NHTSA Complaint #729734 — 1996 FORD TAURUS

SOME QUESTIONS, I WAS NOT SURE ABOUT SUCH AS THE DRIVETRAIN, ETC. IN MOST CASES I SAID I DID NOT NOTIFY THE MANUFACTURER, BUT, DID NOTIFY THE DEALER. MOST OF THE COMPLAINTS REGARD MANUF. DEFECTS & MAY NOT BE SAFETY-RELATED EXCEPT FOR THE 1 ABOUT THE PARK PAWL RECALL #96S51; IN THIS CASE, I HAD DONE SEARCH OF RECALLS ON MY CAR MAKE & MODEL THRU CERTAIN INTERNET WEB PAGES & FOUND THERE WERE 5-6 RECALLS ON MY VEHICLE. I CALLED FORD CUST. SVC. & GAVE MY VIN # TO FIND OUT WHICH ONES APPLIED TO MY CAR. I FOUND 2 OF THEM APPLIED TO MY VIN #. I SUSPECT THAT FORD IS NOT NOTIFYING ME OF THESE RECALLS. ONE RECALL--NOT SAFETY RELATED, #98B23, I FOUND OUT ABOUT FROM A SVC. MGR. @ A DEALERSHIP. WHEN I CALLED FORD CST. SVC. & TOLD THEM I HADN'T BEEN NOTIFIED, REP SAID THEY HAD SENT THE LETTER 2 WEEKS PRIOR. WHEN I ASKED FOR A COPY OF THE RECALL LTR, I GOT A BIG RUN-AROUND ABOUT HOW FMC COULD NOT SEND ME A DUPE LETTER SINCE THERE WAS STILL 1 FLOATING AROUND IN THE U.S.P.S.(EVEN THOUGH THE LTR WAS SPECIFIC TO MY VIN #). I FINALLY RAISED ENOUGH "CAIN" TO GET THEM TO SEND ME THE LTR, BUT, IT WAS 2 LATE, MY CAR WAS ALREADY EFFECTED BY THE "HEATING & COOLING" RECALL. THE NEXT RECALL, #96S51, WHICH IS SAFETY-RELATED;I WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF; FORD CST. SVC. SAID THIS RECALL SVC. HAD BEEN PERFORMED AT BOOMERSHINE FORD IN DULUTH, GA ON 3/15/97. WHEN I TOLD THEM THIS WAS NOT POSSIBLE SINCE I WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE RECALL, CS SAID POSSIBLY I HAD TAKEN THE CAR IN FOR ANOTHER SVC. & IT WAS DISCOVERED BY THE SERVICE TECH THAT THERE WAS AN "OPEN RECALL" & THEY PERFORMED THE SVC. @ THAT TIME. I DO NOT HAVE RECORD OF THIS NOR DOES THE DEALER. IN ORDER FOR ME TO FIND OUT IF THE SVC WAS PERFORMED, IT WOULD BE @ MY EXPENSE. FORD CS TOLD ME TO HAVE THE DEALER TO CONTACT THE REGIONAL REP FOR THEM AND HAVE THE WORK AUTHORIZED, HOWEVER, NEITHER OF THEM ARE WILLING TO GIVE ME THE NAME OF THE REG. REP. I CONTACTED BOTH FORD CS AND THE SVC. MGR. @ THE DEALER. EACH LEAVES IT UP TO THE OTHER TO