break off resulting in the entire door coming off the vehicle and falling or dropping onto me or one of my children, causing severe personal injuries. the mileage on my vehicle is approximately 70,000 miles. nothing has been done yet to correct this failure because after reading other people's experience with having ford refuse to acknowledge the problem and the government thus far refusing to issue a recall, my hands are tied. i do not want to pay for the repair myself because i have already been burned by ford on other issues relating to this vehicle, i.e., the abs module and the air conditioning system. *tr | |||
| 08/10/2007 | 1 | 07/10/2004 | |
| Rear hatchback window panel cracked down the center. the window seemed hard to close, did not seem to align with the latch. *tr | |||
| 11/29/2007 | 1 | 01/02/2005 | |
| Rear hatch window dropped off hinges. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2005 | 12000 | 1 | 11/22/2003 |
| We have experienced multiple problems with the electrical systems of our 2004 ford explorer along with other miscellaneous problems. the electrical problems have not been corrected to date. in november 2006, the rear window of the liftgate broke off the hinge. we were told there were no recalls for this problem and had to pay for this repair out of our pocket. today, january 16, 2007 the frame of the rear liftgate cracked in the middle. *nnm | |||
| 09/25/2006 | 26998 | 4 | 01/05/2005 |
| 2004 explorer had problems with brakes and windows. *ts three months after the vehicle was purchased thee was a recall on the transmission. the abs malfunctioned and the power windows would not go down. the rear hatch door would not open. the transmission began to slam into gear. the rotors vibrated in the rear. consumer heard a howling noise at 40-55 mph. the dealer replaced the ring and pinion. nm | |||