I have a 2020 Platinum Silver Spruce Ford Explorer, and while it’s by far the best car I’ve owned, a few things really get on my nerves.
First, the radio automatically turns on every time I get back in the car, even if I paused my iPhone’s music or podcast. It seems like after about a minute, Sync 3 just switches over to the radio, blasting at full volume, which is way louder than what I had on my phone.
Then there’s Sync 3 itself. Most of the time, it works, but there are moments where it’s unresponsive to touch, and I end up needing to reboot it several times a day.
Another frustrating thing is the rear hatch. Sometimes when I go to pick up an order from Walmart and the cart’s in the way, the hatch won’t lower even once the cart is moved. I have to restart the car to get it to work again, which took me a while to figure out.
And last but not least, the rear collision detection. When I back into my driveway, the brakes randomly slam on even though there’s nothing there. It’s happened a few times now. The only reason I leave it on is because it did save me from hitting a low fence post once.
Wow, I have a 2021 XLT, and my issues are mainly with the transmission. It’s not smooth at all. They actually replaced it at 11k miles it was that bad. I’ve had it recalibrated once, but it’s still not great. I’ve had my Sync chip replaced too because the screen would randomly go black. There were some flapping noises from underneath the car, and I realized the shield wasn’t even properly secured. I fixed it with some stainless nuts for $3. Overall, I like the car, but the fit and finish could definitely be better. I’m getting a little wind noise from the driver’s side, but I’m just too tired of dealing with it now. I came from a Lexus RX, which had none of these little problems, and it’s frustrating that Ford’s quality control seems lacking. I hope I don’t have any more transmission issues. At least it’s not as jerky as before, but it still doesn’t feel smooth.
@Dani
I’m at 61k miles, and I haven’t had any transmission problems. Maybe you just got a bad one? I’ve had to pass a couple of cars, including one with a trailer, and I was able to get up to 91 mph without feeling any jerkiness. Makes my complaints feel pretty small by comparison.
Hadi said: @Dani
2020 ST here. The transmission is terrible.
In the 2022 Edge ST, they changed it to a seven-speed transmission, and it’s a lot smoother now. I had a 2019 ST, and that transmission was really annoying.
Hadi said: @Dani
2020 ST here. The transmission is terrible.
Yeah, I sold mine because of a problem with the 7th gear and a snap ring coming off. I had warranty, but the dealer wouldn’t even look at it for over a month, and it would’ve taken forever to fix. I just gave up. I wasn’t going to keep driving it with a loose gear thumping around. I had the car for 3 years, which is pretty long for me, but I was ready for a change.
Also, the auto start/stop feature was a nightmare.
Hadi said: @Dani
2020 ST here. The transmission is terrible.
I’ve got a 2020 ST too, and I absolutely hate it. The CV axle joints always break, parts of my brakes have fallen off, and the car flooded once because they didn’t install the drain lines. The transmission is terrible, the auto hold sucks, and the reverse camera is awful.
I have a 2022 ST. The brake slamming when backing up drives me crazy. If you let off the brake completely after it starts warning you, the brakes slam on. I didn’t know I could turn this off, but I’m going to try today. Also, the blue screen for the backup camera is so annoying. The gas mileage is pretty bad too, especially coming from a car that could go 700 miles on a tank. I get about 300 now. Other than that, I love the car, no issues.
@Freddie
Yeah, I think the blue screen issue is in the settings. I always turn mine off, but then I get the annoying ding. I’ve backed into things before, so I’m not willing to turn it off!
Indigo said:
Gas mileage is terrible. I’m getting 16 mpg in the city!
What year is your Explorer? I average 23.9 mpg lifetime, and I do a lot of camping trips, sometimes towing a 1.5-ton pop-up trailer. Even then, I get about 17 mpg.