NHTSA Complaint #10114139 — 2002 FORD WINDSTAR

A CAR ACCIDENT OCCURRED ON JANUARY 9, 2004. CAR WAS HIT BEHIND, AND THE BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY, BUT AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. VAN WAS TAKEN TO REPAIR SHOP TWICE TO FIX LIGHT. THEY CAME TO THE DECISION THAT A CODE NEEDED TO BE PUT IN AND COULD ONLY BE DONE AT FORD. THE VAN WAS TAKEN TO FORD 4 TIMES, AND THE LIGHT STILL COMES ON. FIRST THEY PUT IN CODE. 2 WEEKS PASSED THEN LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. VAN TAKEN BACK TO FORD. IT WAS RELEASED TO US. AFTER ABOUT 5 WEEKS LIGHT CAME ON. THEY PUT IN THE CODE AGAIN. LIGHT CAME BACK ON AS SOON AS WE GOT TO THE DRIVEWAY. WE WENT TO FORD AGAIN, AND THEY SAID THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH MODULE. THEY REPLACED THE MODULE AND A WHOLE NEW AIR BAG SYSTEM IN JULY. THE REPLACEMENT WAS DONE TWICE DUE TO THE FIRST AIR BAG SYSTEM WAS DEFECTIVE, THE LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON THE NEXT MORNING. A COMPLETE NEW SYSTEM PLACE IN THE NEXT DAY. THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN THEN WENT OUT. THEY SAID IT WAS OKAY. LIGHT IS BACK ON NOW (MARCH 2005). NOW FORD IS TELLING US THAT A NEW MODULE HAS TO BE PLACED IN BECAUSE IT HAS BURNT OUT. ALSO FORD NEEDS TO FIND OUT WHAT IS BURNING OUT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM? OVER $500 WORTH OF WORK TO BE DONE AND NOW NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY FROM JULY 2004? WE ARE NOT SURE IF THE AIRBAGS WILL DEPLOY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. AND WE HAVE SMALL CHILDREN TO TRANSPORT IN THE VEHICLE. SPOKE TO FORD DEALER IN OUR AREA. NO HELP.*AK