Ford's Door Latch Recall Balloons by Another 1.5 Million Vehicles
Ford Motor Company’s multi-model door latch recall, which started out relatively small earlier this year, is growing in leaps and bounds.
The automaker announced today that it has recalled another 1.5 million vehicles to prevent doors from flying open, nearly tripling the previous tally of 828,053, the Associated Press reports.
As before, the affected vehicles are: 2012 through 2015 Ford Focus, the 2013 to 2015 Ford Escape and C-Max, the 2015 Ford Mustang and Lincoln MKC and the 2014 through 2016 Ford Transit Connect van.
The open-door issue cropped up this past spring, when Ford recalled 390,000 Ford Fiesta, Fusion and Lincoln MKZ models. The recall ranks expanded in August, with new models to the list. Because temperature and sun exposure plays a role in the faulty latches, Ford’s repair efforts focused on vehicles bought or owned in warmer U.S. states.
According to AP, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pressured Ford to expand the scope of the recall. It now covers nearly 2.5 million vehicles, the vast majority of them in the U.S. Unlike the previous regional recall, this one covers vehicles nationwide.
Ford claims the pawl spring tab in the side door latch could break, preventing the door from latching. If the doors are still able to latch, they could fly open while the vehicle is moving. One crash and three injuries could be related to the defect.
The recall is now large enough to impact Ford’s bottom line. The automaker expects to add $640 million in expenses to its third quarter balance sheet, lowering profits.
[Image: Ford Motor Company]
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13 replies later and not one snarky comment about the irony that the Ford Escape has bad door latches. I'm disappointed.
Typical Ford. Big Al really did a lot of damage to this company. "Profits now, recalls later" is no way to run a business.
Have you dissected a door latch, lately? It is a darn complex part, more than many can imagine. Levers, springs, switches , gears, motors, rivets and screws; upwards to more than 100 parts in certain cases.. Do defects happen? Rarely, but they do...
You said it yourself, ajla, "marketing term". It means nothing more than the fact that it is a 3800cc or 3.8L V6 engine. And how many times to I have to tell you it was an Oldsmobile engine, not a Buick engine, that shredded its gear?