Body Problems of Ford Transit Connect - part 1

I am writing to report a serious and recurring safety issue with my 2016 Ford Transit Connect. On four separate occasions, the rear sliding doors on both the driver and passenger sides have completely detached from the vehicle during the normal process of closing them. These incidents occurred without the application of any excessive force or unusual use. The doors unexpectedly slid off their tracks and fell from the vehicle, creating a dangerous situation. Each time this occurred, my family was left stranded, unable to complete our trip or return home safely. As a result of this repeated failure, I have avoided using one of the sliding doors for over a year out of fear that it was not properly re-secured and could fall off again. This issue represents a significant safety concern, particularly for families relying on this vehicle for daily transportation, and I believe it warrants immediate attention and investigation.

See all problems of the 2016 Ford Transit Connect 🔎.

Contacted local Ford dealership for recall repairs (johnson city Ford). They state there are not any recalls for a 2014 Ford Transit Connect and would not schedule the repairs.

See all problems of the 2014 Ford Transit Connect 🔎.

Sliding side door on passenger side of van breaks free from the detente designed to hold it in the open position causing it to violently and suddenly close if the van is parked on a grade. The safety of others is put at risk if passengers, particularly young children, are attempting to enter or exit the vehicle. The problem was reproduced and confirmed by the dealer's service department. The service representative said the dealer was not equipped to handle the problem. The vehicle or defective component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or insurance representative. There are no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem. The issue surfaced a number of months ago.

See all problems of the 2015 Ford Transit Connect 🔎.

Recall issue with vehicle door latch and delays in repair - NHTSA recall number 21v376 to whom it may concern, I am writing to report a significant safety concern regarding my vehicle. Specifically, the driver's door latch is malfunctioning and no longer securely locks the door, rendering the vehicle undriveable. This issue directly aligns with the advanced recall notice identified as NHTSA recall number21v376 and manufacturer recall number 21s24. To seek a resolution, I reached out to local Ford dealerships, but initially faced challenges in even having a conversation about potential recalls. Fortunately, future Ford of roseville accepted to inspect my vehicle and I delivered it to their facility on August 23rd, 2023. One of their service managers indicated that they should be able to address the problem, especially since my car exhibits the symptoms detailed in the recall notice. However, it's September 1st now, and my vehicle remains in their possession with little to no updates. The only communication I received was a work order summary. Troublingly, this document states: "Ford declined authorization to repair at this time" regarding the advanced recall. Attempts to discuss this update with the service manager, cindy, have been unproductive. She briefly left a voicemail without pertinent details and despite promising a follow-up call, failed to do so. Furthermore, I reached out to Ford corporate for clarity but to no avail. I've consistently received vague answers, with most indicating a lack of direction from Ford. This is both alarming and frustrating. I am at a loss as to why the dealership can't take an interim measure, such as replacing the defective door latch—which has been acknowledged to degrade over time—to temporarily remedy the situation. This could serve as a temporary solution until an official fix is determined. Attached is the aforementioned work order summary for your reference. I urge you to consider the safety implications of.

The driver side door latch failed. The door would not close and latch. Dealer charged $578. 42 for the repair and has not reimbursed the charges per safety recall 23v502. ~ 90 days has passed since the repair.

The detent designed to hold the passenger side sliding door open has malfunctioned due to what the dealership describes as a manufacturing defect commonly found in the 2015 Ford Transit Connect XLT/lwb. Dealer states dealer is unable to correct. When parked on an incline, the sliding door can violently slide forward with a significant potential for injury to a passenger, especially a young child, entering or exiting the vehicle. Dealer suggests taking the vehicle to a body shop to correct this defect at owner's expense.

The tailgate unlocks on its own and becomes unlatched on its own. It is unpredictable but has happened at least once when coming to a stop (still in gear) and once when sitting with the engine off, after having come to a stop. My dogs ride in the back so they could fall out of the vehicle if it occurred while driving; in addition, cargo in the back of the van could fall onto the road if the tailgate came unlatched and opened. I have not taken the van to a dealer because the nearby Ford dealership has a reputation as not being easy to work with, and I don't know who else would be qualified to work on such a problem. The "tailgate open" warnings do occur, when the door unlocks/unlatches. But the lock makes audible noises frequently, and it's not always easy to tell if the lock has disengaged or just made a noise.

2014 Transit Connect lh front door won't latch , this van has 44,000 miles on it I bought it new. . The door will fly open can not drive it like this. . The sliding doors had a recall but not the front doors. Door latch fail.

The drivers door is failing to latch. Ford dealers have only said there were only recalls on the rear doors. My minivan has the door roped shut for the time being and it is dangerous having to unwrap the rope to exit. Also the smell of fuel inside the vehicle is pronounced and they won't repair the fuel line because I purchased the vehicle used and the previous owner didnt handle it.

After having the panoramic sunroof replaced in 2019 due to a recall, the roof started leaking again causing mold to grow and making us fear for the structural integrity of the vehicle due to the possibility of unseen rust. The service department said it was not related to the original recall and that it was an epoxy failure. We feel this is just a continuance of the original defect and there was another recall about leaking.

Driver-side cargo door does not latch correctly and will open while the vehicle is in motion. This happens at speeds below 20 mph as well as highway speeds. Because of the repeated pressure of the door flying open, the rail is now bent and the door will fall off when opened or closed. Not only is the cargo door opening a safety issue to others driving around me as things may fall out, but the door itself may come off and cause damage to those around me.

We have a 2016 Ford Transit Connect van with 6,700 miles. The windshield come out loose and it could have been fatal to the life of passengers or others on the road. We went to the dealership and got to know that Ford is aware about it but is not covered. We are paying about $650 to glue the windshield back on the van. We are paying this for the safety of the people. This could be dangerous and can lead to accidents or deaths on the road. Please address this with Ford since our concern is not being addressed by Ford or their dealership. Seems like they are waiting for a disaster to happen! thank you.

The muffler split open most likely from a clog. Because of that, the exhaust was directed toward the floor of the truck instead of going out of the muffler. As a result, it burnt through the heat shield, the back of the truck, melted the wiring harness, and burned a hole straight through the fuel tank. A mechanic took out the fuel tank and when it was being dropped out fuel spilled everywhere and there was a hole in the side of the tank. Since the wiring harness was melted, there was no power and no fuel pump power. The safety of the driver was put at risk because the car could have easily started on fire, or the fuel tank could have blown up and injured the driver or worse.

See all problems of the 2013 Ford Transit Connect 🔎.

In February 2022 the driver's side door stopped being able to latch. The door was unable to securely close. The driver's door was able to swing open on turns and the driver would be able to fall out of the vehicle during a crash.

I had been driving my car for a few minutes when I heard a loud pop and my rear window glass shattered. Covered in spider glass cracks and only held in place by the tint. No point of impact visible to show that it had been hit by an object. It was chilly, 43 f, and I had the heat/defrost on. Unfortunately, when arriving to work, I opened my sliding door look at the damage from the inside and doing so caused glass to fall out, so I have no picture of just the glass the way it was when it broke. A quick search shows this has happened to other vehicles including Transit Connects like mine, and caused by the heated glass.

See all problems of the 2018 Ford Transit Connect 🔎.

On August 28, 2021, in suisun city, CA, just prior driving, the owner discovered the front side door latch had failed, resulting in an inability to close the door. The vehicle had been parked in the direct sunlight with ambient temperatures over 100 degrees f. No prior indication the door latch was failing. The vehicle was subsequently inspected by local Ford dealer and side door latch was found inoperative and was replaced. Owner retained replaced side door latch. Since the 2014 Ford Transit Connect was not built at the valencia assembly plant, per Ford recall #s 20s30, 15s16, and 16s30, the owner had to pay full the repair cost ($370. 65). The serial numbers of the failed side door latch is fomoco dt1a v21813-ba. 4081 4157 97142 doprf. Consideration should be given to include 2014-2016 Ford Transit Connects built in turkey be added to NHTSA door latch safety recall such that Ford can notify dealers to inspect and replace those side door latches at no cost to owners. Driving a vehicle with a front door latches that may be faulty is a safety hazard. See attached photos and document.

The door panel on the rear sliding door is falling off due to failure of the adhesive. This is an issue with other Ford Transit Connects under NHTSA campaign 14v777000 and Ford recall number 14s26 but my transit doesn't appear to come up under that recall even though I am experiencing the issue and it was manufactured in the time period specified under the recall. The panel is still on the van with tape keeping it secured so it is available for inspection. If the panel were to fall off during driving it could cause an accident by hitting other vehicles. The panel has not been inspected by anyone yet.

The driver's side door of my vehicle will no longer latch. This problem appeared without any precipitating event, just ordinary use of the door. When I researched the problem online, I see that the Ford motor company has recalled vehicles of the same model and year with this problem. I consulted a Ford dealer about repair of the problem and they said that the recall did not apply to my car's VIN. They also told me that they had had a vehicle of the same model and year in their shop that very day with the same problem that was also not covered by the recall. I feel that this problem very much pertains to the safety of the vehicle, as the door of a vehicle with this problem may latch after repeated attempts to shut it, and subsequently become unlatched while driving. This is certainly a frightening prospect. I feel that the problem should be addressed proactively to avoid serious injury to occupants of the vehicle.

My vehicle has been at a Ford dealership for more than 6 months for NHTSA campaign 20v260000 my glass is cracked. The dealership took my vehicle apart and then realized the replacement glass was broken. The dealership is unable to secure the glass to complete the recall. Ford states the glass is on indefinite backorder. Ford has proven they can not fix this vehicle recalll - I would like a buyback.

The drivers side door latch stopped working completely. Nothing happened to warrant it breaking. The door will not latch or lock, so it is a big safety issue. It will just open and attempt to close with the motion of the car. I took it to the dealer thinking they would fix it for free, as it is a safety issue, but they would not. The vehicle was stationary when the latch stopped working. In a parking lot.

Drivers side door latch pawl failure, door will not remain in the closed position, nor can it be locked. Vehicle was stationary.

My transit is only 7 year old and the chasis look realy bad there is a lot of rust in all chasis.

Panoramic moon roof (non-movable) urethane seam separated from body and presents air/water leak at highway speeds. If unchecked, research found other Transit Connects where the entire moonroof became detached and flew off the vehicle. Happened gradually over the course of a month, while driving. There is an existing recall (20s22) for this condition, but Ford refused coverage for my vehicle specifically.

1. Panoramic roof glass panel improperly bonded 2. Door latchs improperly repaired.

The driver side sliding door latch no longer latches. This prevents the door from closing and can cause it to open during vehicle motion. I previously completed the safety recall for this issue in 2017. This fix seems to have failed three years later. Ford will not reperform the recall because they claim the original one is still fine.

While driving down the freeway the stationary panoramic roof glass dislodged, went into the air and landed on the freeway in dramatic fashion without injury or killing anyone. The car behind me swerved to avoid the flying glass.

Our daughter was driving our 2016 Ford Transit Connect home on 65n right before exit 78 in nashville, TN. She was doing about 55. It was at about 10pm and thankfully there was not traffic directly behind her. The huge glass panoramic roof and sunshade came off and tore from the frame of the car leaving damage to the structure of the car. There was slight noise and my passengers informed her the glass roof and shade ripped off. This is no fault of the owner. This is a manufacture defect. The dealership said there was a prior recall 16s35 for the same model in 2014 and this is exactly what happened here. The bonding/sealant used is not holding. Either Ford is liable or the company that makes the bonding sealant. Same thing for mercedes recall from 2002-2011. Roof glass detaching from roofs of car/van.

Water is leaking down into the vehicle from up above in the roof. There are caps located in these channels on the exterior roof of this vehicle. There was snow overnight sitting on top of the vehicle. A puddle formed inside on the back plastic arm ledge. Ceiling carpet was wet up above. I drove the vehicle in wet conditions and the water continued to drip down after a 2 hour drive in rain. \when water is in these channels on the exterior of roof, it comes through somehow under these caps and soaks ceiling carpet thus causing water to drip down. See image. Image shows water on interior of side rear window as a result of dripping down into cabin of vehicle. This image taken after driving two hours, however the water came through both as the vehicle was stationary (initially melting snow) and also while driving for 2 hours. Car is 3. 5 years old.

1. Stationary or in motion: the top of the front windshield seems to be losing its seal because when water is poured or when it rains, it enters the car and falls onto the dashboard. Also, the plastic box that stores the rear view window and which is attached to the windshield gets filled with rain and drips down the window. 2. In motion, on a gradual hill and from day one, the car would not shift up on a downhill, even a slight hill. It revs in the 2nd gear and rev until it would jump into third after revving in a lower gear for 2-4 minutes. I took it to 2 dealerships (one in tacoma, wa, and the other in marina Ford) and they said they couldn't repeat the problem even though I had plenty of video of it. 3. Stationary or in motion: lcd screen sometimes stops responding for no particular reason. You have to turn car off and on again to get a response.

After entering my vehicle while sitting in a parking lot, the driver's door wouldn't latch. I see that there are other complaints of similar failures, but the VIN decoder show no un-completed recalls on this vehicle.

My family entered vehicle thru rear sliding doors. Closed doors and put on their seat belts. We drove approx 1/3 of a mile and the rear driver side slider flew open in a corner. Complete latch failure! these latches were replaced as part of the 2016 recall.

During the winter rainy weather, water streamed out of the overhead interior light/reading light fixtures on both sides above the driver and passenger seats. There is audible sloshing water in the interior panels of both sliding back doors and passenger side seat belt is wet coming of the belt holder panel on the front passenger side with a sickeningly strong mold smell, indicating standing water or wet interior of the seat belt holder. This vehicle has had failures of the window and lock electric functions of the driver side windows and doors both front and second seat (back passenger seat). Concern is that the panoramic roof window seal has failed, allowing water to flood apertures, including the electric window, door, and light switches and the sun roof electrical system. Also concerned that this will lead to loosening of the sun roof bond so it could fall out or bounce out while the car is in motion. It is possible that this caused a recall on some us manufactured vehicles - we believe ours was imported from england but do not know for sure. This began in winter 2018 and continues whenever it rains. Purchased the vehicle in July 2018.

Automax Ford killeen installed recall 16s30 on 6-16-17. On 7-22-18, door latch failed in manner described by recall. Took van into automax on 7-25, on 7-31 was told recall part had failed, on 8-1 told I would need to pay for repair. I thought paying for duplicate failure of recall issue was wrong and contacted Ford national office for help. Ford corp. Response was favorable but not definitely covering cost until dealer response. On 8-6 received final approval that Ford corp. Would pay dealer. On 8-8 repair picked up car after repair completed, also personally paid for 2nd part for passenger side (since it was likely to fail too if driver side recall part failed & both were replaced during 2017 repair). During pickup, noticed that failed part that had been removed had a 07. 10. 2014 mfg date sticker. Since recall wasn't issued until 2016, this part could not be a failed recall part but was actually an original part from my vans mfg in late 2014. Dealer suggested this was not the case but would investigate and allowed me to return home with only drivers side repaired and passenger side untouched. Returned home and pulled door trim on passenger side, found seal inside door untouched and dated 2014 also. Could not have performed recall in 2017 without breaking seal. Returned 8-9 with proof and finally got passenger side repaired using part I paid for. Promised refund but not received until 8-21 and amount slightly less than paid due to tax not included. Expressed concern that other customers may also have vans with recall documented but not actually repaired. Assured dealer would take action, but needed time to determine how to fix for others and let me know. On 10-4 followed up and dealer stated there was no plan and since my vehicle was fixed, danger to others was not my worry. Summary: dealer did not put in recall parts, charged for fix, and may have done it to others.

When locking and unlocking the van it does not always unlock the back doors for the sliding doors have to climb over the front seats to manually unlock them difficult to get children out of the back seat extreme problem in an emergency.

See all problems of the 2011 Ford Transit Connect 🔎.

Some driving positions might not be able to see the shift indicator or turn signal indicators. This means it may be hard to tell whether the transmission is a neutral, drive or manual position. I nearly hit a driver and a car wash because I thought the transmission was in neutral and it was in drive. There is an overhang that is too long obscuring part of the dash.