Issues
Ford Stands By Its Car
DETROIT FREE PRESS
December 8, 2003
The Free Press met with Ford Motor Co. representatives Oct. 30to discuss the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor's safety record. Following are excerpts from comments made by Sue Cischke, vice president for environmental and safety engineering at Ford.
PEOPLE HAVE DIED in every vehicle out there. There's not a nameplate vehicle out there that people haven't died in, but does that make it an issue?
HERE'S A VEHICLE that's been out there from 1992 to 2003 — 350,000 of them, we believe, on the road.
Critics Say Fuel Tanks Periously Placed
DETROIT FREE PRESS
December 8, 2003
By Jennifer Dixon
Free Press Staff Writer
The Ford Crown Victoria, the Lincoln Town Car and the Mercury Grand Marquis are an old breed of big, traditional rear-wheel-drive sedans. All three vehicles get five stars from the federal government for holding up in front-end crashes, and at least four of five stars for side-impact crashes. The Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria also get top crash ratings from the well-respected Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is funded by the insurance industry.
Reported deaths don’t add up
Analysis finds more fatal, fiery wrecks
DETROIT FREE PRESS
December 8, 2003
By Jennifer Dixon and Megan Christensen
Free Press Staff Writers
When federal regulators cleared the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car of any safety defects last fall, they blamed fiery rear-impact crashes for just 16 deaths in sedans built between 1992 and 2001. But the Free Press has found that about 30 people died in fiery rear-end crashes in the vehicles during that time — and at least 69 have perished since Ford Motor Co. launched the Panther platform in 1979.
Ford insists cars safe, but cops keep dying
Fatalities from rear-crash fires are higher than government toll
DETROIT FREE PRESS
December 8, 2003
By Jennifer Dixon
Free Press Staff Writer
First of two parts
Letter to NHTSA Administrator Runge – Ford Focus Stalling
November 25, 2003
Dr. Jeffrey Runge, Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
400 7th Street SW
Washington DC 20590
EPA MPG Test Doesn’t Work for Hybrids
By Mark Rechtin
Automotive News / November 24, 2003
LOS ANGELES — In publicity for its Prius hybrid-electric vehicle, Toyota Motor Corp. claims the compact sedan is EPA-certified to get 51 mpg on the highway, 60 mpg in the city and 55 mpg in a “combined” driving environment.
Unfortunately for most consumers, their Priuses will never come close to that performance level.
Press a Toyota engineer, and he'll admit that most Prius owners get around 44 mpg from their cars in combined driving.
NHTSA Gambles With Focus Owners’ Lives
NHTSA Gambles With Focus Owners’ Lives; No Recall Is Bad Law and Bad Safety
Stalling Recalls
Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.
NHTSA ID No.: 68-0027
Date of Company Notification: 3-29-68
Make: Mercedes-Benz
Model: 230, 230S, 250S
Model Year: 1968
Number of Vehicles: 2,404
Fuel delivered to the engine during acceleration may cause engine to hesitate or stall. (Correct by installing modified pump lever for accelerator pump on both carburetors.)
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Ford’s warranty on Focus extended; engines can stall
11/20/03
Christopher Jensen
Plain Dealer Auto Editor
Ford has extended the warranty for the fuel delivery system of the 2000 and 2001 Ford Focus for 10 years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating thousands of reports that the Focus "stalls unpredictably." But Ford has told the federal government a recall is not needed because stalling is not a safety problem.
Stalling is a serious safety defect, said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen and a former NHTSA administrator.