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Disappointed but relieved...but I feel cheated. Glad I bought it.

BA_ST

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#1
Disappointed but relieved...love my ST but I feel cheated

I didn’t do any research on the '23s to see what had changed from the 2020 STs but it was short notice and I didn’t think anything would be missing... My 2020 ST transmission started to shift hard after the 100K dealer maintenance. I wanted a once over by the dealer maintenance so I had them do the purge on transmission, oil, coolant, etc. A week later my ST started randomly hard shifting and pausing between shifts on occasion. I noticed oil spots on my garage floor. The estimated bill for transmission, intermediate shaft, oil pan came to over $11K.

I walked from the repair to the showroom and replaced the 2020ST with a ‘23ST with the 401A options. I’m happy I did, but annoyed at all the things I lost in the process. From reading the posts, some appear to be removed all together and one, the Active Park may not have been an option. Did they remove that one too?

No center console temp readout for climate control
No ambient light in the cup holders
No Active Motion Seats
No Park Assist
2nd row seats – no electric 3rd row access button
No 2nd row console between the seats
 

Jeppo

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Location
Davidson County, NC
Vehicle
2021 ST
#2
There’s more. :cry:
 

Last edited:
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BA_ST

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Thread Starter #3
aw crap....What have I fail to notice? Good search term for the board if you have a suggestion.
 

Messages
281
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92
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27
Location
Desert South West
Vehicle
2023 Explorer ST
#4
Temp readouts are in the upper corners of the sync display

No Foot operated lift gate
No wifi hotspot
Can't place in Neutral if your battery is dead (instructions in the Manual don't work)
One of 4 bolts was removed from the Rear subframe diff mount
Four of 10 bolts removed from the rear subframe support bracket mounts
Tow hook mount missing from front bumper
No included tow hook
No owner's manual binder
Bottom rear Diff cover missing
Camera cleaning water jets removed
360 camera view may have been disabled
 

hbalek

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Location
Kensington, MD, USA
#5
No heating element for wiper blades and some have mentioned missing dash compartment lights.
 

DaveG ST

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U.S. Army Veteran
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Location
Hurlock, MD, USA
#6
If you don't mind me asking, did the dealer low ball you on the trade in knowing you had the 2020 in the shop for repairs?
Also for the 2020 vs 2023, the 2020 has a much nicer roof rack. The 2023 just uses the base model roof rack. You may also be missing the insulation on your firewall that that the 2020 came with but was removed on some newer years.
 

OP
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BA_ST

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Thread Starter #7
No heating element for wiper blades and some have mentioned missing dash compartment lights.
It is all of the little things.

2nd row head rests don't flip down
passenger side floor mat doesn't have an anchor
Fog lights look..."less?"
 

OP
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BA_ST

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Thread Starter #8
If you don't mind me asking, did the dealer low ball you on the trade in knowing you had the 2020 in the shop for repairs?
Also for the 2020 vs 2023, the 2020 has a much nicer roof rack. The 2023 just uses the base model roof rack. You may also be missing the insulation on your firewall that that the 2020 came with but was removed on some newer years.
Not really. they gave e $2500 less than i owed. It was better than I expected.
 

Messages
293
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220
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Location
LA, California
Vehicle
2022 Explorer ST
#9
They removed all those in the name of weight saving, and like any performance car, less weight means more $. Thank God they left the engine in there, let's enjoy the slightly faster ST, than a 2020. :geek:
 

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BA_ST

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Thread Starter #10
They removed all those in the name of weight saving, and like any performance car, less weight means more $. Thank God they left the engine in there, let's enjoy the slightly faster ST, than a 2020. :geek:

I've had a month with this one. It is an ST in name only. It has turbo lag and the gearing is different or the turbo is less. I could have never rode 3rd gear to 55-60. My 2020 would get going ~2500rpm, this one doesn't get with it until 4000rpm. I hope there are some adjustments that can be done or they find something is "off" with this one.
 

Messages
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Location
Desert South West
Vehicle
2023 Explorer ST
#11
I've had a month with this one. It is an ST in name only. It has turbo lag and the gearing is different or the turbo is less. I could have never rode 3rd gear to 55-60. My 2020 would get going ~2500rpm, this one doesn't get with it until 4000rpm. I hope there are some adjustments that can be done or they find something is "off" with this one.
Most likely to prevent you from hard launching and blowing out the weakened rear end, you would have to add an external rear end brace and third party performance "tune".
 

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BA_ST

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Thread Starter #12
that would stink. Now that I have reached 4K miles with it, it seems to slack off after 4th gear, leaving me waiting for the rest of the acceleration that never seems to happen like the '20.
 

Messages
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Location
Peoria, AZ
Vehicle
2022 Explorer ST
#13
Also no glove box light. (which I purchased the light assembly and put in myself.

But I'm annoyed most at the message seats in the 2020/2021 and my 2022 doesn't have :(.

I've had mine for over a year now and absolutely love that truck. ST is the best trim level. Came from a 2014 explorer XLT that was loaded with options for the XLT trim. And purchased that at 3 years old. Paid off and never had anything to wrong with that truck in 5 years we had it. Did all preventative maintenance and got up to 120k miles before selling after purchasing the ST.

The turbo lag is real on the 22, but manageable once you learn the situations it happens. My C7, stays in sport from last run when I park. I wish the ST would stay on sport and not reset to normal drive each time. In normal, the turbo lag is real, but tuned to ignore the need. And in sport, it keeps the rpms higher to keep the turbo spooled and less lag.
 

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