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2021 Ford Explorer—Quality is no longer with ford.


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I purchased a brand new Ford Explorer limited in December. It had 10 miles when I picked it up. Drove it off the lot, got it home to realize it had transmission issues that would make shifting to reverse very slow, and in some instances shut off the vehicle. Upon contacting our dealer we bought it from, we discovered the nearest dealer with a transmission specialist was an hour and a half away. I contacted ford assist and asked if there were any dealers closer with transmission specialist. She began reading off all dealers in my area. I told her I needed a dealer that could work on our transmission. She stated that she wasn’t going to provide any specifics on dealers rather just help me find a dealer period. Disgruntled I asked if there was any assistance in getting brand new vehicle to this dealer that was over an hour away, OR if there would be any assistance in getting a loaner while this one was being worked on. Both of which, I was told ford would not offer any assistance. Ford customer service has absolutely tanked , and worse, their product quality has also tanked.
During the wait to get an appointment, the radio died in the vehicle and the screen was not operable. In the meantime, the vehicle sat in the dealership for over a week to replace the display.

After spending a month getting an appointment with a dealer for the transmission, and then my vehicle sitting in the dealership for the transmission issue for 3 weeks, I drove an hour and a half to get my vehicle. Picked it up and realized it had the same issue. Absolutely no change. Requested ford buy back this vehicle and they refused.
We are now in the beginning process of suing ford motor company for a lemon law. I warn all who read this—stay away from ford! They aren’t what they used to be. 
Case ID CAS-35729588-C5W0Y1

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28 minutes ago, akirby said:

I’ve never heard of having to find a transmission specialist.  Did you call the other local dealers?

 

For what it's worth, from my experience it's rare that a dealership doesn't have at least one service technician qualified to do transmission work. My dealership had at least three. 

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Awills

I am sorry to hear about your experience with 2021 Explorer.

I leased a 2021 Explorer XLT from ford in December 2020 and have had over 17,000 miles of trouble free service. Except for two oil changes and tire rotations , I have had no reason to visit my local ford dealer!

The handling is outstanding and highway fuel economy is about 28.5 mpg which for a large vehicle is great!

performance from ecoboost 2.3 s better than most competitive vehicles but engine noise during acceleration should of been lower!

Transmission feel and downshift characteristics change with each driving mode and is still somewhat confusing to me.

eco settings seems to be the nicest compromise for me even though tip in response

is reduced compared to the normal setting!

I do not care for all the skipped shifts and would prefer shifting thru each gear!

base radio is the worse radio I ever had since I began driving in a 1966 Galaxie XL.  (About 55 different vehicles)

Ride quality at highway speeds or full load is good but unloaded vehicle seems to be over damped.

Basic structure of this CD6 platform is great but vehicle could use a higher level of refinement.

good luck to you

edselfird

 

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On 3/22/2022 at 10:19 PM, Awills said:

I purchased a brand new Ford Explorer limited in December. It had 10 miles when I picked it up. Drove it off the lot, got it home to realize it had transmission issues that would make shifting to reverse very slow, and in some instances shut off the vehicle. Upon contacting our dealer we bought it from, we discovered the nearest dealer with a transmission specialist was an hour and a half away. I contacted ford assist and asked if there were any dealers closer with transmission specialist. She began reading off all dealers in my area. I told her I needed a dealer that could work on our transmission. She stated that she wasn’t going to provide any specifics on dealers rather just help me find a dealer period. Disgruntled I asked if there was any assistance in getting brand new vehicle to this dealer that was over an hour away, OR if there would be any assistance in getting a loaner while this one was being worked on. Both of which, I was told ford would not offer any assistance. Ford customer service has absolutely tanked , and worse, their product quality has also tanked.
During the wait to get an appointment, the radio died in the vehicle and the screen was not operable. In the meantime, the vehicle sat in the dealership for over a week to replace the display.

After spending a month getting an appointment with a dealer for the transmission, and then my vehicle sitting in the dealership for the transmission issue for 3 weeks, I drove an hour and a half to get my vehicle. Picked it up and realized it had the same issue. Absolutely no change. Requested ford buy back this vehicle and they refused.
We are now in the beginning process of suing ford motor company for a lemon law. I warn all who read this—stay away from ford! They aren’t what they used to be. 
Case ID CAS-35729588-C5W0Y1

Ford's in general are actually more reliable than they used to be, you just got unlucky unfortunately. 

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9 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

Ford's in general are actually more reliable than they used to be, you just got unlucky unfortunately. 

 

Yep-people seem to forget that...I've owned quite a few Fords for almost 30 years now and I've only had one dud out of the bunch of them.

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45 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Yep-people seem to forget that...I've owned quite a few Fords for almost 30 years now and I've only had one dud out of the bunch of them.

 

I have owned only owned fords for 37 years now (Used and New), and I have not had one "Dud"!  Minor issues only.  :)

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12 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Yep-people seem to forget that...I've owned quite a few Fords for almost 30 years now and I've only had one dud out of the bunch of them.

Yeah, our explorer has been flawless in the close to 6 years we owned it. Our Windstar was pretty reliable for the 12 years we owned it, a few things here and there, but considering the car started it's life out being abused as a rental car, was stolen, wrecked, and driven up steep hills constantly, I'd say only requiring a few repairs isn't that bad. Our areostar was great, my uncle had an ecoline with hundreds of thousands of miles on it before it died completely, my other uncle had a Tarus and focus that lasted decades without major issues, and his ranger was also great. My friends dad had a Tarus that lasted 25 years on the original engine/transmission, my grandparents had multiple 90s/ mid 2000s explorers that were very reliable, and my uncles friends f-150 has over 600k on the original engine. The only unreliable ford's my family has owned were a 80s fiesta that overheated multiple times and actually caught on fire once, and an 80s Tarus that had transmission issues. Because 80s cars were mostly shit regardless of what people with rose tinted glasses say. 

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12 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Yep-people seem to forget that...I've owned quite a few Fords for almost 30 years now and I've only had one dud out of the bunch of them.

But we're feeling pretty confident in keeping our '17 explorer for a long time. It only has 21k on it, oil changes every 1,500-2,000 miles, engine is rarely revved well over 3k, and it never tows. Considering the 5th gen explorer seems to be quite reliable, especially later model years, and the 3.5 duratec seems to be quite reliable for the most part. So the car should last a long time.

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On 3/25/2022 at 6:39 AM, silvrsvt said:

 

Yep-people seem to forget that...I've owned quite a few Fords for almost 30 years now and I've only had one dud out of the bunch of them.

Same here. I'm a Mopar convert and  I'm 12:1 with Ford products going back to 1986. The money pit was a used 1984 Tempo. Battery, alternator, water pump, steering rack... sold it to my  wife's coworker and they blew it up two weeks later.

@Awills has not been back since starting the thread. I don't know how Ford Franchise agreements work these days, but isn't there a requirement for a dealership to have a qualified person or persons to do at least basic diagnostics on vehicles? Odd response from the dealer.

 

Edited by Chrisgb
Fix typos
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On 3/25/2022 at 8:00 PM, DeluxeStang said:

The only unreliable ford's my family has owned were a 80s fiesta that overheated multiple times and actually caught on fire once, and an 80s Tarus that had transmission issues. Because 80s cars were mostly shit regardless of what people with rose tinted glasses say. 

 

Funny you mention that-My dad's first Ford he owned (since he went to work with them the same year) was a '79 Fiesta. I remember him fixing the manual transmission on it-I think something happened with second gear if I remember properly and there was some sort of carburetor issue with it at some point (might have been emissions related)...but it also lasted 150K miles plus and was my sisters and her friends first cars before it finally died in the early 1990s. I winded up getting the replacement for that car, a 1986 Escort GT that lasted 130K or so before I sold it. It had some issues with it, but its crazy how much more reliable cars have become in the past 40 years. 

Outside of my Focus SVT (which was my dud), I think my cars have been to the dealership maybe 2-3 times the whole time I've owned them and 90% its recall work or minor shit that has failed (fuel tank measurement sending unit) 

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On 3/25/2022 at 7:29 PM, DeluxeStang said:

But we're feeling pretty confident in keeping our '17 explorer for a long time. It only has 21k on it, oil changes every 1,500-2,000 miles, engine is rarely revved well over 3k, and it never tows. Considering the 5th gen explorer seems to be quite reliable, especially later model years, and the 3.5 duratec seems to be quite reliable for the most part. So the car should last a long time.

 

I have to ask, why do you change your oil so quickly? I'm assuming you don't use old school dino oil. 

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5 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Funny you mention that-My dad's first Ford he owned (since he went to work with them the same year) was a '79 Fiesta. I remember him fixing the manual transmission on it-I think something happened with second gear if I remember properly and there was some sort of carburetor issue with it at some point (might have been emissions related)...but it also lasted 150K miles plus and was my sisters and her friends first cars before it finally died in the early 1990s. I winded up getting the replacement for that car, a 1986 Escort GT that lasted 130K or so before I sold it. It had some issues with it, but its crazy how much more reliable cars have become in the past 40 years. 

Outside of my Focus SVT (which was my dud), I think my cars have been to the dealership maybe 2-3 times the whole time I've owned them and 90% its recall work or minor shit that has failed (fuel tank measurement sending unit) 

 

My best worst story was when I was a young teenager. My father just purchased a 1991 Aerostar XLT extended with the 3.0 Vulcan. The day he brought it home, we went to my grandparents (who only owned GM's). When leaving, the Aerostar would not go into reverse so we couldn't get out of their drive way. Had to have it towed with 15 miles on it. Transmission replaced. Other than a rear end issue (my father blamed me) and being totally gutless, it was a good van post transmission replacement. 

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My mother had a 1979 Ford Fairmont with the 200ci I-6, the car never ran good when cold and would stumble and stall until it was fully warmed up since new...back to dealer several times to no avail....after dad got her a replacement in 1986 (Ford LTD foxbody version) I bought it from them....still with the cold stumble/stall....

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On 3/25/2022 at 8:29 PM, DeluxeStang said:

But we're feeling pretty confident in keeping our '17 explorer for a long time. It only has 21k on it, oil changes every 1,500-2,000 miles, engine is rarely revved well over 3k, and it never tows. Considering the 5th gen explorer seems to be quite reliable, especially later model years, and the 3.5 duratec seems to be quite reliable for the most part. So the car should last a long time.


Make sure you change the coolant every 3 years or you risk a water pump failure.

 

I would also recommend a WOT run every once in awhile.  Low rpm is t always good.

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30 minutes ago, Deanh said:

Im guessing the OP thought he would actually get some support..intrigues me when someone has an issue , comes on here and literally disappears after venting 1 post...

 

Also telling other people to never buy a Ford product is rather telling. I felt sorry for him until he made that statement. 

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6 hours ago, jcartwright99 said:

 

I have to ask, why do you change your oil so quickly? I'm assuming you don't use old school dino oil. 

It's just because we don't drive that many miles a year. So the oil is changed about every 6 months. Even changing the oil every 3,000 miles would mean only changing the oil about once per year. I know some people do that, I just don't feel comfortable with that. From what I've seen, oil doesn't degrade as quickly with age, as it does with mileage, but it still degrades nonetheless. Plus working at an oil change place as a summer job in-between graduating high school and college gave me a chance to see countless neglected cars that owners just abused like crazy. So that experience almost motivated me to be more cautious about taking care of my own cars lol. 

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5 hours ago, akirby said:


Make sure you change the coolant every 3 years or you risk a water pump failure.

 

I would also recommend a WOT run every once in awhile.  Low rpm is t always good.

Yeah, the car still has it's original coolant after 6 years, was thinking about getting it flushed sometime in the near future.

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1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

It's just because we don't drive that many miles a year. So the oil is changed about every 6 months. Even changing the oil every 3,000 miles would mean only changing the oil about once per year. I know some people do that, I just don't feel comfortable with that. From what I've seen, oil doesn't degrade as quickly with age, as it does with mileage, but it still degrades nonetheless. Plus working at an oil change place as a summer job in-between graduating high school and college gave me a chance to see countless neglected cars that owners just abused like crazy. So that experience almost motivated me to be more cautious about taking care of my own cars lol. 

 

With synthetic oil, once a year is fine assuming average mileage. Porsche advised once a year with Mobil One synthetic oil. I go about 10 months with my Escape when Ford Pass says I have about 30% life left. And again synthetic oil only. When I had my Boxster, I changed the oil just before I garaged it for winter. So every October. I used to do it every 6 months with my everyday vehicle when I drove over 12,000 miles/ year. 

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There is a huge problem, and once again they are going to try and fix it, which will be short lived as always. I've had more problems with my 2021 F-150 than I did in the 11 years of ownership with my Raptor and my co-workers 2020 Edge isn't better. 

Ford's Josh Halliburton wants to fix high warranty costs (freep.com)

In the typical Ford cycle new product coming out over the next 2-3 years will get slightly worse each year with total garbage the last year as a new reorganization comes out. It is fitting this article came out again today as I dropped my truck off Friday for a list of things that are wrong and the 2 recalls it has on it along with 3 TSBs that will hopefully fix some of the issues. 

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48 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:

There is a huge problem, and once again they are going to try and fix it, which will be short lived as always. I've had more problems with my 2021 F-150 than I did in the 11 years of ownership with my Raptor and my co-workers 2020 Edge isn't better. 

Ford's Josh Halliburton wants to fix high warranty costs (freep.com)

In the typical Ford cycle new product coming out over the next 2-3 years will get slightly worse each year with total garbage the last year as a new reorganization comes out. It is fitting this article came out again today as I dropped my truck off Friday for a list of things that are wrong and the 2 recalls it has on it along with 3 TSBs that will hopefully fix some of the issues. 

 

Weird about the Edge as CR gives it a high rating, and recommends it. 

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23 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

 

Weird about the Edge as CR gives it a high rating, and recommends it. 

 

I mean, the Edge technically should have all the bugs worked out by now. Other than some light interior upgrades (screen), I don't know how much has changed in the past 4 to 5 years.

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