The last Ford Ranger pickup built in North America came off the line on 16 Dec. 2011 at Twin Cities in St. Paul, MN. More than 7 million Rangers were built since 1982.
In the seemingly endless expansion of recalls on deadly Takata airbag inflators, Ford Motor says ~3000 2006 model year Ranger pickups in North America can send shrapnel inside the passenger compartment. Ranger owners should “stop driving their vehicles so dealers can make repairs immediately. Parts are available now, and dealers will get vehicles directly from customers, make repairs and provide a free interim loaner vehicle, if necessary. (See Happy New Year! Another 800,000 Deadly Takata Airbags Recalled)
Another two fatalities caused by driver airbag inflator ruptures from Takata inflators have been recorded. In these sad, and possibly preventable, deaths on 22 Dec, Ford was notified of a crash in West Virginia that happened on July 1, 2017 involving a 2006 Ford Ranger built in North America with a ruptured non-desiccated Takata driver-side inflator. Ford inspected the vehicle on Dec. 27, confirmed that the inflator ruptured resulting in a driver fatality and notified NHTSA. This is the second fatality reported to Ford due to a Takata inflator rupture. The prior fatality was reported in January 2016, which Ford apparently ignored.
Common industry practice used to limit recalls to the fewest number of defective vehicles possible. Until recently, Ford Motor did not even press release safety defect recalls.
Affected vehicles include 2006 Ford Rangers built at Twin Cities Assembly Plant from Aug. 10, 2005 to Dec. 15, 2005.
The recall involves approximately 2,902 vehicles located in North America, with 2,712 located in the United States and federalized territories and 190 in Canada. The Ford reference number for this recall is 18S02. Ford has a VIN look-up tool at Ford.com that customers can use to determine if their vehicle is one of those involved in this action. It can be found here.
