2020 Ford Explorer Problems

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was shifting roughly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and it was determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

My 2020 ford Explorer had several issues with the hill assist, TCM control, power train malfunctions, it shifted very hard between first and second gear, at times it felt like it wouldn't accelerate at all and would pop into gear at higher speeds. I took it to Family Ford of Enfield several times for repairs which never fixed the overall problem. After several times at Family Ford of Enfield, I continued to drive my vehicle because my trusted dealership kept telling me the car was repaired. Now my vehicle needs a new transmission at 100% my cost.

Had recall for parking brake fixed, soon after I’d be on interstate or intersection and it would lose power wrench and check power train system light came on. Took to dealership and they said it was parking pawl sylenuod. Had repaired left the shop didn’t even get home and it did the same: Mechanic said it was gas pedal sensor repaired that and same thing happened it may go real fast or not go . I worked for uber and lyft and have been out of work for a few months. Car setting at dealership and the say I need to pay for a new power train module because my cars lost it brains. So I got recall fixed and my cars went to hell in a hand basket. Now another recall is issued but no resolution. It is a huge safety issue when your gas pedal gets a not responsive to your foot touching the pedal then it accelerating without touching the gas pedal. I’m lucky I didn’t die in it. This year model just needs to be lemoned out. Oh also when it starts messing up airbag not working driver assist not working all the safety features go haywire. I feel 💯 sure this is all related to the recall and ford will be hearing from me or a lawyer one.

The transmission malfunctioned on the Interstate. The car started jumping and then would slow way down to about 33 MPH with the RPM's super high and then kick back in and speed up super fast and I would have to brake constantly. I almost hit the car in front of me at one point. A different point in the same trip the car behind me had to slam on it's brakes to stop from hitting me when the car lost power. I got off the Interstate at the very next exit and took back roads home. The transmission has been inspected by a Ford Dealership and they said it was the transmission going out. At first there were no warning lights and after it started jumping and starting. Then a few days later the engine light and power train warning lights came on.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced intermittent starting failures, and upon starting the vehicle and shifting into gear, the vehicle shut off. No warning light illuminated. Additionally, the electronic parking brake was unintendely engaged. The contact replaced the battery; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by a dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

My wife was driving and the horn started blowing and the rear wiper started ejecting all the wiper fluid. When I showed up to assist, it smelled super hot and I had to pull the fuse and negative lead to make the wiper pump and horn stop. It was towed to a Ford dealer, who found the main engine harness had MELTED going into the engine compartment fuse box. The horn and wiper fluid pump also had to be replaced. It's fortunate this did not result in a fire. Ford dealer had the vehicle for TWO MONTHS to repair (and we had to take it back for the horn and washer pump). The Ford dealer said they could not give any reason for why this happened. The entire main harness and fuse panel had to be replaced. No check engine or warning lights appeared when this happened. My wife had to pull over on the side of the road.

I drove to work with no issues, lights or warnings. I parked and worked for 7 hours. Upon leaving and cranking the engine, it immediately showed overheated and went into limp mode. I drove it less than 100Ft, parked and called for a tow. There was no puddles or other indications of an issue. Upon towing to the closest dealership, I was informed the oil cooler failed putting coolant into the oil and "scorching" the engine and I need an entire new engine. The dealership confirmed there wouldn't be any warning lights of this happening.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 85 MPH, there was an abnormal popping and grinding sound coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and became aware that the flex pipe with a part of the catalytic converter attached was touching the ground. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and it was determined that the catalytic converter had sheared off in half, and the left side of the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced intermittent starting failures, and upon starting the vehicle and shifting into gear, the vehicle shut off. No warning light illuminated. Additionally, the electronic parking brake was unintendely engaged. The contact replaced the battery; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by a dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

I experienced catastrophic brake failure on July 14 2026. Total loss of brakes that led me to narrowly miss several vehicles. The Ford Dealership in Manor TX stated it needed the brake booster replaced and program reset. After researching this is a problem with my VIN that was offered free replacement until 2022 this should be a total unexpired recall. I could have lost my life or someone eles! It’s part of the Customer Satisfaction Program 20B51:

The edges of the fabric sunroof cover have come off the tracks, causing the sunroof cover to not roll up properly and block the rear window when open.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V685000 (Equipment), 26V117000 (Visibility), and 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact was concerned that the incomplete recalls presented significant safety risks, specifically because the contact resided in Alaska, where it rained constantly with low temperatures. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

The passenger headlamp has went out and after researching this is supposed to be a lifetime lamp and has become a common issue on these vehicles. If these lamps are malfuntioning it should be recalled because it is a safety issue specially to ones that already have vision issues at night.

Both my passenger and driver headlights have failed. I have paid to have them replaced. The drivers side has failed twice. The passenger side has failed 3 times. I have taken it to the dealership and they “fixed” the issue but it keeps coming back months or weeks later. The low beams are what is failing. The message on the dash says “check headlight assembly see manual” This is a safety risk to me and other people on the road. They have failed while driving. If I am driving early in the morning or late at night I can not see if there are no street lights. People also can’t see me coming. This is a major safety risk. I bought the car in August 2024. Headlights have failed 5 times since then. The dealership helped me with my first four failures. On this last failure, they said it is not covered under warranty and that I need to pay $3000 for the headlight. Five failures of headlights seems like a manufacturer issue and not something. I am doing on my end.

My Ford explorer has a 3rd row headrest stuck in a down position. So, the passengers head will not be supported in a whiplash situation. I have found many complaints on this issue but cant find what should be a very important safety recall.

With people in the backseat, the seats decided to fold out of nowhere from the previous recall where the seat released buttons on the second row get stuck. Even though it’s very clear that these buttons need to be replaced and I took it to a Ford dealership they said that they were fine even though the buttons literally are stuck in no matter what and ever so slightly touching them causes the seats to fold. The passengers in the second row were not injured, but very easily could’ve been.

First the fuel pump control module went out and now for the 3rd time the electrical to the fuel pump control module has faulted

Cruise in vehicle was set to 58 mph. Vehicle shut off going around a curve and would not restart. At 40mph emergency brake set as car wasn’t running and it was coasting to a stop. I sat on the road barely off the shoulder as car would not restart and would not come out of park to be able to push the rest of the way off the road. Had it towed to a ford dealer where they replaced the fuel pump control module and they had concerns of it possibly not fixing the problem. I made it 10 miles after pickup and it did the exact same thing shuts off no warning like it ran out of gas. Get towed back to the ford dealer and they can’t duplicate the problem and say nothing is wrong and they don’t know why it randomly shuts off and loses fuel. However it still has the same codes as initially in relation to lack of fuel. I don’t feel safe driving the car as now I’ve broke down twice same problem and fear it’ll keep happening and I may not get so lucky as to not get seriously injured as I cannot move it from the road. Asked about getting rid of it and no dealership wants it because of these problems. Now I’m stuck with a $30,000 paperweight that I can’t drive safely and I can’t replace without going into a lot of debt.

My driver window won’t stay up once it gets to the top it goes back down. The underbody is starting to detach. It is shifting hard and makes a loud noise. Worse at low speeds and applying brakes . The tire pressure sensors all went out at one time

The fabric/plastic/felt under the car is falling to pieces! It's becoming a safety hazard. This complaint is posted in a lot of forums.

I keep feeling a clunk or thump towards the back of the car at random times, towards the back axle. Sometimes it's when i stop and drive forward, other times it happens while I am just driving normally, usually at slow speeds around 5-45mph. I have an extended warranty and the ford dealer has said they can;t replicate it and want to give my car back until it gets worse, and then try fix it. I am highly concerned about this process....

Back in 2026 I bought a vehicle from Wild West Ford in Guymon ok about three weeks after I bought the vehicle there was a safety recall on it for the rear axle bolt. Ever since the recall was done, I noticed a significant change in my vehicle rear and it shook real bad. basically I was eating my tires and so I took about to wild West and they told me to go get alignment done so I went and got an alignment done, and it still was doing it and I had taken it to at least four different Ford dealerships across two different states and they all told me that there is nothing wrong with my vehicle, so I looked it up on the forum in the procedure on how the recall was done and i find out that the bushing was improperly installed. One of The ford dealership is the one who send me a picture of the bushing even starting to rip. Please help my kids ride in this vehicle everyday and Wild West claimed the recall but did it completely wrong and refuses to fix it so I took it to different dealerships and with each dealership, I specifically asked them to re-look into the recall because I feel like it was done wrong and they all said that it was all up to four specs in the end. there was nothing wrong with it, but here’s the proof that it is so how do I get my vehicle fixed?

When putting the car in reverse and moving backwards start to feel the vehicle look drive power and knock sounds. Sounds likes and feels like gear teeth or not aligned. When putting the car into drive the vehicle jumps a little and you hear a lout pop noise.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that upon taking the vehicle for regular service, he was made aware that the driver’s side CV axle was leaking. The contact was informed that the driver’s side CV axle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 54,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while her son was positioned in the third-row seat, the head restraint unexpectedly slammed down on the tip of his left index finger. As a result, he sustained a severe injury that required immediate medical attention. The injury required 6 to 8 stitches, and the child also required surgery. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 30-45 MPH, the vehicle stopped unexpectedly. On another occasion while driving 25-35 MPH, the transmission was shifting and the vehicle bucked. There was an abnormal thumping and metal-against-metal sound coming from the vehicle. There was a grabbing coming from the vehicle. The seat belt became tight while the pretensioner had deployed after detecting the failure. The contact was concerned about driving the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train). While preparing to tow the vehicle, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer informed the contact to pick up the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

I keep feeling a clunk or thump towards the back of the car at random times, towards the back axle. Sometimes it's when i stop and drive forward, other times it happens while I am just driving normally, usually at slow speeds around 5-45mph. I have an extended warranty and the ford dealer has said they can;t replicate it and want to give my car back until it gets worse, and then try fix it. I am highly concerned about this process....

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V685000 (Equipment), 26V117000 (Visibility), and 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact was concerned that the incomplete recalls presented significant safety risks, specifically because the contact resided in Alaska, where it rained constantly with low temperatures. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds the transmission unexpected downshifted from a high gear to a low gear, and the vehicle lurched forward while attempting to decelerate. The TPMS warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

See attached document for complaint

The dash board has a little split where the air bag is located. The split is in a line of or a crease of the outline of the air bag. I took it to the dealership and they were clueless. They recommended someone to fix it, but since it was closely related to the airbag I can't find anybody to work on it. This happened about a year ago it just appeared and each year I think it's getting larger.

On my 2020 Explorer ST, the plastic backing on the front seats is popping off and exposing the seats airbags. My dealer said ONE replacement backing would be $1400 to replace. In a facebook group I am in, multiple people have complained on the 2020 ST that theirs has done the same thing.

Our explorer has had cascading warnings each time we drive the car for the past 7 days. Sometimes it takes a mile, sometimes it is immediate. The safety warnings include: 4-wheel drive fault, passenger air bag fault, forward Collision avoidance not working, powertrain malfunction, restraint indicator light warning, pre collision assist- . Not all appear each time, and some change ( 4wheel drive fault/ power train malfuntion- restraint warning/ airbag seem to alternate. Power train shows with restraint. 4 wd malfunction shows with airbag). Each time it occurs the airbag warning illuminates. Dealer cannot work on it until July 16th. Sounds like tsb 23-2174, but have been unable to codes when I stopped by a dealer Before July 1 we had no warnings. 48,582 miles. When faults appear- most systems appear to work, have tried 4wd and other modes and they appear to work. But cruise control, seatbelt chimes and others do not work.

I recently had an increasing tire vibration problem on my 2020 ST with 18,500 miles. Took the ST to a Costco tire center to have the tire balance checked for lost weight, damaged rim or whatever. Balancer had massive weight shift so they took tire off the rim. Unknown to me, the original Pirelli P Zero tires have a foam coat inside the tire for noise comfort(????). It had deteriated and was formaing clumps and coming off the rubber.