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2013 FORD F-150 — VISIBILITY/WIPER

fire · 2157136 · 2025-12-14

Vehicle

Make
FORD
Model
F-150
Year
2013
Manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Component
VISIBILITY/WIPER

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

Turned on my rear defroster to melt ice and snow. As I was sitting in a drive-thru, just 15 minutes later, I saw smoke coming from the bottom edge of the rear window. At first I thought it was the exhaust but then realized that it was too thick. Within 30 seconds there was a pop, like a gunshot. The rear glass had shattered both inside and out. I pulled the truck over to the side and I could see smoke residue on the glass that was still being held in by the moulding. Then I noticed part of the moulding had actually melted. I went online to research and saw this was a problem with this model. Some people have actually lost their trucks to fire when using remote start. Ford should be held responsible to pay for this issue as this is a SAFETY HAZARD both due to fire risk and secondly due to the hazard of shattering glass in the back seat. How many children in the back seat need to be killed or maimed in order for a recall? How many fires must occur before FORD takes responsibility for this design flaw? And, it is a design flaw, as many have had the glass replaced only for it to happen again. The solution of having the back window replaced and unplugging the defroster should not be the burden of the consumer; the onus should be on Ford.

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11704923
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown