Ford has announced a recall on its all-new 2020 Ford Explorer and the 2020 Lincoln Aviator twin. The recall was issued by Ford on both of the vehicles due to a missing cover that has to do with the parking brake release.
The defect: the affected 2020 Ford Explorer and 2020 Lincoln Aviator models are potentially missing the manual park release cover. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require the manual parking brake release cover to be in place and removable only with a tool. Ford says that the instrument cluster of affected vehicles may also be in factory mode, which disables warning alerts and chimes and gives no PRNDL gear positions.
The hazards: without the manual park release cover in place, the release could be accidentally activated causing the vehicle to unintendedly move. The lack of chimes and gear indicators in the gauge cluster could prevent owners from known if the vehicle is in park. Ford says that it is aware of one accident that occurred during vehicle transportation within the production process that resulted in vehicle damage.
Affected components: The manual park release cover and the instrument cluster.
Affected vehicles: 2020 Ford Explorer vehicles built between March 27th, 2019, and July 24th, 2019. And 2020 Lincoln Aviator vehicles built between April 10th, 2019, through July 24th, 2019.
Number of vehicles affected: 13,896 vehicles in the U.S. and 239 vehicles in Canada combined of the 2020 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. Ford notes most affected vehicles are still in dealer inventory.
The fix: Dealers will inspect for the manual park release cover and install one if missing. Dealers will also verify the instrument cluster is out of factory mode and clear any diagnostic codes.
Owners should: Contact their local dealership service department or Ford customer service.
Contacts:
- Ford Recall Number: 19C06
- Ford Customer Service: 1-800-392-3673
- NHTSA Toll Free: 1-888-327-4236
- NHTSA (TTY): 1-800-424-9153
- NHTSA Website: www.safecar.gov
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Comments
So my question is… Is this a quality control issue where the cover wasn’t installed and/or the car was left in “Factory mode” – or is this a design issue where the manual park release cover was not covered in the design of the car?
My question is what is your question questioning about? Inquired minds want to know about your question…
How could it be a “design issue” it it only applies to vehicles built on certain days?
The certain days you refer to are the initial days of production. They corrected the issue starting on July 25th. The question is, how easy is the “fix” to correct the issue? Is it as easy as replacing the manual park release cover, or was a design change required – causing early builds to have to get significant adjustments.
OMG! Try reading the article!
“Dealers will inspect for the manual park release cover and install one if missing.”
Considering the number of recalls that FoMoCo has been releasing lately, I think it is safe to say they have an issue with quality control and final inspections before they leave the factory. Car manufacturers seem to be more interested in getting the next “hot new” product on dealer lots to make money than they do about releasing a good quality product to the public. It’s kind of disheartening and makes you second guess buying a vehicle from Ford or Lincoln and I own a Lincoln ?
Toyota, FCA, GM etc have also recalled many vehicles lately. This is more a product of modern manufacturing that allows issues to be known and corrected more quickly, rather than many years down the road.
It’s not like these are major issues, either. The vehicle wont self-destruct and kill everyone in a 10 mile radius if the turn signal is left on too long. Geeze.
Seems like quality control should be better on a Lincoln.