Ford is recalling 661,000 Explorer SUVs in North America over concerns that roof rail covers could detach and cause safety issues for other drivers on the road, the automaker announced Monday.
The company said it will notify affected customers beginning the week of June 28 and that dealers will install push pins to secure the roof rails.
Ford said it’s not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the faulty feature.
The automaker said in documents posted Sunday that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration first inquired about the issue more than a year ago. But because of the low chances of a roof rail detaching and the likelihood that drivers would detect a loose roof rail cover before it posed a safety concern on the road, the company determined that the issue “did not present an unreasonable risk,” the documents show.
Ford said last year it would provide a one-time repair of the issue for affected customers, the documents show, but upon reviewing more data, the NHTSA requested last month that Ford issue a recall.
Ford said the recall includes 620,483 vehicles in the US, 36,419 in Canada and 4,260 in Mexico.
The recall covers 2016 through 2019 model year Ford Explorers and the company said it includes base and XLT trim levels, as well as Police Interceptor and Explorer Sport models with roof rail covers that are painted silver, black or absolute black.
Source：NYPOST