Consumer Complaint Detail

FORD / BRONCO / 1990

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004254064 Incident Date: Jan, 06 2004
Consumer's City: BUFFALO Consumer's State: NY
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company
Model Name: BRONCO Model Year: 1990
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Electrical system:ignition
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1FMEU15N2LL Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jan, 13 2004 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jul, 16 1991
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 8 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: 1990 ford bronco i brought this vehicle in to jim doyle ford on delaware avenue in kenmore n.y, last week. the ignition switch broke, and was to be replaced via recall. the ignition switch malfunctioned, and i smelled fire.saw smoke. turned key off to no avail, immediately ran in the house, grabbed fire extinguisher, called fire dept (car was parked between 2 houses) and ran out and cut battery cable. after determining problem (defective ignition switch) i had the vehicle towed to jim doyle ford. they offered the free repair, and called me stating that something inside the ignition column was broken, and they would charge me 60 dollars plus tax just to diagnose. i declined, went to the dealer, and the ignition switch was just hanging out from the harness under the dash, the mechanic used a screwdriver to push the switch and started the vehicle for me. i then took the vehicle to buffalo key and lock, and the technician (ron chase) found that the internal mechanism in the steering column had broken, and he stated that it is a common problem since the defective (recalled) ignitions generally melt and weld themselves in the "start" position, when the driver attempts to turn it off it causes the rack and rods inside of the steering column to break, rendering the ignition key etc inoperable. this is directly attributable to the defective ignition switch that was recalled. ford stated that they would not pay for this since the only thing covered was the ignition switch itself. $295.00 later, my ignition switch and internal works are replaced, they broke due to a recalled item covered by ford, and ford will not re-imburse me. this is unfair, my truck is in excellent condition, extremely well maintained and the ignition switch was directly the cause of the other damage. plus, my vehicle was in the dealer shop for 3-4 hours and i got it back in deplorable condition (oil/grease all over it, seats and dash covered with grease, steering wheel cover torn off.*ak