2006 Lincoln Navigator was parked. Entered vehicle and inserted key in ignition. I cranked the vehicle, sat back to have the car warm up. About 5 seconds after cranking the vehicle, air bag inadvertently deployed without incident. Car was filled with white smoke. Contacted local Ford/Lincoln dealership and was told they had never heard of a vehicle airbag deploying without incident. Contacted Ford/Lincoln corporate office and they offered to pay for the diagnostic at local Ford/Lincoln dealership. Diagnostic revealed no accident data, and a defective clockspring mechanism in the steering wheel....same problem as previous recalls in 2006 Ford F150 and Lincoln mark lt, which obviously share parts with my vehicle. Ford/Lincoln offered to pay for the repairs, less a $200 deductible because, as they stated my vehicle was not covered under the recall even though it's the same problem that other vehicles were recalled for.

- Stockbridge, GA, USA