Ford Recalls 4.5 Million Vehicles Over Defective Cruise Control Switch

[Vehl]

Source: The Associated Press

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will add 4.5 million older-model vehicles to the long list of those recalled because a defective cruise control switch could cause a fire.

The latest voluntary action pushes Ford's total recall due to faulty switches to 14.3 million registered vehicles over 10 years, capping the company's largest cumulative recall in history involving a single problem.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FORD_RECALL?SITE=FLDAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[pfitz59]

1. Cash For Clunkers

Ford has a new crop of 'em ready to go!

[doc03]

2. Before you go off condemning an American

car manufacturer, do you know Toyota recalled every Tacoma pickup manufactured from 1995 to 2000 for rusted frames? Many of those Toyotas were bought back and scrapped. Do you know Toyota now may recall the Tundra pickup for rusted frames. Do you know Toyota is also going to recall several models because the gas pedal can get stuck to the floor from faulty floor mats? All of those problems have caused accidents, serious injuries and deaths. So I wouldn't be so snarky about American products.

[blue_onyx]

3. It doesn't matter if you point out facts

Most of the people on DU will continue to overlook Toyota's quality issues but criticize problems with US vehicles.

[digidigido]

4. Read below to see how Toyota compensated, then tell me what Ford did

If the frame fails inspection they will give you 1 1/2 TIMES the amount of your truck in the Kelly Blue Book at Excellent Condition (even if your truck isn't in excellent condition). If it still passes inspection they said they'd give you a 15 year warranty on the truck with the same conditions as above.

[MindPilot]

10. Funny I was just reading a thread over on the Consumer Reports forum

(It is subscription only so I can't link to it) but a gentleman is reporting he was just told by Toyota corporate (not a dealer) that they would not do anything for him regarding the rusted frame on his '06 Tundra. The policy is there has to be "perforation" before they will consider any repairs or replacement.

That would kind of like Ford tellings its customers, "well, right now it's OK, but if it actually catches fire, bring it in and we'll fix it."

[doc03]

13. I am well aware of the rusted Tacomas, There is a scrap yard

about 5 miles out the road from me and I seen hundreds of them going there for shredding for over a year. You are right I think they called it a buyback instead of a recall, the difference is a recall they correct the problem but with them it was so serious they just bought them back and melted them down. Toyota spent years and big buck to try and break into the domestic truck market and they paid there owners 1 1/2 times book to save their reputation. What I have heard the 15 year warranty is not extended 15 years from today it is 15 years from the date the truck was made. The recall started in the 1995 year so the warranty only carries you to 2010 that's only one year. The trucks made in 2000 are extended to 2015. There are millions and millions of American trucks on the road built long before 1995, my brother has a 1986 Ford that still has a frame under it. I have a 2006 Tacoma myself and I bet that will negatively affect my resale value.

[HughMoran]

19. Enjoy your Toyota

I can't stand people like you who find every excuse to stab American car companies in the back.

[miyazaki]

5. Never was a 'recall' from Toyota over Tacoma rust problems.

- Though Toyota did inform Taco owners that their might be a problem with 'some' vehicles and how they would take care of it.

[doc03]

14. Might be a problem! They shredded them by the thousands

A recall is when you take your car back to have a problem fixed, this was so serious they had a buy-back program get them off the road before they got their asses sued off.

[Nihil]

7. To correct you on one point ...

> Do you know Toyota is also going to recall several models because
> the gas pedal can get stuck to the floor from faulty floor mats?

This is incorrect: the floor mats aren't faulty, they are being checked
in case they were fitted incorrectly.

In other words, Toyota is going through the PR nightmare of a recall
because American car salesmen & drivers cannot be relied upon to
fit floor mats competently.

One occurence could be written off as bad luck or whatever.
Enough events to provoke a recall really *does* say something doesn't it?

:shrug:

[blue_onyx]

12. LOL

Making excuses for Toyota's crappy floor mats. Just what I expect on DU.

[Nihil]

23. LOL

Always finding someone else to blame for your own incompetence.
Just what I expect from some DUers.

[doc03]

15. Fitted incorrectly? My Toyota has a two hooks and two

holes in the mat to hold it in place, the fasteners must be positioned wrong or something. My Mercury has hooks just like the Toyota and I haven't heard of anyone being killed with incorrectly installed floor mats on them. What did Mercury do, have Japanese employees putting their mats in the car hmmmm? I don't know I haven't received the recall yet but my Toyota is one of the models on the list.

[Nihil]

21. *Fitted* incorrectly.

> the fasteners must be positioned wrong or something.

The problem with the floor mats is not that the mats are faulty,
it is that the replacement mats were treated as additional mats,
i.e., instead of taking out the original carpet-like mats before
putting in the replacement all-weather mats, some people simply
put the latter on top of the former and, as a result, the top
layer were not held in place.

This is why the "recall" is basically to check if you have got
the mats installed properly and, if not, to take out the underlying
ones.

The hook & eye system is good and works fine on my Toyota too
but if I tried to dump another identical mat on top, I would
have the same problems.

In computer terms, this would be closed as PEBKAC.

[HughMoran]

20. So even Toyota issues can be blamed on stupid slovenly American idiots?

Is that what you're saying?

[Nihil]

22. Not slovenly but in the tiny, tiny number of genuine cases of this particular problem, stupid? yes

Some people do not know the difference between "replacement" and "additional".

Not all, not many, just some.

Rather than brush it off as Darwin's hand (or doing a Ford and balancing the
cost of a recall against the cost of paying off a few deaths), Toyota have
decided to do the *right* thing (despite all the negative publicity it entails)
and recall all the affected vehicles so that the people who are in this
situation can be saved. In most cases this requires a simple visual check.

At no point have I suggested that Americans are slovenly.

At no point have I suggested that anything other than this particular
problem can be blamed on Americans.

I have suggested that it is sad that Americans appear to be the only people
who need additional instructions to fit floor mats correctly.

Your reaction to my comment suggests that you, too, are incapable of reading
and comprehending simple English. Maybe you should check if you fitted your
mats properly.

[HughMoran]

24. Apparently I can as I see you're English

...and your perspective is as biased as any here, therefore not worthy of my time. see ya

[WriteDown]

9. But its a Toyota!!!!!

Its so shiny and exotic.

[woo me with science]

11. But...

[LeftyMom]

6. Oh geez, it looks like EVERY LAST VEHICLE my family's business owns has a recall for this

and fucking Lincoln never so much as sent a postcard about this. And they certainly have our contact information, we've bought enough of their cars we might as well open a freakin' dealership. I'm not sure if I'm more pissed off about the fact that they never mentioned that our cars were all recalled because they might suddenly catch fire while parked, or that I'm going to get stuck trying to get all of the cars in for repairs, which is going to be a fucking epic logistical nightmare since, well, you can't run a car service without cars.

That's just bad customer service, and in this case it's pretty dangerous as well not to get notifications out to owners. Now if everybody will excuse me, I have to go move a potentially combusting car out from under my child's bedroom until I can call the dealership in the morning. Just in case.

[MindPilot]

8. Don't panic, chances of it actually happening are very slim

"The remaining 3.4 million vehicles are Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models. Ford said there were no reports of fires with those models, most of them trucks and sport utility vehicles, but that they were included in the recall because they use the same switches."

First the switch has to fail in a very specific way, it's failure has to be ignored, then there has to be enough oily goo built up around the component to ignite; brake fluid itself doesn't burn well and is difficult to ignite.

The fix involves the installation of a small wiring harness with a set of fuses to open the circuit if the switch fails, the procedure takes about 90 seconds.

Good on Ford for stepping up and handling the problem.

[doc03]

16. Exactly this problem has been known for a long time

they simply added more vehicle models to the existing recall list.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. Yeah, my Expedition was repaired a few years ago.

[damntexdem]

17. Well, I guess this does represent an improvement:

better to have cruise-control fires than gas-tank fires. ;-)