Door closing handle detached

[Chairborne Ranger]

Yesterday I went to close the door on my 2025 ST and the grab handle built into the arm rest pulled out from the rest. I have an appointment at my dealer tomorrow morning for something else and will see what it will take for them to fix this. It would be very easy to snap the plastic off so I'm being cautious in the interim. Anyone else encounter this situation?

 

[UNBROKEN]

They just snap into place. Push it back down.

 

[Chairborne Ranger]

I pushed it back down but it doesn't seem to want to "snap" and it just comes right back up. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Looks like a trim holder fastener. If it doesn’t push back in you might have to replace it.

 

[Chairborne Ranger]

I was at the dealership today so they could take their 3rd shot at getting the tint correct and bubble free on the front driver & passenger windows (which is another story). While there I stopped in the service department and showed this to one of their service managers. He told me that I'd have to leave the car with them for "a couple of weeks" and they'd have to take apart the whole door to make sure there's nothing else wrong, then get approval from Ford Corporate for warranty work, then order the parts and then bring it back to install whatever is needed. If I hadn't been sitting down I might have fallen over.

He claims they are slammed with work and unless they get approval from Ford they'd have to eat the cost if not covered under warranty. I've had this 2025 ST since January so I'm not sure how it wouldn't be covered by the warranty and I don't see how or why you'd have to disassemble the door to fix it. This is the largest Ford dealer in my part of Texas but there are four others in the area and I'm planning on getting a second opinion. What 2020FordRaptor suggests is what I expected to hear from the dealer.

 

[Dale5403]

i would check with a different dealer for sure. If you have a Lincoln dealer near they can handle warranty for you also. They seem to be more customer friendly.

 

[BrooseDaMoose]

Take apart the whole door? They make it sound like popping the door panel off is a major project!

 

[Chairborne Ranger]

UPDATE: After getting over my shock at the idiotic response from my dealership I just went online and found others who've had the same problem. Then I went to YouTube and watched some dudes take apart the door panel and trim so I could see what the parts looked like. Next, checking a Ford parts website I found that these clips, W714972-S300Body D-Pillar Trim Panel Clip, which cost $1.97 for four of them are what's needed to secure that handle in place. On Amazon I bought these aftermarkets, 30 for $9.99 and they delivered them in 24 hours. It took precisely 5 seconds to install it and now the handle is secure. I'm tempted to take a couple of them to that service advisor and educate him so maybe he could actually help another Explorer owner in the future instead of blowing them off with some B.S.