Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday recalled 3.8 million pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles for a cruise control switch suspected of causing engine fires. It is the fifth largest auto industry recall in U.S. history.

Ford said the recall of 1994-2002 model-year vehicles includes the company's hot-selling F-150 pickup truck, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Ford Broncos. The company said it would start sending out recall notices to vehicle owners immediately.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the No. 2 U.S.- based automaker have been investigating complaints of engine fires linked to the switch.

NHTSA has received more than 550 complaints of engine fires from the cruise control switch. There have been allegations of three deaths in cases cited in news reports or lawsuits in Iowa, Georgia and Arkansas.

The affected vehicles include: 1994-2002 model F-150s, 1997-2002 Expeditions, 1998-2002 Navigators and 1994-1996 Broncos equipped with factory-installed speed control.

"We have a solution that fixes the problem and we're confident that this is going to be the right remedy," said Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley.

- AP

 

Another engine fire problem for ford. What is this like the tenth time. I can't see why people still buy those pieces of shit.

 

sorry charlie, same problem, same fix, now it is a recall rather than an investigation or a tsb. Maybe the reason people still buy "those pieces of shit" is because out of 3.8 million vehicles, there has been less than 600 complaints? I guess if you are numerically impaired, that sounds bad :/

 

Heres yet another round of the domestic bashers versus the domestic supporters blinded by their allegiance to the motto "Made in America".

Speaking of mottos, Ford lied when they said that quality is job one.

 

I don't know that the domestic supporters are any more blinded than the domestic bashers. Personally, if I can buy a product manufactured in this country that satisfies my needs and is a decent value, I'll buy it rather than a comparable product made overseas. Call me crazy, but given the chance I'll support our economy instead of someone elses.

On this particular issue, Ford manufactured a cruise control switch that causes problems. They are recalling it and making a fix. It appears that the frequency of complaints is pretty low, but the potential risk in each incident is high, so they are doing the right thing.

I don't remember the exact instance, but I do remember some European cars having problems that resulted in engine fires in the not too distant past.

If you screw up, admit it, fix it, learn from it, move on.

 

Well I bought my

 

just like they did with the whole firestone tires right? how many people did that kill? What did they do after they settled out of court on that suit. They went right back to putting the firestones on. Ford acts like these big tobacco companies, settle out of court and go back to doing the same thing. Business as usual I guess. It's not domestic versus import. Its quality versus lack thereof. Just like the supercharged lightning engine in the 200k gt40. Open your eyes dude. Ford is terrible. If they made a decent product you wouldnt hear this from me. I call it like it is.

 

The GT does not have the Lightning engine in it. The price for the GT is closer to $160k.

Tires are important, for the difference in money, Ford should have specified a higher quality tire. Even if they passed the cost through to the consumer the change in price point would have been less than $100. The Firestone tires and Ford's inflation recommendations were, together, a real problem. However, in many cases, so were the people driving the vehicles. Underinflated tires, little or no tread left, overloaded, poor driving technique. I have no memory of Ford settling out of court and putting the same spec tires back on. I do remember my daughter getting some new Goodyears paid for by Ford.

 

Check top gear and what they said about the gt40, it is essentially the same engine in the lightning with a supercharger. The 200k is with the mark up that is seen on this car. When the tread separates from the tire, that is not a problem that can be attributed to driver error. And yes they went back to the firestone tires right after. They didn't get the nickname fix or repair daily from me. This is a waste of my time, I will never buy a ford that is all there is to it. Nor a jaguar, or a range rover or an aston martin. All owned by ford. If your ford treats you good and you dont mind the shotty craftsmanship than more power to you. P.S. are your headlights yellowing or full of water yet?

 

i really hope you dont take everything jeremy clarkson says as gospel. you, uh, have noticed a slightly anti-american bias, haven't you? what are your thoughts on the new Z06?