Owner-reported complaints naming the brake system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 1997 Ford Club Wagon submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
WHEN DRIVING AT 60 MPH FRONT END OF VEHICLE VIBRATES AND BRAKES BECOME INOPERABLE. TOOK VEHICLE TO THE DEALER SEVERA TIMES. PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN REMEDIED AS OF YET. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, AND IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.*AK
FRONT ABS BRAKES WOULD SHIMMY WHENEVER THEY WERE APPLIED. ALSO, WOULD LOCK UP ON WET ROADS. HAS HAPPENED 8 TIMES & BEEN TO DEALERSHIP 8 TIMES. LAST TRIP MECHANIC WOULD NOT WORK ON BRAKES. ADVISED OWNER TO MAKE FORD BUY BACK VEHICLE. ALSO, PROBLEMS WITH AIR CONDITIONER/ TIRES/DRUMS AND ROTORS, AND ODOMETER FAILED TO WORK PROPERLY AFTER 39,000 MILES. *AK
HEATER BLEND DOOR FAILED SEVERAL TIMES AND DOOR IS BROKEN THE DEFROSTER UNIT DOES NOT WORK AND WINDSHIELD IS FOGGY. YH
HAD AN ACCIDENT. THE RIGHT SIDE WHEEL LUGS: NUTS HAD BEEN STRIPPED OFF COMPLETELY. THE ENTIRE WHEEL, ALONG WITH THE BRAKE SYSTEM, HAD CAME OFF. THERE WAS NO CARTER KEY USED ON THE WHEEL. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTOR, JIM WILLIAMS. *AK
FRONT BRAKES FAILED. YH
EXPERIENCING ONGOING PROBLEM WITH BRAKE PEDAL GOING DOWN TO THE FLOOR WHENEVER THE VEHICLE IS DRIVEN IN WET CONDITION, NO MATTER WHAT THE SPEED MAYBE. VEHICLE BEEN INSPECTED/REPAIRED BY INDEPENDENT DEALER, AND PROBLEM STILL OCCURS. DELER/MFR. NOT NOTIFIED AT THIS TIME. NEEDS HELP IN THIS MATTER.
THIS VEHICLE'S FRONT HEAT FAILED AT 9569 MILES. THE DEALER SAID THE HEATER BOX BLEND DOOR FAILED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE HEATER BOX UNDER WARRANTY SUPPOSEDLY WITH A MANUFACTURER MODIFIED UNIT TO CORRECT A KNOWN DEFECT IN DESIGN. THIS VEHICLE'S FRONT BRAKES FAILED AT 11,780 MILES. THE DEALER SAID THAT THE CALIPERS WERE DEFECTIVE AND REPLACED THEM AND THE PADS UNDER WARRANTY. AT 14,824 MILES THE REAR BRAKES WERE GRABBING AND REQUIRED SERVICE. THE DEALER PERFORMED SERVICE AT NO CHARGE. AT 23,550 MILES THE FRONT HEAT FAILED AGAIN. THE DEALER IS AGAIN REPAIRING UNDER WARRANTY. (EXACT SAME PROBLEM.) ALSO AT THIS SAME MILEAGE (23,550, ALMOST EXACTLY DOUBLE THE MILEAGE OF THE FIRST BRAKE FAILURE), THE BRAKES FAILED AGAIN. THE DEALER SAID THE FRONT BRAKES NEED REPLACEMENT AGAIN AND THE REAR BRAKES NEED SERVICE AGAIN AS WELL. THIS TIME I WILL HAVE TO PAY MYSELF. THE DEALER ALSO STATES THAT THIS IS NORMAL MILEAGE FOR BRAKE REPLACEMENT FOR THIS MODEL VEHICLE AND I CAN EXPECT SIMILAR RESULTS THROUGHOUT MY OWNERSHIP OF THIS VEHICLE. I AM SUBMITTING THIS COMPLAINT PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE BRAKE SITUATION (ALTHOUGH THE HEATER IS AN ANNOYING SITUATION).BESIDES BEING AN UNDUE EXPENSE AND INCONVENIENCE FOR OWNERS OF THIS MODEL VEHICLE, MY MAIN CONCERN IS SAFETY RELATED. THE DEALER SAYS THAT THIS IS NORMAL MILEAGE FOR BRAKE REPLACEMENT FOR THIS VEHICLE. THIS VEHICLE HAS NEVER TOWED ANYTHING ALTHOUGH IT IS FACTORY EQUIPPED FOR TOWING. HOW MANY MILES COULD I EXPECT OUT OF A SET OF BRAKES IF I ACTUALLY DID TOW WITH THIS VEHICLE? 3000 - 5000? ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. MOST OF THE MILEAGE ON THIS VEHICLE ARE HIGHWAY OR COUNTRY MILES WITH ALMOST NO CITY MILES. MOST STATES REQUIRE ANNUAL VEHICLE SAFETY INSPECTIONS. WITH THE AVERAGE DRIVER ACCUMULATING 12,000 OR MORE MILES PER YEAR, PEOPLE WITH THIS VEHICLE WILL REQUIRE BRAKES BEFORE A YEARLY INSPECTION. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS THAT THEIR VEHICLE NEEDS NEW BRAKES UNTIL THE VEHICLE DOES NOT STO
WHILE DEPRESSING THE BRAKES PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, THE VEHICLE STARTED PULLING TO THE LEFT. *AK
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Data on this page last refreshed .