- Vehicles
- 144,435
- Built between
- Apr 2000 – Aug 2000
- Models
- 10
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 26 October 2000
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between April 2000 and August 2000. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2000 Ford ContourBuilt May 2000 to August 2000
- 2000 Ford EscortBuilt May 2000 to June 2000
- 2000 Ford ExplorerBuilt April 2000 to June 2000
- 2000 Ford F-150Built April 2000 to July 2000
- 2000 Ford RangerBuilt April 2000 to June 2000
- 2000 Ford WindstarBuilt April 2000 to May 2000
- 2000 Lincoln Town CARBuilt April 2000 to June 2000
- 2000 Mercury MountaineerBuilt May 2000 to June 2000
- 2000 Mercury MystiqueBuilt May 2000 to August 2000
- 2000 Mercury VillagerBuilt May 2000 to June 2000
What the defect is
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and mini vans equipped with trw seat belt buckle assemblies. The buckle base of these seat belt assemblies were not properly heat treated and therefore do not pass the load bearing requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies."
What could happen
In the event of a vehicle crash, the occupant may not be properly restrained.
What gets fixed
DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE DATE CODE ON CERTAIN SEAT BELT BUCKLES OF YOUR VEHICLE AND REPLACE ALL SEAT BELT BUCKLES THAT FALL WITHIN THE SUSPECT DATE CODE RANGE. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN OCTOBER 26, 2000.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtApril 2000 to August 2000
- Recall reported to NHTSA18 August 2000
- Owners notified26 October 2000
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 18 August 2000.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- 00S21
- Recalling manufacturer
- FORD MOTOR COMPANY
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 209
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.