What 22 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Ford Transit Connect Van

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Transit Connect. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V294000 (Visibility); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that two dealers were made aware of the issue and informed the contact that there were no technicians at the dealer capable of performing the recall repair. The contact was promised a call back once a technician was able to service the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and referred the contact back to the dealer. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11655051

I had been driving my car for a few minutes when I heard a loud pop and my rear window glass shattered. Covered in spider glass cracks and only held in place by the tint. No point of impact visible to show that it had been hit by an object. It was chilly, 43 F, and I had the heat/defrost on. Unfortunately, when arriving to work, I opened my sliding door look at the damage from the inside and doing so caused glass to fall out, so I have no picture of just the glass the way it was when it broke. A quick search shows this has happened to other vehicles including transit connects like mine, and caused by the heated glass.

NHTSA ODI 11438866

VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED (STANDARD EQUIPMENT, NOT AN OPTION) WITH AUTOMATIC FOLDING SIDE VIEW MIRRORS ON DRIVERS DOOR AND PASSENGER DOOR. SAFETY FAULT IS THAT VEHICLE CAN BE STARTED AND DRIVEN WITH THE VEHICLE IN FOLDED POSITION. FORD DEALERSHIP AND FORD'S CUSTOMER HOTLINE ARE CLAIMING THAT THIS IS NORMAL OPERATION OF THESE MIRRORS. HOWEVER, COMMON SENSE DICTATES THAT A VEHICLE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE DRIVEN WITH THE MIRRORS FOLDED. LEGALLY, THIS APPEARS TO BE IN VIOLATION OF US DOT REGULATION CFR 571.111 S5.2.1 WHICH RELATES TO THE FIELD OF VIEW REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OUTSIDE REARVIEW MIRROR - DRIVER'S SIDE. IF THE MIRROR IS FOLDED, IT DOES NOT MEET THAT REGULATION. AS SUCH, THE MANUFACTURER CODING OF THE FOLDING SYSTEM'S HARDWARE SHOULD ALWAYS DEFAULT TO FULL OPEN POSITION WHEN THE VEHICLE IS RUNNING OR IN MOTION. THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT HAS INDICATED THAT THERE IS NO SETTINGS IN THEIR CONTROL RELATED TO CHANGING OR DISABLING THE FUNCTION OF THE AUTOMATIC FOLDING MIRRORS. THEY HAVE SEEN THE PROBLEM BUT CONSIDER IT NORMAL OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE. THE SCENARIO TO PRODUCE THIS PROBLEM IS SIMPLY: - UNLOCK AND ENTER THE VEHICLE (MIRRORS UNFOLD TO OPEN POSITION) - LOCK THE VEHICLE USING THE BUTTON ON THE ELECTRONIC KEY/FOB. (MIRRORS FOLD) - START VEHICLE. (MIRRORS REMAIN FOLDED AND WILL REMAIN FOLDED AS LONG AS VEHICLE IS BEING OPERATED) ----- IF PROBLEM IS SPECIFIC TO MY VEHICLE, IT REQUIRES REPAIR. BUT IT APPEARS THAT PROBLEM IS RELATED TO EVERY SIMILARLY EQUIPPED VEHICLE OF THIS YEAR/MODEL AND MAY EXTEND TO OTHER FORD MODELS. IF SO, THIS REQUIRES A RECALL AND RESOLUTION TO COMPLY WITH REGULATIONS AND BASIC SAFETY FUNCTION.

NHTSA ODI 11129214