Ford is recalling about 230,000 Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans assembled from the 2004 to 2007 model year after corrosion was discovered on the third-row seats. The recall concerns 196,500 Ford and Mercury minivans in the United States. More specifically, this recall affects vehicles sold or registered in 20 salt-belt states (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. Ford issued the recall after it was decided that the corrosion may prevent the third-row seats from locking into place.
Kelli Felker, a spokeswoman for Ford said the automaker is unaware of any accidents or injuries related to this recall since it was enacted. Ford is rectifying the problem by completely replacing the third-row seat mounting bracket. Besides that, Ford dealerships will move the seat latches away from areas exposed to possible corrosion and install overlay panels in the wheel wells to further isolate the seat.
Since Ford released the 2004 Freestar, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 932 complaints on the minivan. The NHTSA has investigated the Freestar on eight different occasions and four recalls have resulted from it. Ford has also issued 61 service bulletins on the 2004 Freestar. Ford will begin contacting affected owners but if you don’t want to wait, call the NHTSA at (888) 327-4236.
Source: Automotive News
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