Recall · 20V497000
Ford Motor recalled 2 models over air bags
488
Vehicles covered
2
Models
2
Model years
August 21, 2020
Filed with NHTSA
AIR BAGS:CRITICAL FASTENERS
- The defect
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020 Explorer and 2020 Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The side air bag and/or seat back module attachments may not have been properly tightened in the front seat backs.
- What it can cause
- If the side air bag or seat back fasteners were not properly tightened, the side air bag deployment could be affected, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.
- What the dealer does
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will remove front seat back panels from one or both front seats (VIN-specific) and verify that the fasteners have been properly tightened, free of charge. The recall began September 10, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S48.
- NHTSA's note
- Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 488 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 50% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers one model year, 2020, and the defect was reported to NHTSA in 2020, at or before the oldest model year it covers — as current as a recall gets.
Ford vehicles have been recalled over the air bags 38 times before this, most recently in July 2020 as 20V415000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for all 2 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 1,306 complaints with NHTSA, 61 of them before this campaign was filed. 5 of those name the air bags, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 37 other recalls published here, the newest being: 26V451000 (seats), 26V402000 (power train), 26V159000 (seat belts), 26V123000 (back over prevention).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Ford Motor Company with NHTSA on August 21, 2020 as campaign 20V497000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2020-08-21.
Independent developer and analyst