NHTSA Complaint #11522499 — 2014 FORD ESCAPE

I would like to voice concern about the 2 pc lugnuts that Ford places on vehicles.They are not good & after doing some research & talking with other Suppliers and Companies regarding this matter, it is my understanding this is an ongoing issue that Ford continues to ignore. This is not safe. My tire had a slow leak in it. I took it to a local Tire shop who advised the Tire could not be fixed because the tear was in the sidewall. They also advised the lugnuts were swollen & in terrible condition & then went on to show me the lugnuts & educate me on the design that Ford has. The reason for the terrible condition is likely because the nuts have to be beaten off unless the work is done at Ford, as they have special tooling & capabilities to deal with the nut. He also advised, instead of recalling, Ford opted to come out with a special tool or tooling that is specific to only their Dealers. Not ok. Not all people want to use Ford for their tire needs. Nobody should ever take one opinion at face value. I went to another local tire shop to make sure the info I was given about my tire AND the lugnuts was correct. However, when I went, I made no mention that I already had the first opinion, nor did I share any of the info with the 2nd Company. Same information was repeated to me, both about the lugnuts & my tire. Very concerning on the lug nuts & I now believe this to be accurate. This place felt so bad for me & for the condition the nuts were in, that they put gently used ones on 1 of my tires, free of charge, just because they had the tire off to look at it & knew the Ford ones were total "garbage". As of today, I went to my local Ford dealer for a tire rotation & oil change. Low & behold, they mention all of my lug nuts are swollen & that I need new. I voiced concern to the Service Manager about the lugnut information. He & the Service Advisor both advised that yes, this was an ongoing complaint & it was bad for them too. This is ridiculous & i complained to Ford also.