NHTSA Complaint #10785810 — 2008 FORD EXPLORER

SEVERAL TIMES, WHILE DRIVING, THE DRIVERS SEAT MOVED INDEPENDENTLY BACKWARDS AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED SAFELY. TWO DEALERSHIPS DIDN'T HAVE ANY REFERENCE TO THIS PROBLEM, WANTED TO PERFORM DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS AND REQUESTED THE NHTSA WEBSITE THAT WAS MENTIONED. THIS WEB SITE PROVIDED CLUES TO POSSIBLE REMEDY THE PROBLEM. THE VEHICLES EASY ENTRY/EXIT FEATURE MOVES THE DRIVERS SEAT BACKWARDS TO ALLOW THE DRIVER EASY ENTRY/EXIT FROM THE VEHICLE. THIS FEATURE IS THE POSSIBLE FAULT AND WAS DISABLED. TO TEST THIS DISABLING CONCEPT AND STILL DRIVE THE VEHICLE SAFELY SEVERAL PIECES OF WOOD WAS PLACED ON THE FLOOR BETWEEN THE FRONT AND MIDDLE ROW SEATS. THE WOOD LIMITS BACKWARD MOVEMENT OF THE DRIVERS SEAT TO ONE HALF INCH FROM THE NORMAL DRIVING POSITION. VEHICLE CONTROL IS STILL MAINTAINED FROM THIS SLIGHTLY BACK POSITION SHOULD THE EASY ENTRY/EXIT FEATURE NOT BE THE CAUSE OF THE UNINTENDED SEAT MOVEMENT. A YEAR OF DRIVING, WITH THE EASY ENTRY/EXIT FEATURE DISABLED, THE SEAT HAS NOT MALFUNCTIONED. FEEL CONFIDENT THAT THIS DISABLING CONCEPT SOLVED THE PROBLEM. WILL STILL DRIVE WITH WOOD IN PLACE AS INSURANCE.