— A Ford door latch recall has been issued for more than 268,000 cars following a federal investigation into previous Ford door latch recalls.
The 2014-2015 Ford Fiesta, 2014-2016 Ford Fusion and 2014-2016 Lincoln MKZ cars have door latches that prevent the doors from closing.
Ford says the vehicles have door latch pawl spring-tab designs that can crack and fail, especially in areas with high ambient temperatures.
Only cars in certain areas of the U.S. are affected by the door latch recall: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington and federal territories.
Ford says a door can unlatch while driving if it took multiple attempts to close and latch the door. However, the automaker says it doesn't know of any crashes or injuries related to the problems.
The door latch recall includes 248,912 cars in the U.S., 19,431 in Mexico and four in Canada.
The 2014-2015 Ford Fiestas were built between November 1, 2013, and December 4, 2014. And the 2014-2016 Ford Fusion and 2014-2016 Lincoln MKZ vehicles were manufactured November 1, 2013, to April 27, 2015.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation in December 2019 into previous Ford door latch recalls in 2015 and 2017.
The government said the formal investigation was necessary because hundreds of Ford owners continued to complain about door latch failures. Many of those complaints were about cars that had been repaired during the 2015 and 2017 Ford door latch recalls.
Dealers will replace the door latches, but the automaker didn't announce when the recall will begin.
Ford Fiesta, Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ owners may call the automaker at 866-436-7332 and use reference number 20S15.
Read owner-reported complaints about the cars named in the Ford door latch recall:
- Ford Fiesta: 2013 / 2014 / All Model Years
- Ford Fusion: 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / All Model Years
- Lincoln MKZ: 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / All Model Years