US safety regulators reportedly have stepped up a probe into faulty door latches on 261,000 of Ford’s problem-plagued 2000 model year Focus cars.
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According to Reuters, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a preliminary evaluation of the problem had been escalated to the status of an “engineering analysis,” a move that often precedes a safety recall.
The report noted that 2000MY Focus vehicles have already been recalled 13 times, an embarrassingly high total for a car from the second-largest US automaker. By contrast, there have been no recalls involving Ford’s 2002MY Focus.
NHTSA reportedly said it had received 17 complaints alleging that one or both rear door latches were difficult to close and the doors came open while the vehicles were moving.
Separately, NHTSA told Reuters it had also opened an engineering analysis into about 110,000 of Toyota Motor’s MY2002 Tundra pickup trucks.
NHTSA said consumers had complained of a faulty ball joint in the front suspension of the trucks that resulted in a loss of vehicle control or front braking ability. One crash has been linked to the failure of the ball joint.
