NHTSA recall 03V507000
A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.
| Published by | NHTSA (United States) |
|---|---|
| Campaign number | 03V507000 |
| Manufacturer's number | 03S10 |
| Manufacturer | FORD MOTOR COMPANY |
| Reported | 2003-12-05 |
| Owners notified | 2004-02-02 |
| Component | SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY |
| Units potentially affected | 132243 |
What is wrong
ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, A POST WITHIN THE SAFETY BELT BUCKLE COVERS COULD FRACTURE, WHICH COULD AFFECT LATCH FUNCTION, RESULTING IN EITHER A "NO LATCH" OR "PARTIAL LATCH" CONDITION. IN THE "PARTIAL LATCH" CONDITION, THE BUCKLE TONGUE CAN BE INSERTED INTO THE BUCKLE AND APPEAR TO BE ENGAGED, BUT WILL RELEASE FROM THE BUCKLE WITHOUT THE PUSH BUTTON BEING DEPRESSED WHEN A RELATIVELY LOW LOAD IS APPLIED, SUCH AS WHEN AN OCCUPANT MOVES SLIGHTLY IN THE SEAT.
What can happen
IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE SEAT OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED, INCREASING THE RISK OF INJURY.
The remedy
DEALERS WILL HAVE THE DRIVER AND FRONT PASSENGER SAFETY BELT BUCKLE COVER REMOVED AND REPLACED WITH A NEWLY DESIGNED SERVICE BUCKLE COVER. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 2, 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT FORD AT 1-800-392-3673.
Notes
FORD RECALL NO. 03S10.CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
| 2001 FORD ESCAPE | Built 1999-10-22 to 2001-05-31. |
|---|
A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.
Investigated as PE03030
This recall followed 1 NHTSA investigation. An investigation is NHTSA looking into a possible defect. It is not a finding that a defect exists, and it does not say that any one vehicle is affected.
| PE03030 | Preliminary evaluation, opened 2003-07-14, closed 2003-12-31. SAFETY BELT BUCKLE FAILURE. SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY. |
|---|
From NHTSA's investigation file, as of 2026-10-19. The JSON has NHTSA's summary of each.
Bulletins for the same vehicles and component
| 042421 | 2005-04-28. Service bulletin. SAFETY BELT RETRACTION SPEED. *TT |
|---|---|
| 04191 | 2005-04-28. Service bulletin. SAFETY BELT BUCKLE AND PRETENSIONER DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODE (DTC) B1877, B1881, B1885 OR B1886. *TT |
| 05310 | 2005-04-05. Service bulletin. SAFETY BELT WEB STOP BUTTON SERVICE. *EH |
| 17343 | 2004-07-23. Service bulletin. FRONT SAFETY BELT SLOW TO RETRACT AND/OR MISSING WEB STOP BUTTON. *TT |
| 17067 | 2003-10-10. Service bulletin. FRONT SEATBELT SLOW TO RETRACT. *TT |
A bulletin is the manufacturer's note to its dealers. It is not part of this recall.