Ford Recalling 72,000 Rangers Over Taillight Troubles
Ford announced Monday that it will recall 72,718 Ranger pickups over taillight malfunctions. This one is pretty cut and dried, without the mystique that make most recall notices so appealing. There’s no fire risk, no chance of the vehicle veering wildly out of control, and no reported accidents stemming from the issue.
Barring some inattentive motorist slamming into your backside, not realizing you were attempting to stop, the range of hypothetical dangers are pretty limited. Basically, someone forgot to crimp and plug the applicable terminals at the factory and Ford needs to give these 2019MY Rangers another look — something it seems to be doing rather often.
From Ford:
In affected vehicles, the inline electrical connector terminals for the tail lamps may be misaligned or not properly seated. Misaligned or improperly seated terminals can result in intermittent or inoperative tail lamps. Intermittent or inoperative tail lamps can result in loss of stop, turn, rear position, and reverse lamps, which can reduce the vehicle’s visibility and may not fully alert other drivers that the vehicle is braking, turning, or reversing, increasing the risk of a crash. The high-mounted center stop lamp is not affected.
This wouldn’t even be worth mentioning if the midsize pickup hadn’t been subjected to a few recalls already. Ford recalled around 18,000 2019 Rangers in October over a clearance issue with the HVAC system’s electrical terminal, which posed a potential fire hazard. A handful of trucks were also recalled earlier in the year over a suspected rollaway risk that also affected 270,000 Fusion sedans.
While recalls on brand new models are hardly new, the quick succession in which Ford’s newest pickup is having to deal with them is slightly bothersome. The T6 Ranger was already on sale in other parts of the world and had to be redone for the North American market. Some of the issues it suffers from may stem from the regional changes made, but it also causes one to wonder about the quality control taking place in Wayne, Michigan.
The manufacturer says the models with the bad connections were built at the Michigan Assembly Plant between June 2018 and August 2019. As always, you can check your VIN with the NHTSA or wait for the automaker to issue its recall notice.
[Image: Ford]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I think Ford should introduce a new vehicle and call it the Ford Recall
How about the Ford Fungus, the new Ford that will grow on you. A fleet would be called the Fungi.