Body problems of the 2016 Ford Explorer - part 2

Iba conduciendo por la avenida y DE pronto salió volando el trim del lado del conductor que va cooocado al lado del parabrisas, por suerte no venía carros tan pegados a mi y no ocasionó ningún daño,.

On 3/19/24, my left side exterior a-pillar trim part flew off my car on the highway. I have had a constant wind noise in my windshield for a very long time. I didn't think this was going to happen. Thank god there was no cars directly behind me because it came off and was hanging and then blew off before I actually knew what was going on and could pull over. I called the dealer regarding repair and was informed that there is no fix but they could replace with the part that they have existing in stock which would cost me $366 for the part. Since this is a recall I was asking if I will be reimbursed and the dealer told me I would need to call Ford. I did and they told me I would need to wait for a parts letter to be sent to me. I explained that I do not want to drive my car around with this piece missing. But they were unable to provide me guidance for reimbursement. I am wondering if you have any information or guidance reimbursement for the current parts fix until Ford provides a permanent solution to this recall?.

Component failed - the a-pillar trim part detached from driver side and the passenger side if coming off. Safety risk - hazard on road component inspection - no warnings - no I have been waiting since February 2024 for a repair solution and missing pillar is unsightly.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that rainwater had leaked into the driver's side b-pillar trim panel causing electrical failures to occur which included the battery failure and the keyless entry failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 125,000.

The pillars flew off and I can not get them repaired and they have no remedy for it the dealership glued them back.

The roof rack on the left side of the vehicle became unattached in transit, and flew off into traffic.

The roof rail on my vehicle became unattached on the interstate becoming hazardous to other vehicles. Worst part is Ford has a recall for roof racks for the year make and model of my vehicle but the recall does not include my vehicle as it is not listed under my VIN number. Only because it has not been reported enough to reach the threshold to trigger an investigation and remedy. Ford is not complying with the guidelines that the NHTSA puts forth as even when you are included in the recall the parts /repairs are unavailable. Unacceptable!.

Trim piece on passenger side broke in half while driving and hit another car. No damage reported but it almost caused accident. Confirmed this is the recalled piece.

There was no incident however I received a recall for a windshield piece that was back in 2024 and supposedly would be available for repair in the latter half of 2024. However nothing has been sent to me regarding this and when the piece came off it cracked my windshield so I have a crack across that as well.

On 1/28/24 we were traveling 50-60 mph when all of a sudden we heard a popping noise and noticed the trim on drivers side was loosening. We were able to slow down and pull over which was when the trim then blew off. My husband retrieved the trim (which we now know is referenced as the a-pillar) off the side of the road. Obviously this could have been worse if it had struck another vehicle /caused someone to swerve. I then contacted the Ford dealership as we learned this was part of a recall. They came out and ended up fixing the roof rack of which that was not my complaint. Clearly there was a miscommunication on what my problem was when called in. I then took it into dealership for them to observe. He printed out a quote to fix pillar at 400-500$ but could not guarantee reimbursement by Ford. I called Ford motor company who gave me a case number and corresponded with local dealership. Essentially I have been told bc this is an advanced notice recall there is nothing that can be done to fix current situation. I will now be driving my vehicle without the trim and also concerned how long til the passenger side blows off as there was no loosening or sign of defect prior to this event. How will weather affect the exposed trim and windshield/aerodynamics. I just hope Ford will expedite the process of repair for safety first but also the look of the vehicle as this is a reflection of their company . My case number is ca547669778 approx mileage 123,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed mph, the roof rack rails detached from the vehicle. No warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and it was confirmed the entire roof rack rails had detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was previously repaired under the customer satisfaction program recall 21s22. The contact stated the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired due to cost. The contact stated the dealer informed him he must pay for the repairs because the vehicle had been previously repaired under the recall program. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact back to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

We were driving down i10 between houston and san antonio on January 20, 2024, when we heard a loud noise but felt nothing. When we were ready to leave our destination, the front-driver's side windshield panel was gone. It had blown off going down the road. There was no warning that the panel was loose nor any warning that it was gone. We could have been seriously hurt or killed if the part had come through the windshield. We are thankful that it did not hit and or kill a motorcyclist or cause a wreck where someone else could have been hurt or killed. There is no way to know if a later travelling car received damage due to the part being in the freeway or if it caused a wreck. I am also concerned that the windshield will leak since there is nothing covering the edge of the windshield. My car is available for inspection, but I do not have the panel. I spoke with mia at Ford customer service (800-392-3673) on January 22, 2024. There is nothing that Ford is doing at the time to help car owners. Mia said to keep all paper work incase Ford decides to do some repairs in the future. I will get my car fixed but not at Ford.

I reported a problem 1/23/24 concerning the trim blowing off by the front windshield, I saw on the news that this is a recall issue but I also think that the cowling where the wipers are attached should be looked into, this piece is falling apart and when driving the wind gets under the trim pieces causing it to blow off.

The cowling where the windshield wipers are attached is falling apart this caused the pillar molding bracket to blow off on I-95 may have struck another vehicle. The Ford dealer estimated it would cost $1223. 72 to repair.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph, there was a loud popping sound coming from the driver's side window trim panel detaching from the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 112,000.

My vehicle has had an active recall for over a year with no parts available. The side pillar on both sides of my vehicle have flown off while driving. I paid to have the driver side replaced prior to this recall. The passenger side is broken and needs replaced. I don’t understand how a recall can last this long without any parts available or resolution. I also would like to be reimbursed for the cost of the initial repair to the driver side.

I want to escalate the recall that Ford has on my 2016 Ford Explorer a-pillars. This recall was issued on January 2024, almost 2 years ago. Is Ford going to fix these problems or not. They also have a recall for the b-pillars from may 2025. Please advise when they are going to find a fix.

The windshield trim panel flew off at highway speed.

The windshield trim on the drivers side and passenger side has come off while driving 70+ mph on the interstate. The drivers side flew off and hit my windshield. A few weeks later the passenger flew off and the car behind me had to swerve to avoid being hit by it. This is dangerous for me as the driver of the vehicle because it could have cracked my windshield while I was driving and it puts the other drivers in danger from flying objects.

Passenger-side a-pillar molding windshield outer trim flew off while driving on the highway.

Passenger side windshield molding trim flew off on the highway speed.

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 passenger side a-pillar cover detached from the vehicle and was recovered on the road right of way.

Passenger side windshield trim broke and flew off of vehicle as it was being driven.

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 a pillar trim (oem part # bb5z-7803144-aa) detached while driving at highway speed.

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.

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 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.

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 NHTSA 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.

Passenger side frame on windshield flew off my car while I was driving on the highway.

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.

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.