What I heard from a dealership in West palm was that they were going to do a recall to install them later on.
I don't know how much of it is true. But the rear controls won't be a deal breaker for us
The rear climate controls (and not being included on some newly built Explorers….to be installed later on) is a totally different issue than the rear end problem and “stop sale”.
There is currently a safety recall affecting most (all?) Explorer STs produced after 2020, due to the potential of the rear axle bolt fracture.
What that means is that even if your ST is delivered right now to the dealership, they are prohibited by law to sell you that vehicle until that safety recall work is completed.
Initial estimates by Ford state that the recall won’t even be ready to be performed on affected vehicles until end of Quarter 2/beginning of Quarter 3. So theoretically, if your vehicle shows up at the dealer today, you may not be able to drive it away until August.