Ford to warranty tires, too

Ford Motor Company has broken with a century -old tradition and will offer its own tire warranty on 2001 and later North American Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and light trucks. The warranty will provide for the replacement of tires for defects in material or workmanship at no charge during the vehicle’s bumper to bumper coverage period. Coverage for Ford and Mercury products is 3 years/60,000km, while Lincolns are covered for 4 years or 80,000km, whichever comes first. According to Ford Motor Company president and CEO Jacques Nasser, “Administering our own tire warranty will also play a leading role in our “early warning system”, providing easy access to data on tire performance.”

Firestone issues continue south of the border…

U.S. consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has launched a campaign to force Bridgestone-Firestone to widen the firm’s voluntary recall of 6.5 million ATX and Wilderness AT tires. At press time, the voluntary recall was essentially complete, ahead of some estimates by as much as a year. In a joint report released with Safetyforum.com, the organization claims that complaints regarding Wilson, North Carolina and Joliette, Quebec-made tires suggest the need for a wider recall.

Bridgestone-Firestone is meanwhile recalling approximately one-week’ s production of Wilderness LE tires manufactured at the firm’s Cuernavaca, Mexico plant to remove approximately 150 bad tires which were built on April 24, 2000. Bridgestone-Firestone reports the problem to originate with a small quantity of “non-specified” rubber material in the belt closest to the centre of the tire. The tires were OE fitments on half-ton Chevrolet Suburbans and GMC Yukon XL sport utility vehicles. Dealers can spot affected vehicles by the driver’s door placard. If the vehicle was manufactured by GM de Mexico in April or May of 2000, call Firestone’s recall hotline at 1-800-465-1904.

…As well as Ford’s Explorer

U.S. Federal regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into seat belts on some versions of the Ford Explorer after a fatality involving a front seat passenger in a 2000 Explorer XLS. The passenger was partially ejected after the buckle portion of the seat belt webbing failed. Ford is currently in negotiations to settle several U.S. lawsuits regarding rollover accidents involving the Explorer.