Ford Recalls 196500 Minivans Over Rust Issue - The Car Connection
The states involved are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The voluntary safety recall follows a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation opened in December 2012 into 2004 model year Ford minivans. Ford recalled 462,750 1998-2003 Windstar minivans in certain cold-weather states in August 2012 for a rust issue that could cause the rear axle to break. In the latest Ford Freestar/Mercury Monterey minivan recall, Ford said that rust can cause weakening of the mounting brackets that hold the removable third-row seats to the floor. Ford became aware of the issue in August 2011 after learning that a customer was having difficulty attaching a third-row seat. What Ford will do. Ford will notify owners by the end of March and dealers will install new third-row seat latch striker mounting brackets, locating them outside the area that can rust. Source: www.thecarconnection.com
