Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Ford, Lincoln
Back in May of 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was
expanding its investigation of 2.7 million
Ford F-150 models for corroding gas tank straps. Less than three months later, the recall is on like Donkey Kong, though
Bloomberg reports that
Ford has announced that the actual number is closer to 1.1 million. Further, the 1997 through 2004 F-150 models will be joined by 1997 to 1999
F-250 trucks and 2002 and 2003
Lincoln Blackwood models.
Ford says the gas tank straps are being recalled due to possible corrosion from road salt and other ice-melting chemicals. And since elements like salt are the reason for the corrosion, Ford is only recalling the trucks in the 21 cold weather states and the District of Columbia.
Ford spokesperson Wesley Sherwood adds that the trucks involved in the recall are of the "older, higher-mileage" variety, adding that the straps can corrode after the trucks spend a lot of time in high-corrosion environments.
While the recall is official as of August 1, Ford reportedly won't begin sending out recall notices until mid-September. When the notices arrive, owners of the affected vehicles can bring their truck to the nearest Ford or
Lincoln dealer for a free-of-charge repair. if the straps aren't available when the customer enters the dealership, Ford will install a cable support under the fuel tank strap as a short-term fix.
Any time an automaker announces a recall of over 1 million units, it's a big deal. And this is the second seven-digit recall of Ford truck in the last few months. Since these are older trucks, most truck buyers will likely turn the other cheek, but we're guessing Ford is hoping this is the last big truck recall for a long while.
Ford recalling 1.1 million F-Series pickups over gas tank straps originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Sedan, Lincoln, Rumormill, Luxury
There's some word that
Ford is seriously considering resurrecting the
Continental name. The internets are buzzing with both confirmation and denial of the rumor depending on where you look. Over at
Automotive News, a report suggests that dealers have been told that the Conti will resurface as part of an upcoming
Lincoln renaissance that includes the introduction of up to seven new or significantly reworked models in short order. Those dealers have supposedly been shown a handful of concept-level renderings of what the new models will look like.
Meanwhile, Motor Authority is reporting that Ford is trying to silence any speculation that the big Continental will return to the Lincoln stable. The site quotes Lincoln spokesman Christian Bokich as saying that of the seven new models headed to the showroom soon, none of them are a new take on the Continental.
That would seem to make sense for a number of reasons. With Lincoln fully embracing a terribly confusing alphabetic naming system, a nameplate like Continental would stick out in a big way (though perhaps Ford is reconsidering this nomenclature strategy). Throw in the fact that the
MKS is currently tucked into the slot that the Continental traditionally held, and there's less and less room for resurrecting the nameplate.
So what does Lincoln have planned for the near future? The crew over at Pickuptrucks.com seems to think that the brand is going to take another swing at a luxury pickup, even though the Blackwood and
Mark LT models before it have failed to move the sales needle. Of course, all of this is just well-intentioned speculation at this point. Chances are that with today's dealer meeting proceedings underway, Lincoln won't be able to keep its real plans under its hat for long.
[Sources:
Automotive News,
Motor Authority,
Pickuptrucks]
Lincoln Continental to return? Depends on who you ask... originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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