The defect
Ford is recalling certain model year 2004-2007 Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles manufactured from March 24, 2003, through November 7, 2006, equipped with a third row seat and originally sold in, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The third row stowable seat can experience corrosion and structural degradation at the seat anchor mechanism mounted to the rear wheel wells. As a result of the corrosion, the third row seat may not fully latch into its seating position.
The risk
In the event that the vehicle is crashed into from the rear, an unlatched seat may increase the risk of personal injury.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will install new third row seat latch striker mounting brackets, free of charge. The recall began on March 28, 2013. Owners may contact Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Freestar | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 |
| Mercury Monterey | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 |
Components: SEATS
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Freestar | 2004 | 1,227 | 4 |
| Ford Freestar | 2005 | 886 | 3 |
| Ford Freestar | 2006 | 356 | 2 |
| Ford Freestar | 2007 | 64 | 1 |
| Mercury Monterey | 2004 | 283 | 4 |
| Mercury Monterey | 2005 | 119 | 3 |
| Mercury Monterey | 2006 | 44 | 2 |
| Mercury Monterey | 2007 | 7 | 1 |
Other seats recalls in 2013
19 of the 627 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2013 concerned the seats; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 13V536000 30 Oct 2013 | Daimler Trucks North America |
| 13V539000 30 Oct 2013 | Daimler Trucks North America |
| 13V537000 30 Oct 2013 | Daimler Trucks North America |
| 13V488000 17 Oct 2013 | General Motors LLC |
| 13V504000 17 Oct 2013 | A-Z Bus Sales, Inc. |
| 13V502000 17 Oct 2013 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
| 13V440000 18 Sept 2013 | Lion Bus Inc. |
| 13V397000 3 Sept 2013 | Navistar, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2013