Another recall added to the list this time Ford F-150

[tee-tea]

Ford Motor Co and U.S. safety regulators have agreed to a greatly expanded recall of the best-selling vehicle in North America, the Ford F-150 pickup truck, the regulators said on Thursday.

The expanded recall is for a possible short-circuit that could cause airbags to deploy unexpectedly, and involves nearly 1.2 million F-150 pickup trucks and 16,000 Lincoln Mark LT vehicles, said the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This is in addition to a previous recall of 144,000 Ford F-150 trucks, bringing the total for this issue to 1.33 million vehicles, NHTSA said.

F-150 is the primary model of the F-series pickup trucks, the best-selling vehicles in North America for the past 34 years. Pickup trucks and SUVs generally create more profit for automakers than do smaller cars.

Ford said it knows of no crashes or injuries caused by the issue. It will begin notifying vehicle owners in May to bring the pickup trucks or Lincolns into dealers for repair at no cost. Repairs will take less than half a day, Ford said.

But owners are asked to bring in their vehicles right away if their airbag warning light is illuminated, Ford said. If the light is ignored, in some circumstances, the driver's side front airbag could deploy unexpectedly.

Ford said the airbag warning typically is illuminated for "an extended period" before the driver's side front airbag surprises a driver by deploying. Drivers should have time to safely take the vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln/Mercury dealer if they do so when the warning signal is first lit, Ford said.

Ford said its field data indicates that drivers have maintained control of their vehicles if the front side airbag deploys.

Overall, the recall affects 1.32 million trucks from the model years 2004 to 2006.

A mistake in the assembly of the vehicles could cause an airbag wire in the steering wheel to short-circuit, Ford and NHTSA said.

The expansion comes after talks between the automaker and safety regulators in Washington.

"We are pleased that Ford shares our commitment to safety and is taking action to protect consumers by expanding its safety recall," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland in a statement.

In February, Ford said in a response to safety regulators, "the condition does not present an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety" but agreed to the recall of 144,000 F-150s.

On Thursday, Ford said it held to its previous statement that the issue is not an "unreasonable risk," but agreed to the expanded recall "to reassure customers of Ford's commitment to safety and to eliminate any possible customer confusion."

Ford cooperated during the study of the airbag issue throughout the process, NHTSA said.

Ford shares were down 2 percent at $14.67 on Thursday morning, compared with a drop of 0.4 percent in the S&P 500 index.

source:http://www.driving.ca/theprovince/Fo...megadrop_story

[GabAlmighty]

That's why I like old cars. Shit was made better back in the day.

[HondaGuy]

^^ Agreed. The earlier gen vehicles were easy on maintenance and less issues.
Still remember when the older 1999 mustangs ran great and no problems.

Anyone watch tv and see that white guy whose ford spokesperson that always bashes japanese cars and asks owners to switch over to ford?
Guessing what his next commercial will be now?!?
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[ilvtofu]

IIRC a few years back the f150s or explorers liked to catch on fire

[Nlkko]

So? Ford are still doing plenty of right things. And all automakers' stock prices are suffering because of the rising oil price, not because of this recall. Ford's stock is actually promising.

[tee-tea]

there was another recall on dodge trucks. It was the cigarette lighters that were heating up and causing engine fires. my friend's truck got called in

[wasabisashimi]

Originally Posted by ilvtofu

IIRC a few years back the f150s or explorers liked to catch on fire

You mean Volkswagen? and their seat belt fire?

[CorneringArtist]

Ford Explorers had that tire issue some time ago that got them the nickname Exploder...

And the Ford Pinto WAY back when could catch fire when rear-ended because of shitty gas tank construction.

[HondaGuy]

Anyone remember back in the late 90s when Firestone Tires would just blow/pop at high speeds on highways...think it was on Ford cars or GM cars...

Crazy pileup of Domestics crashed on side of highway...

[RRxtar]

anyone remember in 2009 when toyotas would drive out of control and the recall put a serious dent in the company?


ya, theres more recalls now a days.. but you have to wonder, are there more recalls because things are built worse, or because companies are taking the step to issue recalls instead of just letting things go? i would say vehicles are built better now in 2011 than they were 10 years ago. i think the mid 90s to mid 00s were the lowest era of vehicle quality. not to mention there is significantly more technology and gizmos and gadgets in cars and trucks today. airbags, power everything, navigation, fancy stereos, emission controls, efficiency controls, comfort and luxury items on even low end cars... that stuff didnt exist 20 years ago

[CorneringArtist]

Volkswagen currently has a recall on all the new Jettas because the PCM fuse was shared with the horn fuse. So if the horn shorts due to water, the car dies.

[skylinergtr]

i think cars were way better built in the past.

having 2 cars from the 90's, both european. I have extremely happy with the reliability and quality of these cars.

I have seen lots of stupid things with todays automobiles, like wheel bearings failing on new cars with 15000kms and such.

However, I dont think recalls are a bad thing. its good for automotive makers to take the fault and step up and try to find a solution.

I remember when I was completely fed up with Audi with their A4 b6 individual coil problems. I had to replace them on my sisters audi 8 times for a fucking 4 cylinder car. I was awaiting for this issue to be a recall and finally it is. A little late, but better late than never.

[GabAlmighty]

Originally Posted by RRxtar

ya, theres more recalls now a days.. but you have to wonder, are there more recalls because things are built worse, or because companies are taking the step to issue recalls instead of just letting things go? i would say vehicles are built better now in 2011 than they were 10 years ago. i think the mid 90s to mid 00s were the lowest era of vehicle quality. not to mention there is significantly more technology and gizmos and gadgets in cars and trucks today. airbags, power everything, navigation, fancy stereos, emission controls, efficiency controls, comfort and luxury items on even low end cars... that stuff didnt exist 20 years ago

I see where you're coming from. The test will be in 20-30 years if these same cars are still on the road, imo I don't think they will be. But that's just my gut feeling.

Maybe when I say built better I moreso mean quality and longevity. Sure there's rust and what not but they are simpler and easier to deal with. I just can't see all those silly little gizmos and gadgets working in 20-30 years.