Ford Orders Second Emergency Stop Sale on Escape in Less Than One Week

[FlyAU]

Well, I will definately not be buying an Escape...

Ford Orders Second Emergency Stop Sale on Escape in Less Than One Week
Robert Lane, BlueOvalNews.com (staff writer)
published: 02 August 2000
date of revision: 03 August 2000, 2:26pm, est.
source: condition of anonymity

Ford Motor Company has issued a second emergency stop sale order for All Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute models in less than one week. The first stop sale order was issued on 27 July for a potential cruise control accelerator sticking problem. The Ford Escape is now in the running to tie with the Focus, which had three recalls issued before even being sold to a consumer.

The newest stop sale order is the most embarrassing one facing Ford's newest S.U.V. - the steering wheel has the potential of falling off. The recall includes ALL models manufactured from 17 April to 26 July. Ford directive #00S19 states "DO NOT DRIVE DELIVER OR PERFORM PRE-DELIVERY INSPECTION ON ANY VEHICLES AFFECTED BY SAFETY RECALL 00S19 UNTIL THE REPAIR HAS BEEN PERFORMED." Consumers and dealership personnel will not be able to test drive an Escape and dealers will not be permitted to prep Escape models that were special ordered for consumers until further notice.

Ford Motor Company is working on a solution to make certain that the steering wheel is properly retained on the vehicle's steering column (so it doesn't fall off) ; however, the service repair instructions and parts are still under development. Ford has not set a date as to when the parts will be available to dealers.

This is the latest in a string of new product launches gone bad. Some attribute the embarrassing PRE-DELIVERY recalls to Ford Motor Company's C.E.O. Jac Nasser who has reduced the engineering staff to what Ford employees and analysts say are below minimum acceptable staffing levels. The results show.

 

[Stephen]

Yep no chance of me buying one of those things.

 

[flyguy]

I gotta say... I love my truck... but I lose more and more faith in ford by the day. From stuff like this escape thing, and how everyone is treated at the dealerships...

nick

 

[rustytr]

Is it that they were just trying to put these out too fast and got a bit careless?

 

[mattadams]

I agree, it kinda makes you wonder about your own vehicle when they are producing vehicles that they hurry to get out into production and are recalled 2-3 times before even being sold. And not for things that are really hidden either. The fact that there is no retainer holding on the steering wheel, that's something you'd think the engineers would've noticed. It's no wonder Ford gets a bad rap and has so many interesting Ford Slogans, because of stuff like this.

 

[EB Bauer]

This is bad....but on the other hand it makes me laugh so hard. That is the only reason why I will never buy a new car. As far as I am concerned they all suck no matter what brand you go with. I mean if you think about it a new car will depriciate in value rapidly and most are only lasting about ten years before they are crap. Now what you really want to do is find a nice older car and spice it up a bit. I got a '71 mustang for $2000. It need some work but all in all it was a good car. Who knows what I could sell it for now, but I do know the profit is gonna be nice. Anyway to end my babbleing my steering wheel hasn't fell of yet on the mustang. Besides, Ford deserves that for makeing an ugly car!. O'well just my own 2 cents.

 

[AZExplorer]

Looks like they continue to overthunk the engineering. I have been blessed with my 91 Explorer and am living large on borrowed time from all the major components, but cursed with a 1995 DEATHstar. I am afraid to take the van on the road. Of course I purchased it before I read all the recalls, safety bulletins, class-action lawsuits, and extended warranties.

 

[Maniak]

Personally I like it when a company stops selling something before it ships. I work in Software QA and I have to fight managment to keep them from shipping things becuase of the all mighty dollar..

It takes some big cohones to not ship something and lose the potential sales to make sure it gets out correct. Now I know some of these are safety issues, but in software terms it is similar to shipping software that will keep your computer from booting after you install it.

I think it is much worse to ship a vehicle and then make TSB's for things you know will break and not tell the consumer (or make it easily available)..

Just another view on what is going on...

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

I get more and more disgusted with the auto industry every day. They are more interested in making money than producing a quality, well built product. A great example of this is DaimlerChrysler. They make their money by bring new, boldly designed vehicles to the marketplace quickly to grab market share. I think the average time for one of their vehicles from conception to production is two years, which is very, very short. Unfortunately, the engineering in these vehicles is absolute crap because two years is not enough time to properly engineer a brand new vehicle. My roommate in college last year had a 95 Intrepid. I was scared to drive it because it felt like it was going to break apart into component pieces as you drove down the road. My 92 felt like a paragon of solidity compared to that piece of... I fully intend on driving my Explorer into the ground simply because I haven't found anything that I want to replace it with yet (that I can afford right now anyway).

peace

Mike

 

[mattadams]

Maniak - I have yet to find a software company that does it the way people want it... wait until its good to ship it. Every software company I've ever worked at (well ok two so far) has been the same way... design a shell that looks good, test it a little bit, document the errors (not necessarily correct them) and ship it out, then come out with patches as they come out, charge customers for patches of course. Then when the software looks like all the problems are fixed, come out with an entirely different product once again full of bugs... sucks, but as technical support it sure does guarantee job security.

 

[FlyAU]

I have to agree with Maniak. Yes, this is bad press and very embarassing, but imagine the press if Ford didn't put a stop on sales on this and steering wheels just started falling off while the vehicle was in operation? ¿Como se dice "Pinto?" Ford's doing the right thing, at their expense. I'm just not going to buy an Escape!

 

[flyguy]

Geez ford... steering wheels falling off... wheels falling off... car wont stop...

 

[Stephen]

Scott, New car resale has always been a problem. However, cars are more reliable now, and last longer now than ever before. Remember, that at one time your Explorer was new, and in two years it will be 10 years old, will it be crap then? I'm gonna guess your answer will be no

Mark, Very good point. However, the vehicle really shouldn't be having so many problems.

 

[chipscher]

New Escape!

I am a Sales Manager at a large Ford dealer in South Florida, and we just got our first shipment of Escapes, and it is pretty sad, we have to hide them away so we do not have to explain why we cannot sell them! I do know that none of our customers have heard about the problems, because this is a record amount of orders we have had for a new vehicle. Ours do have a steering wheel though!

 

[Rick]

Matt, you described the Microsoft software model to perfection! Microsoft led the way with buggy software and once the rest of the world saw how to make the most out of buggy software they all followed suit.

I call Windows 95 and Windows 98 "The Virus" because it's the "virus" that all other "virus's" are installed on.

 

[Tom Wilk]

First, welcome, Chipscher! I think you'll enjoy the site and the wealth of experiential knowledge that is available here. Being a Sales Manager, you will likely endure a ton of criticism from those who have had bad experiences with their dealers. I hope you take it in good heart, and use what you hear here to improve your own dealership's practices.

Ahhh, Microsoft. Can't live with it, can't live without it. Their software does amazing stuff, makes using the computer a breeze even for folks like me. But, those unexplainable crashes can be a real pain in... well, you know where. I have to admit that my machine runs quite smoothly with 98, though I do have some conflicts with running certain combinations of software. Of course, I don't have my computer bloated with many TSR's and that helps immensely. And, I don't do that much with it either. Those who try to actually tap the full potential of their computer will undoubtedly have differing opinions.

I'm glad Ford is stopping sales before the problem occurs, but I doubt if they would do this if it weren't safety related. There is a financial incentive here; they fear a lawsuit. Otherwise, people would be getting their steering wheels replaced in about 6 months.

 

[chipscher]

This is good!

Hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I feel that none of you would be here if you had no affliction for Ford vehicles! I like this board, and the others from the site because I get a chance to read what real-world people write, not just what Ford wants us to know. Living in South FLorida, i now have the challenge of overcoming the Firestone issue, there have just been 2 bad accidents due to those tires (or so they say) down here. Whew, Ford makes a great product, I have only owned Ford in my life (91 Escort GT, 94 Mustang GT, 98 Ranger XLT 4-door, have a Sport-Trac on order). Seeing the Escape up close and personal, it is a nice, classy little SUV. As soon as Ford irons out the wrinkles, I can see why it will have the potential to be Fords best seller.

 

[Stephen]

Are you the guy who totalled my Nephew's 91 Escort GT twice before he bought it? (we just learned it has TWO salvage titles, and it was bought off a used car lot owned by a family friend, who also told him it was a 93 )

 

[chipscher]

steve, it might be!

Steve, hey who knows, It was totalled cause it was stolen and put in the East River in NYC. But I did not sell it to him! hehehehehe

 

[2mrchio]

1993 XLT 4x4 5.0L...

Oh well, I guess I'll scrap my plans on getting an Escape, and just add a 5.0 to my XLT...which is what I wanted to do, anyway.