Ford Motor Company: Structure › Frame and Members
Ford Motor Company reported this defect to federal regulators on Apr 2, 2014 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 348,950. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
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.
4 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 Ford Escape | 499 | 8 | 14 | 29 |
| 2003 Ford Escape | 558 | 9 | 27 | 43 |
| 2002 Ford Escape | 1,027 | 10 | 104 | 66 |
| 2001 Ford Escape | 996 | 15 | 58 | 76 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 14V165000.
Full record for the 2004 Ford Escape → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →