I was driving to work on 1/12/06 at 6:15 am. It was rush hour traffic and all of the sudden my hood flew up. I couldn't see a thing. I had to merge over 3 lanes to get to the shoulder of the road. I couldn't see anything in front of me because the hood of my truck completely covered my front window. When I got to the shoulder of the highway a highway patrol stopped. He said that he was amazed that I wasn't seriously injured or even dead. I got the hood to come back down. The hood wouldn't latch because it was bent up. I had to drive 15 mph down the side of the highway until I could take an off ramp. I had to take all the back roads and drive down the shoulder of the road to get back home. My husband and I pulled up the hood and were shocked to see what the issue was. The hook that locked down my hood was gone. The entire hood hinge and attachment was missing. The only way we knew it was ever there were the 2 screws that held it there. I called the dealership and told them what happened. They kind of dismissed it like I was overstating the facts. The hood was shut. I didn't hit a pot hole or anything. My husband took the truck over to the dealership. As soon as they saw it they said they couldn't believe it. It had to be a manufacturer's defect. They said they had to look it over and talk to their manager and then they would call us. We called back on Friday, 1-13-06. They assured me it was a manufacturer's defect and they were going to replace the hood, grill area under the windshield wipers, and do something with the to front quarter panels because they were bent up from the hood flipping up. They told me it would be done by Tuesday and at no cost to me. It is 1/19/06 and they told my husband they haven't ordered anything and they said they haven't had the time. They said they aren't putting new parts back on my truck. Why is that. I shouldn't have to pay for Ford's manufacture defect that could have killed me.

- Circle Pines , MN, USA