The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured August 15, 2012, through September 10, 2013, 2013-2014 Ford Escape vehicles manufactured June 5, 2012, through August 12, 2013, and 2013-2014 Ford C-Max vehicles manufactured from July 23, 2012, through May 28, 2013. The driver and passenger seatback assemblies may have been produced with sub-standard weld joints used to attach the seat back recliner mechanism to the seat frame. The affected seat backs may have insufficient strength to meet the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 207, "Seating Systems."
The risk
The back of the subject seats may become loose or lean while driving and potentially increase the risk of injury in certain crashes.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the seatback, free of charge. The recall began on May 30, 2014. Owners may contact Ford at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14C03.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford C-Max | 2013, 2014 |
| Ford Escape | 2013, 2014 |
| Ford Fusion | 2013, 2014 |
| Lincoln MKZ | 2013, 2014 |
Components: SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER
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 C-Max | 2013 | 187 | 8 |
| Ford C-Max | 2014 | 80 | 8 |
| Ford Escape | 2013 | 2,753 | 18 |
| Ford Escape | 2014 | 2,089 | 16 |
| Ford Fusion | 2013 | 1,792 | 19 |
| Ford Fusion | 2014 | 1,333 | 19 |
| Lincoln MKZ | 2013 | 109 | 12 |
| Lincoln MKZ | 2014 | 97 | 13 |
Other seats recalls in 2014
23 of the 770 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2014 concerned the seats; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 14V804000 19 Dec 2014 | General Motors LLC |
| 14V769000 3 Dec 2014 | Nova Bus |
| 14V756000 26 Nov 2014 | Allied Recreation Group, Inc. |
| 14V753000 25 Nov 2014 | Aston Martin Lagonda of North America |
| 14V748000 24 Nov 2014 | Champion Bus, Inc. |
| 14V743000 19 Nov 2014 | Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC |
| 14V721000 10 Nov 2014 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 14V710000 7 Nov 2014 | Ford Motor Company |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2014