What 2,428 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Ford Explorer Gas

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.

NHTSA ODI 11542549

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the driver's side windshield trim panel detached and was hitting against the vehicle. The contact veered to the side of the road and cut the trim panel. The contact stated that the failure recurred with the passenger's side windshield trim panel. Additionally, the contact stated that the trim panel at the base of the windshield was fractured. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer, where it was determined that the entire windshield trim panel needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that he would be charged a fee for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE23001 (Structure). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ODI 11541624

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she noticed that the driver's side windshield trim panel had detached. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number PE23001 (Structure). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 48,700.

NHTSA ODI 11541731

Passenger side A Pillar Trim (OEM Part # BB5Z-7803144-AA) detached while driving at Highway speed.

NHTSA ODI 11540289

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from underneath the hood. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the motor mounts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the motor mounts had been replaced three times by the dealer since December 2022. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,300.

NHTSA ODI 11539361

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.

NHTSA ODI 11538545

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

NHTSA ODI 11538075

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.

NHTSA ODI 11537897

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.

NHTSA ODI 11537413

Both A-pillar pieces have blown off while driving. The first time this happened I had them replaced at a local windshield repair. And now they have both blown off again.

NHTSA ODI 11537067

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

NHTSA ODI 11537210

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.

NHTSA ODI 11535331

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, he heard an abnormal vibration coming from the passenger’s side front door. The contact stated that a plastic panel had partially detached from the windshield pillar. The contact stated that the plastic trim was held on by glue. The contact pulled over and removed the trim. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the passenger’s side and driver's side windshield pillar trim needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

NHTSA ODI 11534863

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the driver’s and passenger’s side windshield trim panel detached. Additionally, while driving, the roof rail detached. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to NHTSA Hotline. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Action Number: PE23001 (Structure). The failure mileage was 98,000.

NHTSA ODI 11534267

The drivers side windshield trim panel came off of the car while driving down a highway at 55mph. Luckily, there were no other cars on the highway and no further damage or injury occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11534113

Windshield trim piece came loose and broke off while driving on the highway. I had to tape down the part that was still on there two times before I could have it repaired so that I did not lose the rest of it on the highway and cause an accident. The driver's side failed first and now my passenger side has split apart and is rattling while on the highway, so I have to have both sides repaired out of safety concerns!

NHTSA ODI 11531757

Windshield trim blew off going down the interstate. I replaced it and it blew off again! Now I have extra wind noise and I’m scared it’s going to leak. I would try to glue another one down but do not want to affect my windshield integrity.

NHTSA ODI 11531694

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the roof of the vehicle. After a visual inspection, the contact became aware that the passenger’s side roof rack rail had detached from the roof. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that parts for the repair were not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V316000 (Structure) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 99,000.

NHTSA ODI 11530502

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the front driver’s and passenger’s side pillar covers detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V316000 (Structure) and stated that the pillar covers were not a part of the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

NHTSA ODI 11528135

My Ford Explorer 2016 windshield outer trim fell off while driving causing major danger on the highway.

NHTSA ODI 11527485

Driver A pillar molding flew off and hit the driver's mirror and driver's side window doing 70 mph. Amost resulting in a accident.

NHTSA ODI 11527462

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the front passenger’s side windshield trim detached from the vehicle. The contact also became aware that the front driver’s side windshield trim was loosened and almost detaching from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the windshield trims needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 65,000.

NHTSA ODI 11526589

The drivers side trim piece that runs vertically on the edge of the windshield and holds the rubber gasket in place came loose at the top and allowed the rubber gasket to flap around and hit the window, trim, and windshield. I was on the highway for a relatively short distance so it didn't come off completely. If it had flown off the car it could have caused an accident or hit someone else's vehicle causing damage. I am assuming there is some type of clip or screw? that has come off allowing the trim piece to come loose at the top. I have notified the dealership where I purchased the vehicle. They have not responded yet. I have not contacted anyone else about the incident.

NHTSA ODI 11526062

We were driving on the freeway and out of nowhere, the trim next to the windshield completely flew off on the passenger side of the car and then the driver side trim broke in half.

NHTSA ODI 11525868

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the windshield trim on the passenger’s and driver's side detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11525605