Ford Motor Company just recalled 828,053 late-model Ford and Lincoln models due to faulty side door latches, but the risk depends on where a vehicle was sold and registered.
The automaker claims the pawl spring tab in the side door latch could break, preventing the door from latching — or worse. If the doors are still able to latch, they could fly open while the vehicle is moving.
The recall spans numerous Ford models — 2013-15 C-Max, 2013-15 Escape, 2012-15 Focus, 2015 Mustang and 2014-16 Transit Connect, as well as the 2015 Lincoln MKC. Of the recalled units, 766,682 were sold in the U.S., the remainder in Mexico. The automaker reports that one accident and one reported injury could be linked to the defect.
Temperature and sun exposure plays a big role in the issue. That means drivers who normally don’t worry about winter should be worried about their doors. According to Ford, the regional recall “primarily” affects vehicles sold or registered in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Oregon and Washington.
With the exception of the Transit Connect, none of the recalled vehicles were built after January 31, 2015.
Besides fixing the latches free of charge, the automaker plans to throw a freebie out to owners of other Ford vehicles. A customer satisfaction program launched alongside the recall offers a one-time replacement of any broken door latch on a Ford vehicle, regardless of model.
Ah yes, those hot desert states like Nevada… and Oregon. How is Oregon on this list but Kansas is not?
“preventing the door from latching — or worse. If the doors are still able to latch, they could fly open while the vehicle is moving.”
Yeah, this happened to me in my D2 A8. The solution is to get in the back and use a belt to rig up the door in a belt+seat belts arrangement. It will look suspicious to the police who stop by, but you can explain it away.
Plastic parts involved here? I assume that’s what is heat affected?
Why is it – and I’m just asking the question — Why is it that when a Dutch-British carmaker recalls 1.1 million vehicles, the Mopar apologists rush to tell us that the shifter design that killed Scotty wasn’t defective. But when America’s darling Ford recalls fewer cars for defective door locks, these posters are strangely silent?
Because Mopar fans are delusional for the most part, and don’t want recalls affecting their share prices and their advertising moneys.
But that won’t happen anymore because banned.
Did BTSR get the stick? I wondered why the first posts have been open lately.
That is correct. And it has been so much more peaceful around here since then.
Well, alrighty then. HELLCAT!
/mic drop
Well you could argue that the shifter worked exactly as designed, and the accidents were due to user error. It sort of hard to claim the door latch is operating as designed.
Don’t get in the way of VoGo’s ramblings with, you know, facts and stuff.
Get in the way with your love of waffles, wooden shoes, dykes and defective shifters!
VoGo: Anton Yeltsin played “Chekov” in the latest 3 Star Trek movies.
The character will not be replaced.
Whatever the reason he died, it is sad.
Yes, it is sad. Some 30K Americans die on the road annually, but the deaths of one actor and one ex-Navy Seal have gotten a lot of attention.
” the Mopar apologists rush to tell us that the shifter design that killed Scotty wasn’t defective. ”
Because the shifter didn’t kill him. The shifter worked exactly as it was designed.
Blaming the shifter is like blaming the driveway contractor for installing the driveway on a slope.
What killed him was his own choices. He chose to exit the vehicle without securing it and he chose to get behind the unsecured vehicle when it was rolling backwards.
How is that the shifter’s fault?
You’re six hours late, he who must defend the British-Dutch car importer and lover of 1.1 million recalled because they were defective shifters.
What is the British Dutch car importer and what does that have to do with an extremely easy to use shifter that works extremely well?
I’ll wait for another substantive response from you that references everything but the topic at hand…
I had a TR3 that the doors would fly open, especially going around corners hard. Part of the fun I guess.
What American regulators label a defect, British carmakers called a feature.
Let’s see from memory:
What’s that grinding sound?!
It’s just a feature to let you know you’re on full lock.
—
This gap in the window here, just lets a little water in, to splash against your face, and let you know “It’s raining, be careful.” That’s a feature.
—
When you put your foot down there’s a hesitation from the engine. It says “Are you sure? Alright then.”
You mean character!
So did my ’72 Spitfire! Still miss that car.
“Besides fixing the latches free of charge, the automaker plans to throw a freebie out to owners of other Ford vehicles. A customer satisfaction program launched alongside the recall offers a one-time replacement of any broken door latch on a Ford vehicle, regardless of model.”
So if I still had my ’95 F-150, I could get the passenger door latch replaced? I had already replaced the driver’s side (required going to the dealer and having a service writer borrow the giant pop riveter to install the pop rivet I’d just just bought there, that retained the door lock solenoid from the outside). The passenger side one was sticky when I traded it for my Tacoma, but it hadn’t locked up like the driver’s side did.
Yikes! I almost fell out of my old AMC Eagle Wagon in high school when the drivers door flew open when taking a sharp turn due to the latch not engaging. Didn’t help that the seat belt latch was broken too…but what a chick magnet. The shaggin wagon.
Karma for those who don’t have to worry about winter.
Don’t kid yourself. It gets plenty cold here in Arkansas. Snow and ice too.
Arkansas Average January low is 32F.
My average January low is -13C or 8.6F.
It got to -18* F in northwest Arkansas 2 1/2 years ago. More than one night.
We also have a damp cold with bad windchill factors.
We’re not really equipped on insulation and heaters like more northern areas. Water pipes freeze and bust because they are not buried as deep, or protected as well as colder climes.
Agreed.
We are set up for it and Arkansas isn’t.
Sorry if i got you all heated up. LOL
Ooh, -18, I’d better let the cat in tonight…
But yes, it really does come down to how the infrastructure is built up to deal with long cold snaps. I remember a few years ago (maybe the same time you mentioned?) when there was an LP shortage up here because of a long stretch of cold winter in the South, and a lot of lower-income households had to make the choice between groceries and heat.
Another unconscionable design choice. Door latches on cars are a design problem that was solved decades ago. Leave it alone, for crying out loud!
Half the time, the design is perfectly adequate, and these defects are down to supplier issues and bad quality-control in that regard…things like the supplier using defective or substandard materials, or not building the components to spec.
More testing on the automaker side would help prevent these issues from being widespread, but it’s not always their fault when they do occur.
And sometimes, the automakers use lowest-bidder suppliers, and it absolutely *is* their fault, because you get what you pay for…and if a certain supplier is underbidding everyone else without the huge economies of scale to support that, the output is probably and predictably substandard.
True enough that. I jumped to the design conclusion, but parts or assembly quality issues could be the problem. Note that the original article provides zero information on the root cause of the problem.
Mea culpa.
“Another unconscionable design choice.”
This is what happens when your CEO has a “profits now, recalls later” business philosophy.
The door latches were replaced on my best friend’s 2013 Fusion Energi Titanium late last year (of course, when that particular Ford dealership worked on it, they forgot to hook up the electronics on the driver’s side door when putting it back together).
I wonder if the current Fusion is not also affected.
Yes, ridiculous that the Fusion was not recalled when it uses the same parts. I also had this issue on my 2013 Fusion and I had to replace the door latch on my dime. Ford recalled *some* 2012-2013 Fusions but alas my car was not included in the recall. Very disappointing.
“Those aren’t doors son, that there is what’s known as air flaps.”
That famous Ford quality strikes again!
Big Al’s business model of “profits now, recalls later” is not going to go well for Ford.
Yep, because no other automaker has recalls.
Its great that you and DW (or, are you…?) hate Ford so much, it means they’re doing something right. So much doom and gloom, everybody who has one has breakdowns every day, every EcoBoost gets 4mpg going down hill being pushed by a train, every design is bad, every car sucks, huge reliability issues, sales are in the tank, everybody hates them, nothing but bad products and terrible everything…
BUT, month after month, Ford remains the top selling brand, their vehicles are very highly rated, their rate of recalled vehicles in relation to units sold is no where near the worst in the industry, each one is at or near the top of its class in sales, their customers are some of the most loyal in the industry, their vehicles get excellent scores on crash tests, and all of this awfulness you speak of only exists in your head.
Oh, they found an issue and issued a recall. PROOF you were right all along because, as I said, no automaker ever has recalls (or issues) except Ford.
DW could rant forever, but at least he brought insight occasionally. All I’ve seen of EBflex is hate for Ford and love for a certain Dutch-British car importer.
There is so much wrong in your post.
Dude, relax. It’s not rocket science that Big Al was a disaster for Ford and he lowered the quality of vehicles in an attempt to boost profits. Sure it made him look good because nobody at Ford has the ability to have any sort of long term vision, but it’s going to catch up to them. Well, it already has.
The only thing Ford does well is marketing and deception.
John, it’s not DW. This is Z71 Silvy, he was banned a while back for multiple user names but now he’s back with the same game.
Fix Or Recall Daily = FORD
A coworker with a Fusion built in 2013 had the same problem.