Recall anyone? Possible sub-standard welds on seatbelts.

[mergy]

Just got the letter on my 2013 Fusion. 

 

Compliance Recall Notice 14c03

NHTSA Recall 14V164000

 

ID Number Search Results | Safercar | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

http://mer.gy/14V164000

[jeff_h]

Sorry for the poor formatting, copying/pasting in.... I see the inclusive dates below, but neither of my VINs show up in ETIS with this (yet).

 

Vehicle Model Year Assembly Plant Build Date Range

C-MAX  2013-2014 Michigan July 23, 2012 through May 28, 2013

Escape 2013-2014 Louisville June 5, 2012 through August 12, 2013

Fusion/MKZ 2013-2014 Hermosillo August 15, 2012 through September 10, 2013

 

Affected vehicles are identified in OASIS

.

REASON FOR THIS COMPLIANCE RECALL

Certain front driver and passenger seatback assemblies may have been produced with sub-standard weld joints attaching the seatback recliner mechanism to the seatback frame. A sub-standard recliner to seatback frame weld joint may separate and the operator may notice noisein the seatback or a loose or leaning seatback. Sub-standard recliner to seatback welds may also not meet the requirements of S4.2 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207,potentially increasing the risk of injury in certain collisions.

[Dune]

Based on my experience, the dealer will inspect the car and order parts based upon this inspection.

I was told that the passenger seat in my car needed to be fixed, but not the driver's.

I took my car in on June 10th, and was told today the 17th that it is likely going to be "another couple days" before they have the parts.

I have been surprised by this delay in getting the parts, as I was under the impression that the free flow of parts was required in this situation.

I expected to have the car back the next day based on what I'd read in the initial recall.

I remember it saying something along the lines of "the dealer will order the parts and then schedule the repair" so I was surprised that they had to inspect it before ordering them and did not know that beforehand.

I have another vehicle to use and have chosen to just leave my car there.

 

Ford does not provide a loaner as the cars are still drivable.

I don't know if I would have been able to ask them to schedule my appointment in such a way that the inspection could have been done while I waited or not.

From what I have been told by the dealer, when you take your Fusion in for this recall, plan on two trips with more than a week in between as you're going to be waiting on parts.

[Rexracer]

Interesting, i wonder if this is why my passenger seat has been "squeaky" since I drove the car off the lot new. I haven't gotten a letter which seems odd.

[Dune]

Just got my car back from the recall.

So, they had it for 10 days (my choice to leave it, although that's too long to wait for parts regardless), and I get it back with 2 miles of EV range left.

They have a 220V charger right outside the service door.  My car was parked about 30 feet from there.

Forget the extra mile, these guys don't even go an extra few feet.  10 days and no one there has the presence of mind to put it on the charger for 2 freakin' hours?

Just to be clear, when we went to pick it up there was no car parked in that space.

That in itself is rare, as my experience has been that there is usually a non-electric car parked there blocking anyone who bought an electric car from them from using it.

I'm sure this isn't deliberate, just thoughtless/witless.  Come on guys, there are hundreds of places to park there, how hard would it be to AT LEAST keep non-electric cars from parking there?

I remember the salesman making a huge deal about how any time I'm there I can use their charger.  Yeah, right.

My wife and I had a friendly wager on whether or not they would give it back to me fully charged.  I said no. 

Every experience I've had with this service department has led me to believe that the culture there is one of "We do the minimum."

While it definitely seems to be the exception rather than the rule, there ARE car dealerships that do customer service well and life is too short and time too valuable to deal with the ones who don't.

When a dealership consistently telegraphs the message "We're not all that concerned with retaining your business."  I say:  "Fair enough.  Plenty of people out there who are."

Edited June 21, 2014 at 12:41 AM by Dune

[jeff_h]

Just got my car back from the recall.

So, they had it for 10 days (my choice to leave it, although that's too long to wait for parts regardless), and I get it back with 2 miles of EV range left.

They have a 220V charger right outside the service door.  My car was parked about 30 feet from there.

 

The same was done at my local dealer when I had mine for work, there is a charger right in the back of the service area and they don't have the courtesy and/or presence of mind to charge it up?  I don't know if it displays the lack of awareness of EVs, I think probably more of being in a hurry to get one work order done and move on to the next one.  I think next time I am in for a work order I will ask the service adviser to add a misc line on the work order to "leave on EV charger when work completed" so the tech will read it, otherwise they forget all about it.

[meyersnole]

The same was done at my local dealer when I had mine for work, there is a charger right in the back of the service area and they don't have the courtesy and/or presence of mind to charge it up?  I don't know if it displays the lack of awareness of EVs, I think probably more of being in a hurry to get one work order done and move on to the next one.  I think next time I am in for a work order I will ask the service adviser to add a misc line on the work order to "leave on EV charger when work completed" so the tech will read it, otherwise they forget all about it.

 

I always make the point to ask when I drop the car off. This has worked very well for me as they write it in the work order. I have only dropped it off about 2 or 3 times where they had the opportunity to charge, but each time they did remember. They always seem to be happy to do it for me, but I have been pleased with this dealer for many reasons... I drove a little farther to get to it since the other one was a huge dealer and not so great experience.

 

So I would confirm that Jeff's recommendation is a good idea.

[meyersnole]

Back on topic... I find it odd that I have one of the first cars off the assembly line and I am not affected. So they were doing it right and made a change to the process that resulted in recalls? 

[jeff_h]

Back on topic... I find it odd that I have one of the first cars off the assembly line and I am not affected. So they were doing it right and made a change to the process that resulted in recalls? 

 

Yeah I have to wonder if that was only for a specific trim level?  My 2013 SE Hybrid (now sold) was built in Dec 2012 and not on the list, nor are my 2013 Energis built in Feb 2013 and Mar 2013.

[howardbc]

The media reported a recall of Fusions (among other Fords) for airbags and seat belts on September 26, 2014:

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/26/ford-lincoln-mkz-fusion-cmax-airbag-seatbelt-defect/16258897/

 

Mine fits the dates and location of manufacture. Will Ford notify us or should we just go to the dealer?

 

Thanks.

[meyersnole]

The media reported a recall of Fusions (among other Fords) for airbags and seat belts on September 26, 2014:

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/26/ford-lincoln-mkz-fusion-cmax-airbag-seatbelt-defect/16258897/

 

Mine fits the dates and location of manufacture. Will Ford notify us or should we just go to the dealer?

 

Thanks.

I just ran the health report and went to the support site: http://support.ford.com/ to read it and found 2 recalls listed.

 

• Notice #: 14E02

  POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE REPROGRAMMING

• Notice #: 14S21

  RESTRAINTS CONTROL MODULE REPLACEMENT

[jeff_h]

The one about the 850k cars was posted a few days ago, right here:  http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/2577-recall-14s21-restraint-control-module/

[murphy]

The media reported a recall of Fusions (among other Fords) for airbags and seat belts on September 26, 2014:

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/26/ford-lincoln-mkz-fusion-cmax-airbag-seatbelt-defect/16258897/

 

Mine fits the dates and location of manufacture. Will Ford notify us or should we just go to the dealer?

 

Thanks.

You will receive a recall notice letter from Ford when the dealers have been educated about the recall and the parts necessary to perform the recall are available.

At this time parts are not available to repair 850,000 cars.

[howardbc]

Thanks Murphy!

[parquedematt]

Interesting, i wonder if this is why my passenger seat has been "squeaky" since I drove the car off the lot new. I haven't gotten a letter which seems odd.

 

I'm glad it's not just me.  My driver's seat has been sounding like a creaky door for the past week or two and the car is only 6 weeks old.

[Rexracer]

I'm glad it's not just me.  My driver's seat has been sounding like a creaky door for the past week or two and the car is only 6 weeks old.

 

Interestingly, I took the car in to have a few little things worked on. I sat in the car with the service adviser and showed him it was making noise, he agreed. Then when I picked up the car the next day, it didn't make any noise at all (and hasn't since) and they claim to have not done anything to it. Maybe they did find a bolt or something loose and fix it.