New Member SF Bay Area

[Traffic22]

Hello all. New member here. First Explorer, but long time “Ford guy.” Picked it up couple days ago. So far really enjoying how well it drives. It’s been raining here pretty much since I got it, so no real opportunity to flog it yet.

2025 Velocity Blue ST. (Really wanted the black roof option but my wallet bit my fingers when it saw the 5k price tag.)

Of course as is the case with recent Ford products, less than 48 hours of ownership and it has a problem. Weird static/bad ground,intermittent sound through the right door speaker, even when everything is turned off, including the car. (It’ll find its way back to the dealership later this week.) Not terribly surprised, but little disappointing.

Still getting used to the Android Automotive interface, I’m not yet convinced this is better than the Sync 3 I had in my Raptor. (Or even Sync 2 in my Focus ST) I’ll reserve judgement until I have more time with it, and Ford/Google push through a few updates to smooth things out and improve them. (Hopefully) Credit where credit is due. Ford finally figured out how to put a good, not just decent, stereo in a car. This one comes close, but a little short of the Burmester stereo in my Mercedes. It is by far the best factory stereo in any Ford I’ve owned, and I’ve owned a lot of them.

Thank you to the forum members here. I have been reading old posts and lurking for a few weeks. Probably won’t post too much myself, but enjoy reading what others have to say. Thanks for having me.

Chuck

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Hopefully you can get those problems sorted out, should be an easy fix. Easy to get a roof wrapped for under a grand, Fords painted option is pretty expensive. Congrats and welcome to the forum!

 

[Traffic22]

Hopefully you can get those problems sorted out, should be an easy fix. Easy to get a roof wrapped for under a grand, Fords painted option is pretty expensive. Congrats and welcome to the forum!

Absolutely, a good quality wrap is way less. And, if it starts to fade or I get tired of it, it just peels off.

Dealership is picking up the car this morning. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on a loose ground or failing radio control module. (Which I didn’t even know was a thing till reading some posts here.)

Sweet profile pic @2020FordRaptor.

Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Nascarbilly]

Welcome aboard!!!

You came to the right place to find out about all things ST. I joined for the same reason as you months before I finally pulled the trigger on mine.

FYI: We bought our first tank of gas post dealer fill up today. Didn't buy it for the gas mileage (we have two "Tree Huggers Toyotas" at home) but Great Scot, I really like the performance aspect of this beast. And yes, I know about the break in period but you can tell it is a special vehicle. How many SUV's do you know of that come with a 160 mph speedo!?!

 

[Traffic22]

Welcome aboard!!!

You came to the right place to find out about all things ST. I joined for the same reason as you months before I finally pulled the trigger on mine.

FYI: We bought our first tank of gas post dealer fill up today. Didn't buy it for the gas mileage (we have two "Tree Huggers Toyotas" at home) but Great Scot, I really like the performance aspect of this beast. And yes, I know about the break in period but you can tell it is a special vehicle. How many SUV's do you know of that come with a 160 mph speedo!?!

Yeah, mine is back at dealer for a bad speaker. That was the hiss noted in my original post. Can't wait to get the crap 87 out of it the dealer put in and get a tank of 91. (Unfortunately no 93 here in CA.) Excited to flog it a bit and see what she can do. (And yes, I'll be reasonable (ish) during the break in.

Also excited for the FP release of the 2025 tune. (One of the few CARB legal.) I've had their tunes on 2 other Fords and they really "wake up" already good motors. Suspect we'll see that in July-September based on past releases.

Thanks for the kind words and welcome.

 

[Blue Beast]

Hello all. New member here. First Explorer, but long time “Ford guy.” Picked it up couple days ago. So far really enjoying how well it drives. It’s been raining here pretty much since I got it, so no real opportunity to flog it yet.

2025 Velocity Blue ST. (Really wanted the black roof option but my wallet bit my fingers when it saw the 5k price tag.)

Of course as is the case with recent Ford products, less than 48 hours of ownership and it has a problem. Weird static/bad ground,intermittent sound through the right door speaker, even when everything is turned off, including the car. (It’ll find its way back to the dealership later this week.) Not terribly surprised, but little disappointing.

Still getting used to the Android Automotive interface, I’m not yet convinced this is better than the Sync 3 I had in my Raptor. (Or even Sync 2 in my Focus ST) I’ll reserve judgement until I have more time with it, and Ford/Google push through a few updates to smooth things out and improve them. (Hopefully) Credit where credit is due. Ford finally figured out how to put a good, not just decent, stereo in a car. This one comes close, but a little short of the Burmester stereo in my Mercedes. It is by far the best factory stereo in any Ford I’ve owned, and I’ve owned a lot of them.

Thank you to the forum members here. I have been reading old posts and lurking for a few weeks. Probably won’t post too much myself, but enjoy reading what others have to say. Thanks for having me.

Chuck

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Traffic22]

So Day 11 at the dealer (14 Days total ownership) and they finally figured out the problem. Tail gate trim has been fixed for several days, but after replacing the speaker twice and not solving the problem, they began some deeper digging.

Tech discovered a wire was pinched during assembly, causing a short. Short subsequently damaged the DSP. They’ve ordered a new DSP and are awaiting approval for a new wiring harness.

Needless to say, I’m more than a little annoyed. Keeping my fingers crossed this will resolve the issue finally. By the time the repair is complete, I’m likely looking at vehicle spending 20 of it’s first 23 days of ownership at the dealer.

 

[Traffic22]

Day 17 at the dealership. Found out yesterday the wiring harness the car needs is on national back order with no projected delivery date.

Of course this is not great news. Spoke to the sales GM in an effort to see what could be done, he spoke to the dealerships GM, who was not real receptive to me turning the car back in.

I’m in a wait and see mode at this point. Hoping to get some news regarding the parts before the end of the week, but not really holding my breath on that.

This unfortunately looks like it may be heading to Lemon Law territory, which of course I’d like to avoid. I’ll call Ford customer service and see if I can lean on them a bit, which I’m certain won’t help, other than to document my intentions moving forward if they can’t fix the car in a timely manner.

This situation has become pretty disappointing pretty quickly. I’m hoping the wait for the parts is days not weeks or months. But, I’ve dealt with Ford national back order before and I’m not very hopeful.

 

[23 Explorer ST]

Day 17 at the dealership. Found out yesterday the wiring harness the car needs is on national back order with no projected delivery date.

Of course this is not great news. Spoke to the sales GM in an effort to see what could be done, he spoke to the dealerships GM, who was not real receptive to me turning the car back in.

I’m in a wait and see mode at this point. Hoping to get some news regarding the parts before the end of the week, but not really holding my breath on that.

This unfortunately looks like it may be heading to Lemon Law territory, which of course I’d like to avoid. I’ll call Ford customer service and see if I can lean on them a bit, which I’m certain won’t help, other than to document my intentions moving forward if they can’t fix the car in a timely manner.

This situation has become pretty disappointing pretty quickly. I’m hoping the wait for the parts is days not weeks or months. But, I’ve dealt with Ford national back order before and I’m not very hopeful.

Dang man that sucks on a brand new vehicle.
Totally unacceptable on Fords quality control.
I hope they can resolve this issue soon.
I would hound the crap out of Ford corporate and the dealership itself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Traffic22]

Dang man that sucks on a brand new vehicle.
Totally unacceptable on Fords quality control.
I hope they can resolve this issue soon.
I would hound the crap out of Ford corporate and the dealership itself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. Yeah, that’s my plan. My buddy is a sales manager there and got me a good deal on the car. He’s a good dude and has been trying to help. Of course there’s only so much he can do.

Interestingly, I found out the dealership is actually okay if it ends up a lemon law car, because they get credit for a second sale if you acquire another one from them. That clearly disincentivizes them from doing a whole lot to help prior to the lemon law process. (If it ends up going down that road, I’m. not sure if I want another Explorer or just my money back and a fresh start,

The service manager has been nice and polite, but his ability to make things happen seems limited as well, given it’s a parts availability issue.

Leaning on Ford corporate may be my only shot at getting this resolved in a timely manner.

Thankfully I own another car so this isn’t my only source of transportation.