autoevolution
 

NHTSA Ends Investigation Into Hundreds of Thousands of Ford and GM Vehicles

Back in July, the vehicle safety watchdogs from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced they’re probing the Ford Motor Company and GM. Why so? Apparently, 10 complaints made the NHTSA's investigators look into a puzzling problem.
2006 Ford Crown Victoria 1 photo
Photo: Ford
Those angry drivers alleged that a dislodged heat shield might interfere with the steering shaft. This condition leads to tight steering work or a lockup of the steering wheel. One person has been injured in a rollover crash due to this steering system problem.

The vehicles in question come in the form of around 500,000 units of the 2004 - 2007 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Marauder. The NHTSA ended investigating the aforementioned population of old vehicles, and no recall op is needed!

As it happens, 6 of the 10 complaints were all sent to the NHTSA from a police department. Regarding General Motors investigation with the agency, 2 complaints triggered the safety watchdog to probe some 100,000 Chevrolet Impala sedans from the 2014 MY. In both reported cases, unintended autonomous braking was alleged by the two complainants.

After thorough examination, it’s believed that the drivers activated the electric parking brake purely by accident. Even though preliminary evaluations of both cases are now closed, the NHTSA said that closings do not constitute a finding that a safety defect does not exist.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories