Today, Ford announced that they will be recalling 850,050 2013 and 2014 vehicles for an electrical malfunction that could cause airbags and seat belt pretensioners to be defective in the event of a crash.
The vehicles impacted by this recall include 2013-2014 models of the:
- Ford C-Max
- Fusion
- Escape
- Lincoln MKZ
Unbelievably, this is the 12th time that the 2013 Ford Escape has been recalled since being released to the public. Some of the previous recalls of the Escape have dealt with fluid leaks that could cause a fire, doors that can open while the vehicle is moving, and malfunctioning airbags.
Strangely, though, these recalls have had almost ZERO effect on the sales of the vehicle. In fact, it is Ford’s third highest selling vehicle over the last two years, having sold 208,000 units during the first eight months of this year. This disregard for recalls, of course, has been seen across the industry, as the industry has nearly doubled the previous single-year recall record in 2014.
In regards to today’s recall, Ford says, “Depending on the location of the short circuit, the deployable restraint systems (e.g. airbags, pretensioners, side curtains) may not function as intended in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.”
“The short circuit may also affect the function of other systems that use data from the restraints control module, including stability control.”
According to Ford, a letter is currently going out to affected customers and should arrive no later than November 10th. The company also said that the repairs for any of these vehicles should take less than half of a day.
4Wheel Online Blog - Automotive News 