NHTSA Complaint #11491126 — 2014 FORD ESCAPE

I set an appointment to take my 2014 Ford Escape into The Faricy Boys Ford Dealership in Cañon City, Colorado for a “The Works” service on 21 Oct 2022. This oil change service includes oil change, oil filter, multi point inspection and tire rotation. I took it in that morning for this service and waited in the waiting area for my vehicle to be completed. I was approached by [XXX], my Service Advisor, and told they encountered an issue. [XXX] told me my “lug nuts are swollen” and need to be replaced immediately for safety issues in addition to the fact that without new lug nuts they’re unable to do the tire rotation on my vehicle. I was told that swollen lug nuts meant there’s no way to change a tire with the provided tire wrench in the vehicle. She proceeded to tell me that they have the lug nuts in stock for just under $200.00. Sounded odd, extremely expensive and so I refused. $200.00 for lug nuts when this is a Ford issue with inferior product on an item as simple as the tires! According to what I found, “lug nuts can swell and delaminate after changes in temperature and exposure to moisture. Vehicle owners then have to try (and apparently fail) to remove the swollen lug nuts with a lug wrench supplied with the Ford. They have to replace them.” At home I looked this up and found that six models of Ford vehicles from mid 2010’s that all have the same problem. The core of the manufactured lug nuts is steel with chrome, stainless steel or aluminum to match the wheels. Now I’m in a place where my lug nuts may not come off if I have a flat, which could strand me who knows where in addition to not knowing what other long term problems these cheap lug nuts will cause all of us who own these vehicles. We should have these lug nuts replaced at no cost with correct lug nuts that are safe and won’t abandon us in unknown location, especially someone like me with Rheumatoid Arthritis!! INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).