Ford Recalls SUVs Over Rollaway Concerns
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Ford is recalling 13,896 of its 2020 Ford Explorer and 2020 Lincoln Navigator SUVs because they don’t meet federal vehicle safety standards.
There are two issues: In the first, the SUVs may be missing the manual park release cover found next to the gear selector. If the cover is not installed, Ford says, the manual park release lever may be inadvertently activated, which could result in unintended vehicle movement if the electronic park brake has not been applied, increasing the risk of a crash. (The park release lever can be used to get a vehicle out of Park if it’s stuck there because of a dead battery, for example.)
The second issue is that the instrument clusters for these SUVs may be in factory mode. Ford says that mode disables any warning alerts or chimes. Warning lights in many cars warn of low fuel, a problem with the engine (signified by the illumination of the "check engine light") and more. An SUV in factory mode also would not display the gear positions and which gear has been selected.
The automaker says the majority of the recalled SUVs are still in dealer inventory. By federal law, dealers must repair defects that are subject to a recall before selling the vehicle.
Ford says it is aware of one reported accident that happened during the production process. The incident resulted in only vehicle damage, the automaker said in a statement.
The Details
Vehicles involved: 13,896 SUVs, including:
2020 Ford Explorers built from March 27, 2019 through July 24, 2019
2020 Lincoln Navigators built from April 10, 2019 through July 24, 2019
The problem: The SUVs may be missing the manual park release cover, raising the risk of a vehicle rollaway, and their instrument clusters may be in factory mode, disabling warning alerts and chimes.
The fix: Dealers will inspect for the manual park release cover and install one if necessary. Dealers will also verify the instrument cluster is out of factory mode.
How to contact the manufacturer: Owners may contact Ford at 866-436-7332. The Ford reference number for this recall is 19C06.
NHTSA campaign number: There is no NHTSA campaign number yet.
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