Ford Falcon recall removes 300 police cars from frontline

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Hundreds of police Falcon cars have been pulled off frontline duties until their steering controls are strengthened after a major vehicle recall by Ford New Zealand.

Police media manager Jon Neilson said enough other cars were available for police work not to be hampered. About 300 of the 2000 vehicle police fleet were affected.

Ford New Zealand has just started mailing formal advice of the recall to the owners of 13,362 Falcons built in Australia between June 1998 and May 2001 and sold in New Zealand.

Almost 220,000 AUI and AUII models are being recalled in Australia, and 1000 in South Africa.

At least 1000 taxis are believed to be involved in the recall.

Many are being given priority bookings at Ford workshops next week, although most are still carrying passengers.

Ford has been telling thousands of owners who inundated a phone hotline yesterday not to panic, but to drive carefully and within speed limits until their cars can be fixed with simple spot welds in coming weeks at the company's expense.

Although the company issued the recall after advice from Australia of two cases of loose steering rack bolts, and one of a missing bolt, it reiterated yesterday that there had been no associated accidents or injuries either there or in New Zealand.

But the recall has prompted an insurance company to reinvestigate an accident in Tauranga in March in which both bolts designed to secure the steering rack of a 1999 AU Falcon sheared off and the driver hit a power pole.

Timber treatment plant manager Morgan Rees told the Weekend Herald he was driving too slowly to be injured, about 35km/h, and the insurance company was satisfied he was not to blame for what it deemed a steering rack failure.

Ford customer services manager Trevor Auger said he was aware that the insurer intended reinvestigating the accident with a view to making a claim against the carmaker.

Mr Auger suggested the bolt failures could have been caused by the impact with the power pole.

But an insurance assessor who initially investigated the accident, and cleared Mr Rees of blame, told the Weekend Herald there was "no way" that could have happened.

He said the structural integrity of the vehicle survived the crash and not even its airbags were activated.