The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2001-2004 Escape vehicles manufactured October 22, 1999, through January 23, 2004, originally sold, 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. These vehicles may experience excessive corrosion at the forward attachment of the lower control arm.
The risk
A separation of the lower control arm can result in a significant loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will install a newly designed reinforcement cross-brace, 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 14S02.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Escape | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
Components: STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS
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 Escape | 2001 | 996 | 13 |
| Ford Escape | 2002 | 1,027 | 8 |
| Ford Escape | 2003 | 558 | 7 |
| Ford Escape | 2004 | 499 | 6 |
Other structure recalls in 2014
27 of the 770 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2014 concerned the structure; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 14V822000 29 Dec 2014 | Kia Motors America |
| 14V785000 10 Dec 2014 | Tishomingo Acquisition, LLC |
| 14V777000 5 Dec 2014 | Ford Motor Company |
| 14V765000 2 Dec 2014 | Triumph Motorcycles America, LTD |
| 14V677000 28 Oct 2014 | Morgan Olson Corporation |
| 14V646000 14 Oct 2014 | Vermeer Manufacturing Company |
| 14V559000 12 Sept 2014 | Lion Bus Inc. |
| 14V523000 3 Sept 2014 | Collins Bus Corporation |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2014