1999 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #774456
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER filed March 16, 2010
NHTSA complaint #774456 (ODI reference 10320120) concerns a 1999 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on March 16, 2010. The owner reports the failure occurred on March 11, 2010. The vehicle had 89,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Illinois based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as seats:front assembly:recliner, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD EXPLORER cohort independently describe similar seats:front assembly:recliner failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1999 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 FORD EXPLORER. THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED WHEN THE CONTACT OBSERVED THE RECLINER BOLT WHICH SECURED THE DRIVER SEAT BACK WAS BROKEN CAUSING THE SEAT TO COLLAPSE IN A BACKWARD POSITION. THERE WAS A RECALL UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 03V281000 (COMPONENT: SEATS: FRONT ASSEMBLY: RECLINER). THE AUTHORIZED DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND STATED THERE WAS A PRIOR RECALL REMEDY REPAIR PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE. THE RECALL SERVICE REPAIR FAILED TO CORRECT THE SAFETY DEFECT. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED FOR THE MALFUNCTION. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 89,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 774456 |
| ODI Number | 10320120 |
| Date Filed | March 16, 2010 |
| Failure Date | March 11, 2010 |
| VIN | 1FMZU32X2XU |
Similar SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER Complaints for 1999 FORD EXPLORER
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 FORD EXPLORER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE SUPPORT FOR THE DRIVER SIDE SEAT BACK AND WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH, THE SEAT FRACTURED. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CA
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 FORD EXPLORER. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THE DRIVER'S SIDE HIGH BACK SEAT COLLAPSED BACKWARDS. THE SEAT RECLINER MECHANISM WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE DRI
1999 FORD EXPLORER RECALL ON SEAT RECLINER CUSTOMER WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT OTHER CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS**CC THE CONSUMER STATED THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE SEATING FOR THE 99 FORD EXPLORER AND IN AUGUST 2003
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 FORD EXPLORER. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE DRIVER'S FRONT SEAT WAS ROCKING AND VIBRATING DUE TO THE SEAT FAILURE, THE CONTACT WAS OCCASIONALLY UNABLE TO REACH THE PE
1998 FORD EXPLORER DEVELOPED PROBLEMS WITH THE FRONT SEAT RECLINER.*MR THE CONSUMER RECEIVED RECALL # 03V281000. THE CONSUMER STATED THE DRIVER SEAT HAS NOT FAILED, HOWEVER THE PASSENGER SEAT DID.
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.