Rear right passenger seat belt did not retract. Dealer stated the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA recall 99V25000. Also, rack and pinion steering had to be replaced because of a seal leak.

- Reno, NV, USA

The rear seat belts shoulder belts do not retract at all. This is a serious safety problem. After talking to dealership the warranty is only for 5 years 50000 miles. So is Ford saying that after this warranty is up on my 1999 Sable that my families life is worthless.. all seat belts should be warranted for the life of the car, not 5 years 50000 miles..shouldn't all satey related equipment in vehicles be warranted for life? there was a recall for the front shoulder belts on this vehicle. There should be a recall for the rear seatbelts also. They both have stopped working at the same time and that should say something is wrong with them. These seatbelts have not been abused or wear and tear is a bad call on this one.. this car is only is only 5 years old and wear and tear does not play into this at all..this problem should be looked into..

- Berrien Springs, MI, USA

Seat belt retractors are failing in order of most frequent use (e.g. driver, front passenger, rear passengers). The driver's belt retractor fails to pull the seat belt back into the columnar storage area 100% of the time (front passenger belt 50% and rear passengers ~10%). this presents a safety hazard as the belts will not provide the life saving tension required during an accident. The belt hangs limp over the wearer. Seat belts are required to be worn by law. Yet, auto manufacturers are not required to warranty these parts for the life of the car. The great majority of manufacturers only warrant seat belts for 3 years or 36000 miles. As consumers, are we to believe that this means manufacturers only expect the seat belts to function during this time period. This is absurd and should be changed via legislation requiring auto makers to warranty legally required safety devices for the life of the car. It would force manufacturers to make these parts to last instead of engineering them to last until just after the warranty period is over.

- Urbana, IL, USA

I purchased the used vehicle April 03. Early August, I went out to lunch with a friend-when he attempted to put on the vehicle seat belt in the front passenger seat it would not work. We drove his car instead. I thought it was a fluke. I decided to check the internet and located this problem as a manufacturer recall and figured it would be no problem for the dealer to take care of it. This problem continued to happen but because of my work schedule I was unable to get the vehicle to the dealer because of the hours of the service department. From August to date no one has been able to ride in the front seat. I was on vacation and I contacted the dealer to schedule a service appointment. I took the car in on 12/30/03 and was told that I needed to pay a $75 diagnostic fee as no information came up for this vehicle indicating a recall or a warranty. The warranty situation was corrected but I received a message from tonia cooper (service department) after I faxed over the recall information from NHTSA that my vehicle would not be covered under the recall. I thought this was absurd; I am experiencing the same problem that is noted on all of the documentation of the recall but because Ford neglected to include my VIN number no one would help me. What's worse is that I called Ford' customer relations on 12/30/03 and spoke with syed who refused to give me a last name or an id# and he told me there was nothing I could do and no one outside of customer relations at the dealership that I could contact to get this matter resolved. I find it most irritationg that no one could conceive the notion that this VIN# (& perhaps others) were erroneously omitted from the recall. I looked at the 3 complaints from other owners & one has a VIN# very similiar to mine. Thank you for your assistance in this matter, I only wish that I could have resolved this matter with Ford directly. Passenger safety & Michigan's "click it or ticket it" law has makes this an extrememly important issue!

- Detroit, MI, USA

Front passenger side seatbelt does not release from retracting mechanism, causing seat belt to become inoperable.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

Driver's rear seat belt was retracing and choking a five year old child. Was unable to release the belt, fireman had to cut the belt to free the child. Dealer notified and will replace belt without cost. The consumer says that the seat belt should be designed with a release on the retractors to avoid this kind of horifying accident.

- Pittsfield, MA, USA

Front passenger side seatbelt retractors do not retract in cold weather; temperatures of minus five degrees or less. Has to be brought inside to function correctly. Dealer can't fix.

- Mt. Iron, MN, USA