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Your premier choice for explosive (and/or spontaneously combusting) automobiles does it again!http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/...n=yesQuote »DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it is recalling nearly 226,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada, including its flagship Ford Five Hundred sedan and Freestyle wagon, because of fire risks. Vehicles involved in the recall are from the 2005 model year and include the Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and Montego sedans, Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said.Ford (down $0.21 to $7.63, Research) is recalling 127,493 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans and Freestyle wagons because the straps that secure the fuel tank to the vehicle body may break, causing the fuel tank and fuel tank heat shield to drop onto the driveshaft or exhaust system, the automaker and U.S. safety regulators said.This could cause a fuel leak and result in a fire in these vehicles, according to the Highway Traffic Safety Administration.The automaker is recalling 98,444 Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans because on certain vehicles the battery cable may scrape on an attaching bolt and could lead to a fire.No injuries or accidents have been linked to the recall, Kinley said.The recall comes as Ford is trying to stem steep losses in its North American division and to improve the overall quality of its products. It also follows a high-profile recall of some of its best-selling pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.Ford recalled nearly 4 million vehicles in September because of the risk of engine fires.

Growing tired of Ford constantly being bashed, I present the following: http://www.consumeraffairs.com....htmlhttp://www.consumeraffairs.com....htmlhttp://www.consumeraffairs.com....htmlhttp://www.consumeraffairs.com....htmlhttp://www.consumeraffairs.com....htmlhttp://www.consumeraffairs.com....html They're making good on repairs. Why can't that just be good enough?

I dunno, that's good enough for me - I just think it's funny that the majority of their recalls revolve around fire.

Well, it's good that they're repairing.But you think they would have learned from the Pinto and Crown Victoria incidents. The fact that Ford seems to have a somewhat recurring issue with fuel fire and/or explosion issues is flat out disturbing...The 500 is a brand new model from the ground up. I'd think it should be immune to issues such as this which I always felt were more attributable to dated technology and platforms.And a battery cable could scrape a bolt and ignite? Sheesh! All Ford roads lead to fire it seems!

Back in the bad old days, the 1970's Pintos were recalled after Ford lost a number of big lawsuits, because the location of the gas tank close behind the rear bumper (to save a buck or two) caused a number of gasoline fires in rear-end collisions, resulting in number of fire deaths.Now most manufacturers do some defect-testing at the factory, rather than let end-users find the bugs. Ain't personal-injury 'lawyerin' grand???

Quote, originally posted by kostby »Now most manufacturers do some defect-testing at the factory, rather than let end-users find the bugs. Ain't personal-injury 'lawyerin' grand???That's just good business practice as well. Don't make people dropping thousands and thousands of dollars on a car be your test subjects. The more problems they encounter, the less likely they'll ever buy your product again. Reminds me of something one of my old managers said to the managers in a meeting one time (reminder, I work in a restaurant). He told us we could willingly and actively check our products 4 times daily, per corporate standard, to ensure they are being stored at proper holding temperatures, and show no sign of spoilage or tainting. Or we could fudge the log, hope we're right, and find out we weren't when someone gets ill, injured, or in any way harmed by food that would have been discarded during our routine checks, but was obviously neglected, by fudging the log and checking nothing. Which do you think is the smarter solution?

Quote, originally posted by kostby »Back in the bad old days, the 1970's Pintos were recalled after Ford lost a number of big lawsuits, because the location of the gas tank close behind the rear bumper (to save a buck or two) caused a number of gasoline fires in rear-end collisions, resulting in number of fire deaths.What's funny about that though, I recall Ford wanting to make the Pinto one of the safest cars on the road from what I saw some special sometime... They were shooting for a new fuel tank design with some sort of bladder inside to prevent leakage, and were contemplating adding an air bag... That my friends, had it happened, would have been quite an accomplishment - a cheap car that wasn't a death trap. But nooo, the bean counters decided that was not to be, and here we are. I wasn't knocking the cars for getting recalled, hell the Vibe's future replacement came out last spring and has been recalled twice, but for very, very minor crap though. The whole fire thing, yes - that's just disturbing. I agree with Mike.

im glad no ones been hurt yet, its good fords recalling before anything happens. yea..fire and ford..dunno, but like every first vehicle has its issues. man i sat in a 500..uhhh so nice. i wanted to drive one to see how the CVT tranny was. cant wait for their 3.5 to be thrown in it.

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »but like every first vehicle has its issues.True dat! I don't think a recall or two on a new model would spell the end of that line of cars... Hell, we need not look further than Ford's very own Focus to see proof of that. It's still around. heh

Even the G6 has had one recall.Quote »Make : PONTIAC Model : G6 Year : 2005Manufacturer : GENERAL MOTORS CORP. NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 05V098000 Mfg's Report Date : MAR 09, 2005Component: EQUIPMENT:OTHER:OWNERS/SERVICE/OTHER MANUALPotential Number Of Units Affected : 35777Summary:CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 225, 'CHILD RESTRAINT ANCHORAGE SYSTEMS.' THE CHILD RESTRAINT LOWER ANCHORS IN THE CENTER REAR SEATING POSITION ARE LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 90MM BEHIND THE CORRESPONDING Z-POINT OF THE CHILD RESTRAINT FIXTURE (CRF). THE OWNER'S MANUAL STATES THAT ANCHORS ARE AT THE OUTBOARD SEATING POSITIONS ONLY.Consequence:WITHOUT ADDITIONAL AND CORRECTED OWNER'S MANUAL INFORMATION, AN OWNER MAY ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTY IN INSTALLING CHILD RESTRAINTS WITH RIGID ATTACHMENTS IN THE CENTER POSITION.Remedy:OWNERS WILL BE MAILED AN OWNER'S MANUAL SUPPLEMENT. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON APRIL 6, 2005. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT PONTIAC AT 1-800-620-7668.Notes:GM RECALL NO. 05005. CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236.Cliffs Notes Version: The model was recalled because there was a typo in the manual.

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Even the G6 has had one recall.no! that's impossible!

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »The 500 is a brand new model from the ground up. I'd think it should be immune to issues such as this which I always felt were more attributable to dated technology and platforms.As I currently have insight into the vehicle development process related to validation and testing, the brand new models are most likely to have these issues. Additionally, with the financial situation of the Detroit Automakers, the engineers are asked to perform the same work with less resources. Therefore, some validation testing may become based on judgement, instead of physical testing. Additionally, the companies are relying on more math analysis to validate the products. Also, you have suppliers that may be responsible for testing their product as part of the contract, and nobody is verifying the supplier process. Additionally, if there are any changes in the program, that impacts the testing also. So, just like the Mazda being recalled (oops, that is a Ford) for possible fires, and the Civic, it could happen to all of the new vehicles.

actually the G6 when it first came out had a TSB on a rubber spacer in the door handle to that was not installed at the factory which since then has been taken care of at the factory.