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Personal Finance
Ford recall hits the mail
June 11, 2001: 4:21 p.m. ET

Sends letters to customers with details recall of 13 million Firestone tires
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DEARBORN, Mich. (CNN) - Owners of Ford Explorers and other Ford vehicles have begun receiving notices from the automaker of its recall of 13 million Firestone tires.

The letters started arriving nearly three weeks after the world's second-largest automaker said it would undertake the $3 billion recall because data analysis showed Firestone Wilderness AT tires not included in last year's recall are more likely to fail than other tires on the road.

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has maintained its tires are safe, and has countered by saying a flaw exists in the design of Ford's popular Explorer model resulting in potentially deadly rollovers when tires blow. More than 100 people have been killed in such accidents.

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Last year, Firestone recalled more than 6 million tires, but balked when Ford confronted it three weeks ago with its latest analyses. Bridgestone/Firestone abruptly opted to end the two companies' nearly 100-year-old relationship.

In a letter dated June 6 to its customers, Ford puts blame on the tire. Ford said tread separation can occur with the tires, resulting in loss of control of the vehicle and/or a crash.

The recall applies to all 15-inch, 16-inch and 17-inch Firestone Wilderness tires on Ford Explorers, Expeditions, Rangers, Broncos and F-Series pickup trucks, as well as the Mercury Mountaineer and Mazda B-series trucks. Ford described the recall as a precautionary measure.

"We made the decision to take this action after extensive examination of real-world data, laboratory and track testing, and consultations with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," the automaker said.

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If vehicle owners replace the tires at non-authorized locations, Ford will reimburse owners up to $110 each for 15-inch tires and up to $130 each for 16-inch and 17-inch tires. Goodyear dealerships and some Michelin and Continental tire dealers are also exchanging tires at no cost to the customer.

Ford has established a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week hotline for owners to call with questions, 1-866-300-1226. In its letter to customers, Ford also provided a list of recommended tires made by Goodyear, Michelin, BF Goodrich, General and Uniroyal. graphic

  RELATED STORIES

Survey says Firestone losing PR war - June 11, 2001

Firestone asks feds for Ford safety probe - May 31, 2001

Ford to replace 13 million Firestone tires - May 22, 2001

Firestone says it won't sell to Ford - May 21, 2001

Consumer groups blame Ford for poor tire design - Apr. 25, 2001

Firestone says it's solved tire failure - Dec. 19, 2000

Special Reports: Firestone-Ford recall

  RELATED SITES

Ford Motor Co.

Ford's tire recall Web page

Bridgestone/Firestone

NHTSA


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.