NHTSA Complaint #10067903 — 2003 FORD EXPEDITION

A RECURRENT AND UNSOLVABLE PROBLEM WITH THE POWER EXTERIOR MIRRORS ON A 2003 FORD EXPEDITION. THE PASSENGER MIRROR IS INCAPABLE OF RETURNING TO ITS PRE-SET POSITION. THIS OCCURS WHETHER OR NOT THE "REVERSE AID" FEATURE IS ON OR OFF AND ALSO OCCURS WHETHER OR NOT THE "MEMORY" FEATURE FOR DRIVER 1 OR DRIVER 2 IS ACTIVATED. IT OCCURS ROUGHLY ONE-HALF OF THE TIME THE VEHICLE IS UNLOCKED EVEN BY THE SAME DRIVER (DRIVER 1) IN SUCCESSION. DUE TO THE FORD INSTALLED ALARM FEATURE, THE UNLOCKING FOB (OR THE DOOR MOUNTED KEYPAD) MUST BE USED. EACH TRIGGERS THE MIRROR FAILURE. TWO DEALERS HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, EVEN AFTER MULTIPLE VISITS, HAVING THE VEHICLE FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN SUCCESSION, AND HAVING THE AVAILABLE FORD TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION. FORD MOTOR COMPANY (ON LETTERHEAD CORRESPONDENCE) NOW DENIES THAT ANY PROBLEM EXIST WITH MY VEHICLE (AFTER DETAILED TELEPHONE AND WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE). TWO NEIGHBORING ACQUAINTENCES WITH THE SAME YEAR AND MODEL VEHICLE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME FAILURE WITHOUT RESOLUTION AS WELL. MULTIPLE POSTINGS ON THE NTSHA WEBSITE MAKE REFERENCE TO THIS SAME PROBLEM AND SPEAK OF FORD'S "PROMISE" TO RESOLVE. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY DEFECT. EITHER A SOLUTION TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM SHOULD BE PROVIDED BY FORD OR THE VEHICLES SHOUDL BE RECALLED AND A MIRROR SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN TO FUNCTION PROPERLY SHOULD BE INSTALLED.*AK