Ford Dealership refusing to repair active recalls.

[A_Fox_in_the_Sunshine]

I have 5 active recalls on my Bronco Sport that I purchased in early 2022.

I called the dealership today (Patchogue, NY) and spoke to someone who told me that recalls were no longer going to be repaired unless it was a “Customer Satisfaction issue” where a customer called in complaining of an issue. They then told me that any Ford dealership on the island would handle “recalls” this way.

They then asked me to explain one of the recalls and told me it was already repaired. After checking my paperwork, I realized it was not repaired.

I asked the customer service rep on the phone if this new policy was one in which the specific dealer establishment was implementing or if this was Ford Company wide change. The representative put me on a hold. Here I’m thinking he is going to come back to answer my question. Hah.

Instead he transfers me to someone else who cuts me off with every sentence I attempt to speak.

after the fourth time, I asked if the representative could hear me and stated that he could probably not, which is why I assumed he was cutting me off. I stated that I would call back at a time when I had better signal.

is this a legitimate change or are these people full of it?

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[jkernitzki]

I’d contact Ford corporate directly. Maybe a couple local news outlets. Be a pest.

 

[Dude]

Could be a legitimate change that specific dealership made on their own without involving Ford Corporate however must of the chain of events you stated sound like the dealership is giving you a story hoping you would believe them. Like jkernitzki said above, notify Ford. I would also never go back to that dealerships service department. Let Ford Corporate go after that dealership.

 

[Stircrazy]

Could be a legitimate change that specific dealership made on their own without involving Ford Corporate however must of the chain of events you stated sound like the dealership is giving you a story hoping you would believe them. Like jkernitzki said above, notify Ford. I would also never go back to that dealerships service department. Let Ford Corporate go after that dealership.

a recal involves more than just ford though, so ford can just decide not to fix it. if it is a service bullitin or a service campain then ya it isn't fixed untill the conditions are met but from my understanding is a recall is a mandated saftey repair that has goverment oversite (or what ever group the goverment hasmandated tooversee vehicle saftey.)

 

[Dude]

In the United States:

“ a Ford dealership cannot legally ignore mandatory safety recalls, as they are required to perform these repairs at no cost to the owner; however, (a dealership) might delay repairs due to part shortages or if the recall is non-safety related, but you should contact Ford Customer Service or the NHTSA if they refuse service.

For major issues, a "Do Not Drive" warning means towing is necessary, and you can escalate non-compliant dealers to Ford corporate or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). ”

“ A Ford dealership can legally ignore recalls that aren't safety or emissions-related (often marked with an 'S' in the number), are expired/out of coverage (like some Customer Satisfaction Programs), or if the vehicle has specific issues like a salvage title or severe rust making repairs impossible, though they must perform mandatory safety recalls regardless of age or title status, with some exceptions for very old vehicles or specific exclusion in program bulletins. “

 

[DWG]

Have you verified that the recalls you are talking about actually apply to your vehicle? Have you received recall notices for the 5 recalls you are referring to? If not, have you gone to the NHTSA website and printed out the recalls that you are referring to and showed them to the dealer to verify that they apply to your vehicle? Sometimes while Ford issues the recall if you read the recall notice there might actually not be a remedy yet so the dealer cannot actually repair anything yet or for example in the instance of Recall 25S76 (cracked fuel injectors) there is no remedy yet because Ford is still developing the hardware. For this recall there are 3 different notices to the dealer issued in August 2025 with instructions on how the dealer should proceed. These instructions may answer some of your questions on the dealer behavior.

I went onto the NHTSA site and input recalls for a 2021 Bronco Sport. If you have a 22 you can put your information in to see all recalls for that model year.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?vymm=2021 ford bronco sport

 

[Dude]

Small correction: In the United States, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) have different roles in vehicle safety; NHTSA handles recalls for safety defects, while NTSB investigates major accidents to determine causes, making recommendations, but not enforcing recalls directly, though NTSBs findings influence NHTSA actions.

 

[Billwinkle]

A legitimate recall will never be changed. It will be there until 100% of all registered vehicles under the recall have either been completed or the car was totaled. The recall will be on the effected vegicltil hell freezes over. Im a retired 40 year auto dealer service manager

 

[BroncoBoy25]

I called the dealer I bought mine from regarding a recall notice that was mailed to me. I was told that recalls are handled by someone other than the dealer service, and they would call me. Still waiting.

 

[Dangerdangle]

I've had some scummy interactions with dealership service departments, particularly my local Volkswagen dealer, but the local Ford shop has been great so far.

They've pointed out and fixed over $1500 in warranty work and the only outstanding recall I have is the fuel injectors, which I don't believe Ford has issued a fix for.

It's easier said than done, but you guys need to find a new shop...

 

[Jdiditz]

You guys must have some shaddy dealerships around you. My dealership picked up my BS to do recalls. Not sure how dealerships can deny recall services. Thought they all had to cover them.

 

[incavulator]

Some recalls are voluntary and not mandated by the government. I'm not suggesting this is an example, but one came up in my Ford app recently....something having to do with a seat belt buckle, as I recall. It's mysteriously gone now. I assumed it was something I needed to take it in for, so I contacted a local dealer to schedule an appointment. The service rep informed me that they would happily perform that recall IF I was experiencing the problem described in the notice, but it did not automatically apply to ALL vehicles. I was NOT experiencing this problem, and since I would prefer not to have the dealership mess with my vehicle, I informed them I was not having the issue and I was told I could ignore the notification. Fine with me (for this issue, anyway - not necessarily true for all).

In my experience, @Billwinkle is correct for mandated/high severity safety related recalls. I had a late 80's Mustang that I sold a few years ago and it still showed a recall from decades ago that I chose not to get fixed.

 

[Dude]

Seat belt issue (24N08) is a CSP Customer Satisfaction Program not a recall and you are correct, starting with a Ford App update not too long ago the CSPs are no longer shown on the App

CSP 24N08 states that unless the issue occurs with the vehicle, the dealership will not do any repairs for that CSP

 

[incavulator]

Seat belt issue (24N08) is a CSP Customer Satisfaction Program not a recall and you are correct, starting with a Ford App update not too long ago the CSPs are no longer shown on the App

CSP 24N08 states that unless the issue occurs with the vehicle, the dealership will not do any repairs for that CSP

Sorry about that. Since it disappeared from the app, I couldn't remember if it was a recall or not. I thought it might have been, but my mistake. That's why I indicated it may not be a good example, but there are definitely voluntary recalls.

 

[Dude]

If OP ever responds with the exact Ford recall #s then we can see what they are and if the dealership was ignoring recalls that need to get done

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