general problems of the 2020 Ford Explorer - part 2

Driver's side headlight works intermittently.

The head light is intermittent. Sometimes if I drive it works fine, other times the main beam is out and the car displays a notification that says “check owner manual”. It’s not safe if I never know when my head light will work or decide to not work.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the front passenger’s side headlight intermittently failed to illuminate with the "check headlamp system see owner’s manual" message displayed on the instrument panel. The failure persisted, and the driver’s side headlight also failed to illuminate as needed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the contact was given an estimate for the repair. The contact decided to replace both front headlight modules which corrected the failure; however, the warning message remained on the instrument panel. A week later, the driver’s side headlight failed to illuminate as needed, after which the passenger’s side headlight also failed to operate as designed. The dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure and informed the contact that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 57,000.

In early 2023, I discovered micro-fractures in the side of the left headlamp assembly on my 2020 Ford Explorer st. As the 3/36 warranty was still in effect, Ford replaced the defective headlamp. However, just a few months later, after the warranty had expired, I discovered much more severe micro-fractures in the right headlamp lens assembly. This time however, the micro-fractures are located in front of the light source, thus they are diffusing the light as it passes through the lens. There is also a fracture appearing at the lower inside corner of the assembly. The dealer attempted to get Ford to replace the second headlamp assembly, but Ford will not replace the $1800 part under warranty. The vehicle has never been in an accident and is garaged 90% of the time. Even now at over four years of ownership, the vehicle has just over 44,500 miles on the odometer. My personal belief is that there is a defect in the plastic that was used to manufacture the headlamp assembly, and as such, Ford needs to replace the defective part. I have included two pictures from the original discovery and then three pictures just taken today.

My passenger side low beam headlamp stopped working in Nov 2022. I had a "check headlamp" warning light. I took it to the dealer on 12/09/22. They stated that they found code b155a:96 requiring replacement of the led control module, requiring part #jx7z-13c788-l (total cost $1112. 25). Headlamp was operational approx 1 week. Returned to the dealership 12/16 with a non-functioning light. They installed rt headlamp asset, performed calibration, and adjusted horizontal position. Requiring part #mb5z-13008-ag (total cost $1750). The headlight remained operational for approx 6 months. The "check headlamp" warning light has come on again and I will need to have further repair. Having an intermittently functioning or non-functioning headlamp makes driving at night or in the rain both unsafe and illegal. The cost of this repair was not covered by warranty.

While driving my Explorer at night on an unlit road in north western new jersey the instrument cluster in my car displayed a warning message stating, “check headlight system, see manual”. I pulled over and inspected my cars exterior lights for abnormalities, found none. With the headlamp warning light still on I proceeded on my way home when approximately 10 miles further down the road my driver side low beam turned off completely drastically reducing my visibility of the road ahead of me. Making it incredibly unsafe to me and the passengers in my car. On my way home I got pulled over by a local police officer for an out headlight. I explained the issue and they let me off with a warning. I immediately brought my car to my local Ford dealership to be further inspected. They proposed that the headlamp control module was causing the issue by diagnosing using their “pin test”. After replacing the module ($1,000) at the dealership I drove the car less than 10 miles away from the dealership and the headlamp warning light turned back on and the driver side low beam turned off once again leaving me stranded without light on the road. This cycle continued several times and Ford had no explanation as to why it’s happening. I was sent a quote to pay full price for the repair ($2,500) because I was out of Ford’s 36,000 mile limited warranty. A new car that leaves me without a driver side low beam on a dark road poses an incredible risk to me and my passengers as well other drivers and is unacceptable. Not only is an out headlight illegal and a ticket able offense what if there was an animals or debris on the road while I was driving with my 8 month old niece? my down the road site is exponentially reduced because the driver side low beam is out. The car had less than 36,500 miles when this issue first occurred and it’s been an ongoing problem ever since. An led headlamp is supposed to be a“lifelong” vehicle part and it’s failing before the car is fully broken in.

We reported the driver's side headlamp as going out intermittently on Jan 4, 2022 to the dealership (Ford of boerne, boerne, TX). When they could not resolve the issue, we reported the problem to Ford. The light is out mostly full time now. We first realized the problem when driving at night when it would go in and out.

Adaptive headlamp assembly on my 2020 Ford Explorer platinum awd has failed twice in 2-years. First, upon receiving the vehicle, the passenger side had to be replaced (dealer was unable to fix the problem, so had to replace the whole headlamp assembly which requires a complete removal of the front bumper). Now the driver side headlamp has failed - and I haven't even had the car 2-years yet (will be 2-years in a few weeks). The headlamp failure is complicated by the long lead time to get the replacement part for the whole headlamp assembly - so now I am weeks without being able to have a headlight and am forced to drive without it.

Smoke started coming from the passenger side visor as I was driving. There was no indication of an issue with warning messages of any kind. Of course I panicked, ran from the car and called the fire department who stated it smelled electrical when they arrived. After a week of being at the dealership, they couldn't find anything; however, 30 seconds after I got into my vehicle, I noticed the cabin lights weren't working. After returning the vehicle within an hour they found that a wire had burned out and shorted out some fuses. 2 weeks later and I still don't have my vehicle. No injuries, just scared beyond belief to have a 2020 st start smoking!! even if they state it is fixed, I am still scared to death to drive it after that!! I have had issues with the brakes as well. Those stopped working but apparently that was a recall that was resolved. I have purchased Fords for the past 20 years. I will never buy a Ford again with all the issues I have on this vehicle!.

Passenger oem headlight module has failed multiple times. Continuously goes out and comes back on, causing a great safety concern. Driver oem was replaced under warranty (bad module) and has worked fine since. This appears to be a factory issue as I have been dealing with this since I bought the vehicle brand new.

My headlights and turn signals continue to go out and come back on. Multiple people with this exact same model Explorer are also having this same issue. I truly think this should be a recall with the 2020 Ford Explorer platinum as this is a huge safety concern. Please see linked reddit post for proof of multiple people reporting the exact same issue. This issue has been addressed by the dealership, and I was advised that the entire headlight module would need to be replaced. My driver side was replaced under warranty and the headlight is now functioning, but my driver turn signal continuously goes out every month or so now after the replacement. This issue started mere months after I purchased this vehicle directly from the dealership brand new. Please see this attached reddit post for multiple people with the exact same car complaining of the same issue. I can also provide all receipts from where this was addressed at the dealership multiple times. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).