2002 Ford Ford Truck

ON THE RIDE HOME FROM PURCHASING MY NEW CAR, MY SEAT BELT CAME UNLATCHED. THIS EVENT REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES ON THE RIDE HOME. I CALLED THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY, AND THEY SAID TO BRING THE CAR IN AND THEY WOULD FIX IT. THE MIDDLE FRONT SEAT BELT WASN'T ASSEMBLED TO BEGIN WITH, SO THEY SAID THEY WOULD FIX BOTH PROBLEMS. DUE TO THE FAMILY CATCHING THE FLU THAT DAY I DID NOT BRING THE CAR IN, HOWEVER THE SEATBELT BEGAN ENGAGING PROPERLY. A FEW MONTHS LATER IT BEGAN LATCHING INTERMITTENTLY AGAIN. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP, BUT THEY SAID IT WAS WORKING PROPERLY. I?VE HAD THIS HAPPEN NUMEROUS TIMES OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WHERE I CAN?T GET THE SEATBELT TO LATCH AT ALL, YET THE DEALERSHIP [I?VE BEEN TO SEVERAL] SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. AFTER 2 YEARS OF CHECKING 2002 RECALLS AND FINDING NOTHING, I FINALLY CHECKED THE 2001 RECALLS AND FOUND SEVERAL EXPERIENCES JUST LIKE MINE. ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO I MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE DEALERSHIP BY PHONE FOR AN UNRELATED RECALL, AND THEY WERE AWARE I HAD A 2002. I TOLD THE PERSON ABOUT MY SEATBELT PROBLEM, AND WAS TOLD IT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE, AND WOULD BE FIXED FOR FREE. WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE DEALERSHIP I WAS TOLD THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG, AND THAT IT WOULD COST $125 TO FIX. I BOUGHT THIS CAR IN JANUARY 2002, AND IT WAS SOLD AS A 2002, BUT IT HAD SITTING ON THE LOT FOR MONTHS. THE SEATBELT PROBLEM HAS ME WONDERING IF I ACTUALLY BOUGHT A 2001. *AK

THE LIFTGATE MOLDING DEVELOPED A CRACK SEVERAL INCHES LONG AFTER OWNING THE VEHICLE FOR 2 1/2 YEARS WITH ROUGHLY 55,000 MILES. A RECALL NOTICE WAS RECEIVED DEALING WITH THE LIFT GATE WINDOW,BUT, THE RECALL DIDN'T INCLUDE THE CRACKED MOLDING. I HAVE NOTICED MANY EXPLORERS WITH THIS SAME ISSUE. I ADDRESSED THIS ISSUE WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN TO HAVE THE RECALL WORK COMPLETED, BUT MY FORD DEALERSHIP WAS NOT WILLING TO FIX THE LIFT GATE UNTIL I AGREED TO HAVE THEM PERFORM OTHER VEHICLE MAINTENANCE TO THE TUNE OF OVER $400. I FEEL THIS IS MORE OF A FORM OF BLACKMAIL THAN KINDNESS. I FEEL THIS LIFT GATE IS A FAULTY PRODUCT AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO PAY THE "EXTRA" MONEY TO HAVE THE GATE MOLDING FIXED. I DO BELIEVE THE RECALL ON THE LIFT GATE WINDOW AND THE FAULTY MOLDING ARE CONNECTED. AFTER THE RECALL WINDOW WAS REPAIRED AND BEFORE THE MOLDING WAS REPLACED, THERE WAS A CONSTENT RATTLE DUE TO THE CRACKED MOLDING. *AK

WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM WORK, MY CAR COMPLETELY CONKED OUT FOR "NO APPARANT REASON." I PULLED OVER THE CAR (THE BEST THAT I COULD) AND STARTED IT BACK UP. I WENT HOME AND IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED MY LOCAL DEALER AND TOLD THEM OF MY PROBLEM. THE MAN AT THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME TO DRIVE MY CAR FOR A FEW MORE DAYS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS. I ALSO HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING SOME "MISSING"/SHAKING WITH MY CAR (PERIODIC PROBLEM.) THE SHAKING IS APPARENT WHEN THE AIR CONDITIONER IS ON BUT DOES OCCUR PERIODICALLY WHEN IT IS OFF. FEELING UNCOMFORTABLE WITH ALL THESE PROBLEMS, I CALLED MY LOCAL DEALER BACK AND SET AN APPIONTMENT TO HAVE MY CAR LOOKED AT. ON JUNE 3RD, MY CAR WAS LOOKED AT BUT WAS TOLD THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS. I AM VERY CONCERNED WITH THIS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE CONKING OUT SINCE IT IS INDEED A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE.*AK