A 2012 Mustang rental vehicle was returned with all 4 airbags deployed to the Avis/Budget group where I work. the customer seemed truthful and stated they blew out while giving the car full throttle. He doesn't remember seeing anything in his path but felt a jolt and then all 4 bags blew out.
A careful inspection by the Ford dealer showed no damage beyond a plastic chin spoiler on the very bottom of the front bumper was torn. This is normal wear and tear though. There is no previous body or paint repair and no turned bolts on the entire vehicle.
The PCM was sent to Ford in Dearborn MI, and was found to have crash data in it, but nothing severe enough to blow the airbags, especially the side airbags. The explanation was "there was certain parameters that were met to cause deployment". Ford refuses to correct this problem stating the crash data in the black box was enough to cause deployment.
My complaint is: How can they build a vehicle that the airbags can deploy correctly without an impact to the body or undercarriage. The entire car is in damage free condition aside from these airbags being deployed. The even greater complaint is that the side airbags are blown too! My opinion is that the airbags blew due to a faulty driver-side engine mount which is also broken. There is no damage anywhere to the rest of the under body except for the broken motor mount which is obviously defective as there is no point of impact to cause it to break. It broke right in half which is uncommon. Most engine mounts break at the rubber mount area. This mount broke right in the middle of the mount. The aluminum cracked in half. My opinion is the mount was defective and allowed the engine to move up nearly 12 inches from its base, then crash back down on the frame. This was enough of an impact, or jarring effect, to the body that the airbags were falsely deployed.
But, even still: all 4 airbags were blown out on a car without a scratch on the body, undercarriage, or a single turned bolt! Ford refuses to repair this vehicle, and I just felt it needed to be known. Thanks for reading.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
A 2012 Mustang rental vehicle was returned with all 4 airbags deployed to the Avis/Budget group where I work. the customer seemed truthful and stated they blew out while giving the car full throttle. He doesn't remember seeing anything in his path but felt a jolt and then all 4 bags blew out.
A careful inspection by the Ford dealer showed no damage beyond a plastic chin spoiler on the very bottom of the front bumper was torn. This is normal wear and tear though. There is no previous body or paint repair and no turned bolts on the entire vehicle.
The PCM was sent to Ford in Dearborn MI, and was found to have crash data in it, but nothing severe enough to blow the airbags, especially the side airbags. The explanation was "there was certain parameters that were met to cause deployment". Ford refuses to correct this problem stating the crash data in the black box was enough to cause deployment.
My complaint is: How can they build a vehicle that the airbags can deploy correctly without an impact to the body or undercarriage. The entire car is in damage free condition aside from these airbags being deployed. The even greater complaint is that the side airbags are blown too! My opinion is that the airbags blew due to a faulty driver-side engine mount which is also broken. There is no damage anywhere to the rest of the under body except for the broken motor mount which is obviously defective as there is no point of impact to cause it to break. It broke right in half which is uncommon. Most engine mounts break at the rubber mount area. This mount broke right in the middle of the mount. The aluminum cracked in half. My opinion is the mount was defective and allowed the engine to move up nearly 12 inches from its base, then crash back down on the frame. This was enough of an impact, or jarring effect, to the body that the airbags were falsely deployed.
But, even still: all 4 airbags were blown out on a car without a scratch on the body, undercarriage, or a single turned bolt! Ford refuses to repair this vehicle, and I just felt it needed to be known. Thanks for reading.
- Robert W., Cleburne, TX, US