The defect
ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, THE BRAKE LIGHTS MAY REMAIN ILLUMINATED EVEN WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS NOT DEPRESSED. HILL DESCENT CONTROL (HDC), TRACTION CONTROL (TC) AND CRUISE CONTROL WARNING LIGHTS MAY ALSO BE ILLUMINATED.
The risk
FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE PROPER SIGNAL WHEN BRAKING COULD LEAD TO A CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.
The remedy
DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE BRAKE LAMP OPERATION AND WHERE REQUIRED, ADJUST AND/OR REPLACE THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCHES WITH NEW SWITCHES OF THE SAME DESIGN UNTIL A NEWLY DESIGNED BRAKE LAMP SWITCH IS AVAILABLE IN MAY 2007. OWNERS WILL THEN BE RE-NOTIFIED TO BRING THEIR VEHICLES IN FOR THE NEW BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. AN INTERIM LETTER FOR THE INITIAL INSPECTION WAS MAILED ON MARCH 26, 2007. THE SECOND LETTER FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE SWITCHES WAS MAILED BEGINNING JULY 30, 2007. OWNERS MAY CONTACT LAND ROVER AT 1-80-637-6837.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Land Rover Freelander | 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
Components: EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:SWITCH
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land Rover Freelander | 2002 | 226 | 3 |
| Land Rover Freelander | 2003 | 140 | 5 |
| Land Rover Freelander | 2004 | 69 | 3 |
| Land Rover Freelander | 2005 | 16 | 3 |
Other exterior lighting recalls in 2007
22 of the 587 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2007 concerned the exterior lighting; LAND ROVER filed 19 campaigns in all.
| 07V515000 5 Nov 2007 | AMERICAN SUZUKI MOTOR CORP. |
| 07V493000 22 Oct 2007 | U.S. BUS CORPORATION |
| 07V491000 18 Oct 2007 | WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES, INC. |
| 07V492000 18 Oct 2007 | R-VISION |
| 07V482000 16 Oct 2007 | GM DAEWOO AUTO & TECHNOLOGY COMPANY |
| 07V478000 11 Oct 2007 | MACK TRUCKS, INC |
| 07V462000 2 Oct 2007 | GOSHEN COACH |
| 07V463000 1 Oct 2007 | UTILIMASTER CORPORATION |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2007