NHTSA Complaint #10609619 — 2001 FORD FOCUS

UNDER NORMAL USE THE EXTERIOR DOOR HANDLES ON THREE OF THE FOUR CAR DOORS BROKE. WITHIN A WEEK'S TIME ALL THREE BROKE AND THE ONLY WAY TO OPEN THE DOORS WAS TO REACH THROUGH AN OPEN WINDOW AND PULL THE INTERIOR HANDLE. AT MY EXPENSE THE FORD SERVICE DEPT. REPLACED THE BROKE HANDLES, HOWEVER THE RIGHT REAR PART COULDN'T BE LOCATED TO REPAIR IT. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A SAFETY RECALL. SHOULD THEIR HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT PRIOR TO MY REPLACING THE HANDLES, SOMEONE TRYING TO HELP A PERSON STUCK INSIDE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET THE PASSENGER OUT OF THE VEHICLE. WHEN I LOOKED ONLINE TO READ ABOUT THESE HANDLES I FOUND THAT THIS WAS A BAD DESIGN YEAR FOR DOOR HANDLES AND AFTER ABOUT 3 YEARS IT WAS THEN REDESIGNED. WHY NOT A RECALL THEN? *TR