The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2009-2012 Ford Flex, 2008 and 2010-2012 Ford Taurus, 2008-2009 Ford Taurus X, 2008 Mercury Sable, 2009 and 2011 Lincoln MKS vehicles. The driver frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
The risk
An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the driver's frontal air bag module, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on June 13, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C06.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Flex | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 |
| Ford Taurus | 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 |
| Ford Taurus X | 2008, 2009 |
| Lincoln MKS | 2009, 2011 |
| Mercury Sable | 2008 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
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 Flex | 2009 | 181 | 1 |
| Ford Flex | 2010 | 139 | 1 |
| Ford Flex | 2011 | 144 | 2 |
| Ford Flex | 2012 | 64 | 2 |
| Ford Taurus | 2008 | 175 | 1 |
| Ford Taurus | 2010 | 204 | 3 |
| Ford Taurus | 2011 | 187 | 4 |
| Ford Taurus | 2012 | 79 | 5 |
| Ford Taurus X | 2008 | 153 | 1 |
| Ford Taurus X | 2009 | 11 | 1 |
| Lincoln MKS | 2009 | 56 | 1 |
| Lincoln MKS | 2011 | 43 | 3 |
| Mercury Sable | 2008 | 61 | 1 |
Other air bags recalls in 2016
92 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the air bags; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 16V946000 30 Dec 2016 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
| 16V956000 30 Dec 2016 | Hyundai Motor America |
| 16V943000 29 Dec 2016 | Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC |
| 16V941000 29 Dec 2016 | Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC |
| 16V939000 28 Dec 2016 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 16V953000 28 Dec 2016 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
| 16V935000 27 Dec 2016 | Daimler Vans USA, LLC |
| 16V947000 22 Dec 2016 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016