Ford Recall Thread
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HC Racer H5
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From: KCK
Ford Taurus and Sable sedans' air bags investigated by U.S.
maybe we should have kept the recalls/defects area b/c i'm sure there is more to come
January 15, 2003
BY RIP WATSON
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Washington -- Ford Motor Co.'s 2000 Taurus and Sable sedans are being investigated by a U.S. agency for air-bag failures blamed in a fatal accident and cited in 14 other complaints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inquiry covers 480,000 of the sedans and may lead to a recall. The fatality, in which an air bag didn't inflate in a 43 mile-an-hour crash into a bridge railing, was the only report of an accident or injury related to the problem, the agency said. NHTSA spokeswoman Liz Neblett couldn't provide other details of the accident.
Ford, the world's second-largest automaker, didn't immediately return calls requesting comment.
The 2000 Taurus has been the subject of six recalls, including three for lights, and one each for brakes, windshield wipers and safety labels. The Taurus is Ford's best-selling car in the U.S., with 332,690 sold last year. The automaker sold 98,988 of the Sable, a similar car from its Mercury division.
The U.S. agency updates its list of defect investigations every week. The inquiries can lead to a recall or a finding of no defect.
January 15, 2003
BY RIP WATSON
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Washington -- Ford Motor Co.'s 2000 Taurus and Sable sedans are being investigated by a U.S. agency for air-bag failures blamed in a fatal accident and cited in 14 other complaints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inquiry covers 480,000 of the sedans and may lead to a recall. The fatality, in which an air bag didn't inflate in a 43 mile-an-hour crash into a bridge railing, was the only report of an accident or injury related to the problem, the agency said. NHTSA spokeswoman Liz Neblett couldn't provide other details of the accident.
Ford, the world's second-largest automaker, didn't immediately return calls requesting comment.
The 2000 Taurus has been the subject of six recalls, including three for lights, and one each for brakes, windshield wipers and safety labels. The Taurus is Ford's best-selling car in the U.S., with 332,690 sold last year. The automaker sold 98,988 of the Sable, a similar car from its Mercury division.
The U.S. agency updates its list of defect investigations every week. The inquiries can lead to a recall or a finding of no defect.
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HC Racer H5
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From: KCK
Ford Recall Thread
we will have to dedicate an entire forum to thes problems that keep on coming up...scary thing is that and these defects are when ford was profitable...now they've been on a cost cutting rampage so i wonder what the future holds
Trial jury to be told safety results hidden
January 22, 2003
BY JOHN PORRETTO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A federal judge ordered Ford Motor Co. Tuesday to turn over safety data on its 15-passenger vans, information the company has claimed doesn't exist, and fined the automaker for concealing evidence, a plaintiffs attorney said.
The world's second-largest automaker is accused of hiding the evidence in a case involving the deaths of two passengers in one of the large vans when it flipped on a Kentucky highway in 1996. Thirteen people from Illinois were aboard.
Tuesday's ruling in Chicago on a motion to impose sanctions against Ford could have implications in other cases against the automaker involving E350 vans, which have come under government scrutiny because of numerous rollover accidents.
James Lowe of Cleveland, an attorney for some of the plaintiffs, said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettlemen ordered Ford to pay all costs in the plaintiffs' attempts to obtain the safety records.
More important, Lowe said, Gettlemen said he would inform the jury at trial that Ford's own records apparently showed the 15-passenger vans were not reasonably safe or stable.
The case, filed in 1998, is scheduled for trial Feb. 24. Ford has until Jan. 31 to turn over the safety testing records.
"It's minimum justice as far as I'm concerned, but I'm feeling very vindicated," Lowe said. "We had been yelling for a long time that Ford was not playing fair . . . and now they're going to pay a price."
Ford's only immediate comment was what it has said all along about the van: The company remains confident it's very safe.
Despite the judge's decision to alert jurors of the hidden safety records, Ford would be able to present evidence at the trial to defend the van's safety.
At issue in the motion for sanctions was whether Ford conducted certain safety testing on the vehicles several years ago, then hid the results from the court and plaintiffs lawyers.
Ford says the testing in question was not done on a production version of the van but on "a rudimentary, cobbled model and was not representative of any production vehicle."
Company spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said Friday the plaintiffs were seeking results of testing that did not apply to the van involved in the 1996 accident.
Ford has denied allegations it misled the court.
Last year the government renewed a safety warning for 15-passenger vans, which often are used by churches, sports teams and other groups.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said the vans have a dramatically higher risk of rollovers when fully loaded and should be operated only by experienced drivers.
In November, the National Transportation Safety Board called on Ford and General Motors Corp. to improve the safety performance of their 15-passenger vans. In letters to the automakers, the board urged them to test the use of electronic stability control systems to help drivers maintain better control of large vans.
Ford has said it's studying the NTSB recommendations.
The board also has asked NHTSA to expand its rollover ratings to include 15-passenger vans.
The government's current vehicle rollover ratings apply to passenger cars, trucks, minivans and sport-utility vehicles.
About 500,000 15-passenger vans are in use on U.S. highways. The NHTSA says 424 people have died in passenger van accidents in the United States since 1990.
Trial jury to be told safety results hidden
January 22, 2003
BY JOHN PORRETTO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A federal judge ordered Ford Motor Co. Tuesday to turn over safety data on its 15-passenger vans, information the company has claimed doesn't exist, and fined the automaker for concealing evidence, a plaintiffs attorney said.
The world's second-largest automaker is accused of hiding the evidence in a case involving the deaths of two passengers in one of the large vans when it flipped on a Kentucky highway in 1996. Thirteen people from Illinois were aboard.
Tuesday's ruling in Chicago on a motion to impose sanctions against Ford could have implications in other cases against the automaker involving E350 vans, which have come under government scrutiny because of numerous rollover accidents.
James Lowe of Cleveland, an attorney for some of the plaintiffs, said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettlemen ordered Ford to pay all costs in the plaintiffs' attempts to obtain the safety records.
More important, Lowe said, Gettlemen said he would inform the jury at trial that Ford's own records apparently showed the 15-passenger vans were not reasonably safe or stable.
The case, filed in 1998, is scheduled for trial Feb. 24. Ford has until Jan. 31 to turn over the safety testing records.
"It's minimum justice as far as I'm concerned, but I'm feeling very vindicated," Lowe said. "We had been yelling for a long time that Ford was not playing fair . . . and now they're going to pay a price."
Ford's only immediate comment was what it has said all along about the van: The company remains confident it's very safe.
Despite the judge's decision to alert jurors of the hidden safety records, Ford would be able to present evidence at the trial to defend the van's safety.
At issue in the motion for sanctions was whether Ford conducted certain safety testing on the vehicles several years ago, then hid the results from the court and plaintiffs lawyers.
Ford says the testing in question was not done on a production version of the van but on "a rudimentary, cobbled model and was not representative of any production vehicle."
Company spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said Friday the plaintiffs were seeking results of testing that did not apply to the van involved in the 1996 accident.
Ford has denied allegations it misled the court.
Last year the government renewed a safety warning for 15-passenger vans, which often are used by churches, sports teams and other groups.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said the vans have a dramatically higher risk of rollovers when fully loaded and should be operated only by experienced drivers.
In November, the National Transportation Safety Board called on Ford and General Motors Corp. to improve the safety performance of their 15-passenger vans. In letters to the automakers, the board urged them to test the use of electronic stability control systems to help drivers maintain better control of large vans.
Ford has said it's studying the NTSB recommendations.
The board also has asked NHTSA to expand its rollover ratings to include 15-passenger vans.
The government's current vehicle rollover ratings apply to passenger cars, trucks, minivans and sport-utility vehicles.
About 500,000 15-passenger vans are in use on U.S. highways. The NHTSA says 424 people have died in passenger van accidents in the United States since 1990.
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HC Racer H5
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From: KCK
Ford sanctioned for withholding evidence in Econoline lawsuit
another article on the econoline vans
January 22, 2003
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI
BLOOMBERG
CHICAGO -- Ford Motor Co. withheld evidence in a lawsuit over the fatal crash of an Econoline van, said a federal judge who decided jurors will be told that certain Ford tests showed the vehicle was unsafe.
The world's second-largest automaker will be barred from challenging the findings of handling and stability tests on the 15-passenger van that it withheld from plaintiffs' lawyers, said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. Julia Whitley, a foster mother of nine, and one of her foster children were killed in 1996 when their Econoline rolled over.
"I find it totally reprehensible that I was misled and the plaintiffs were misled," said Gettleman, who also ordered Ford to pay attorney fees and court costs to plaintiffs' lawyers for their efforts to obtain the evidence.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported last April that vans carrying more than 10 passengers were three times more likely to roll over than those with fewer than five riders. The 15-passenger vans rolled over 52 percent of the time in fatal crashes, compared with 33 percent for other vehicles, NHTSA reports show.
A statement released by Ford in advance of Gettleman's ruling said the vans are "very safe" and that drivers should take into account the higher center of gravity on such vehicles when loaded. Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes, when told of the judge's decision, said today the company stood by its previous statement.
There have been 70 lawsuits involving the Econoline, said James Lowe, a lawyer for Whitley's husband, Daniel Whitley.
Gary Hayden, a Ford attorney in charge of the team of Ford lawyers that produces evidence for lawsuits, declined comment on the ruling. He had told the judge that Ford made an "honest mistake" in not producing the test results.
U.S. auto safety regulators said in November they wanted to create a new category of bus for school and church groups to replace 15-passenger vans such as the Econoline because they roll over more often than other vehicles.
Whitley, 50, of Crete, Illinois, was killed in an accident in July 1996. Also killed was one of her foster children, Tatiana Gill, 7.
General Motors Corp. is the world's largest automaker. Shares of Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford rose 2 cents to $10.18 at 1:32 p.m. today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
January 22, 2003
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI
BLOOMBERG
CHICAGO -- Ford Motor Co. withheld evidence in a lawsuit over the fatal crash of an Econoline van, said a federal judge who decided jurors will be told that certain Ford tests showed the vehicle was unsafe.
The world's second-largest automaker will be barred from challenging the findings of handling and stability tests on the 15-passenger van that it withheld from plaintiffs' lawyers, said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. Julia Whitley, a foster mother of nine, and one of her foster children were killed in 1996 when their Econoline rolled over.
"I find it totally reprehensible that I was misled and the plaintiffs were misled," said Gettleman, who also ordered Ford to pay attorney fees and court costs to plaintiffs' lawyers for their efforts to obtain the evidence.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported last April that vans carrying more than 10 passengers were three times more likely to roll over than those with fewer than five riders. The 15-passenger vans rolled over 52 percent of the time in fatal crashes, compared with 33 percent for other vehicles, NHTSA reports show.
A statement released by Ford in advance of Gettleman's ruling said the vans are "very safe" and that drivers should take into account the higher center of gravity on such vehicles when loaded. Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes, when told of the judge's decision, said today the company stood by its previous statement.
There have been 70 lawsuits involving the Econoline, said James Lowe, a lawyer for Whitley's husband, Daniel Whitley.
Gary Hayden, a Ford attorney in charge of the team of Ford lawyers that produces evidence for lawsuits, declined comment on the ruling. He had told the judge that Ford made an "honest mistake" in not producing the test results.
U.S. auto safety regulators said in November they wanted to create a new category of bus for school and church groups to replace 15-passenger vans such as the Econoline because they roll over more often than other vehicles.
Whitley, 50, of Crete, Illinois, was killed in an accident in July 1996. Also killed was one of her foster children, Tatiana Gill, 7.
General Motors Corp. is the world's largest automaker. Shares of Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford rose 2 cents to $10.18 at 1:32 p.m. today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
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From: KCK
Ford asks Supreme Court to review $290 million Bronco verdict
January 22, 2003
BY JOYZELLE DAVIS
BLOOMBERG
WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a $290 million punitive damage verdict in a Bronco sport-utility vehicle rollover case, calling the California jury award "grossly excessive."
The award against the world's second-largest automaker is considered the largest punitive damage jury award ever approved by an appeals court. The California Supreme Court last year let the verdict stand.
Ford's appeal rests in part on a 1996 Supreme Court decision that stuck down a $2 million award for a car paint flaw as unconstitutionally excessive. The $290 million punitive damage award to the family of Ramon and Salustia Romo is 63 times the compensatory award of $5 million.
"The court of appeal's ruling defies the constitutional limitations on punitive damages that this court has repeatedly recognized," lawyers for Ford wrote in their petition for review.
A call to Laurence Drivon, who represented the Romo family, wasn't immediately returned.
Ramon and Salustia Romo, and their 16-year-old son, Ramiro, were killed when their 1978 Ford Bronco rolled over several times on a Modesto freeway in California's Central Valley. The couple's surviving three children claim Ford sold the Bronco knowing its removable fiberglass roof wouldn't hold up in a rollover.
The damage award is the second largest in a U.S. auto safety case. In July 1999, a Los Angeles jury ordered General Motors Corp. to pay $4.9 billion to six people badly burned when the gas tank on their 1979 Chevrolet Malibu exploded. A judge later cut the award to $1.2 billion.
Shares of the Dearborn, Michigan-based company fell 2 cents to close at $10.14 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
BY JOYZELLE DAVIS
BLOOMBERG
WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a $290 million punitive damage verdict in a Bronco sport-utility vehicle rollover case, calling the California jury award "grossly excessive."
The award against the world's second-largest automaker is considered the largest punitive damage jury award ever approved by an appeals court. The California Supreme Court last year let the verdict stand.
Ford's appeal rests in part on a 1996 Supreme Court decision that stuck down a $2 million award for a car paint flaw as unconstitutionally excessive. The $290 million punitive damage award to the family of Ramon and Salustia Romo is 63 times the compensatory award of $5 million.
"The court of appeal's ruling defies the constitutional limitations on punitive damages that this court has repeatedly recognized," lawyers for Ford wrote in their petition for review.
A call to Laurence Drivon, who represented the Romo family, wasn't immediately returned.
Ramon and Salustia Romo, and their 16-year-old son, Ramiro, were killed when their 1978 Ford Bronco rolled over several times on a Modesto freeway in California's Central Valley. The couple's surviving three children claim Ford sold the Bronco knowing its removable fiberglass roof wouldn't hold up in a rollover.
The damage award is the second largest in a U.S. auto safety case. In July 1999, a Los Angeles jury ordered General Motors Corp. to pay $4.9 billion to six people badly burned when the gas tank on their 1979 Chevrolet Malibu exploded. A judge later cut the award to $1.2 billion.
Shares of the Dearborn, Michigan-based company fell 2 cents to close at $10.14 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
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HC Racer H5
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From: KCK
Ford's Volvo 850 cars investigated gasoline leaks
January 22, 2003
BY DAN HART
BLOOMBERG
WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo 850 Series sedans and wagons are being investigated by U.S. regulators because of reports of gasoline leaks that might affect 198,000 of the 1993 to 1996 models.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began its inquiry Jan. 16 and has received 15 complaints of leaks from fuel tanks, the agency said on its Web site. No accidents, injuries or fires have been reported in connection with the problem, said Dan Johnston, a spokesman for the Ford unit.
Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., is cooperating with the agency, Johnston said.
The vehicles affected by the U.S. investigation were built before Ford acquired the Volvo car business in 1999. The inquiries can result in recalls or findings of no defect. The Transportation Department agency posts recalls and investigations on its Web site each week to give consumers access to the information.
The agency last month said Volvo recalled 65,000 of its 1996 and 1997 model year 850 station wagons because "excessive compression" could cause seat heaters to catch fire. The automaker had received reports of 50 incidents and three injury claims, according to the U.S. regulator.
BY DAN HART
BLOOMBERG
WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo 850 Series sedans and wagons are being investigated by U.S. regulators because of reports of gasoline leaks that might affect 198,000 of the 1993 to 1996 models.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began its inquiry Jan. 16 and has received 15 complaints of leaks from fuel tanks, the agency said on its Web site. No accidents, injuries or fires have been reported in connection with the problem, said Dan Johnston, a spokesman for the Ford unit.
Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., is cooperating with the agency, Johnston said.
The vehicles affected by the U.S. investigation were built before Ford acquired the Volvo car business in 1999. The inquiries can result in recalls or findings of no defect. The Transportation Department agency posts recalls and investigations on its Web site each week to give consumers access to the information.
The agency last month said Volvo recalled 65,000 of its 1996 and 1997 model year 850 station wagons because "excessive compression" could cause seat heaters to catch fire. The automaker had received reports of 50 incidents and three injury claims, according to the U.S. regulator.
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Originally posted by jaje
i tried the img tags but the pic is too big and then wasn't paying attn and put in nonvalid jpg (not an html tag format)
i tried the img tags but the pic is too big and then wasn't paying attn and put in nonvalid jpg (not an html tag format)