Photo: Ford
If you own a 2004 Ford Freestar or a Mercury Monterey, you should be aware that there’s probably something wrong with it, and the feds are looking into it.
The NHTSA has announced it’s opened a probe into about 63,000 2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans after reports that the seat anchors failed to secure the third-row seat to the vehicle. Already, seven complaints have been received by the safety body, but there could be more since people tend to live with flash of older models.
"The stowable third-row seat is secured to the vehicle by two latches or anchors on each side of the seat cushion and also by two hinges/supports on the rear face of the seat cushion," said NHTSA in its failure report summary. "The side anchors are mounted to the rear wheelwells. The complaints allege that the rear wheelwells were severely corroded with some complaints indicating that an anchor mount completely detached from the vehicle."
All the consumer complaints come from the so-called salt-belt states where corrosion is always a problem, but no crashes, injuries or fatalities associated with the issue. As with the famous rusty suspension issue, this will likely lead to a massive recall.
"The stowable third-row seat is secured to the vehicle by two latches or anchors on each side of the seat cushion and also by two hinges/supports on the rear face of the seat cushion," said NHTSA in its failure report summary. "The side anchors are mounted to the rear wheelwells. The complaints allege that the rear wheelwells were severely corroded with some complaints indicating that an anchor mount completely detached from the vehicle."
All the consumer complaints come from the so-called salt-belt states where corrosion is always a problem, but no crashes, injuries or fatalities associated with the issue. As with the famous rusty suspension issue, this will likely lead to a massive recall.
Google News