Ford completely redesigned the Explorer for the 2020 model year, now riding on an all-new rear-wheel-drive platform. The same architecture is also used on the reintroduced Lincoln Aviator, which now slots below the Navigator in Lincoln's lineup. But Dearborn is dealing with some teething problems with both versions.

Before the latest Explorer was released, Ford recalled over one million units of the previous generation model for faulty suspensions links. Now, Ford is being forced to recall the 2020 Explorer and Aviator because it forgot to install an important interior piece.

"Ford Motor Company is issuing a safety compliance recall for select 2020 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles for a potentially missing manual park release cover," the company said in a statement. "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require the manual park release cover be in place and only removable with a tool. If the cover is not installed, the manual park release lever may be inadvertently activated, which could result in unintended vehicle movement if the electronic park brake is not applied, increasing the risk of a crash."

In a separate issue, "the instrument cluster of affected vehicles may be in factory mode, which disables warning alerts and chimes and does not display the PRNDL gear positions or which gear is selected. Factory mode is used to reduce battery drain during the production process. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require the gear positions and selected gear to be displayed whenever the shifter is not in park."

The recall impacts 14,135 vehicles total including 13,896 in the US and 239 in Canada. Explorers affected by the recall were built from March 27, 2019, to July 24, 2019, while the Aviators were built from April 10, 2019, and July 24, 2019. As with all recalls, affected owners will be notified and a fix will be issued free-of-charge. In this case, Ford will install a parking release cover and/or take the instrument cluster out of factory mode.