Complaint 2208307

Complaint Summary

SEATS

Owner Narrative

I own a 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum built in August 2024. The vehicle has been at the dealership for over 45 days for severe, unresolved electrical safety defects. I have attached photographic proof of the main defects. The first three photos show the driver's instrument display screen behind the steering wheel completely blacking out on startup, blinding critical safety gauges like the speedometer. The center screen stays on, but the main cluster is totally dead. Fourth and fifth photos show the driver's seat memory failure. I manually set my lumbar support to a comfortable 3-4-3 setting and save it, but every time the truck sits, the seat completely deflates to a flat zero default on startup. This causes an immediate driving distraction and ergonomic hazard. The factory navigation also randomly shouts driving directions out of nowhere without any driver input. The dealership is currently trying to install a temporary "bypass wire" hack on my factory harness just to see if it fixes the seat memory. However, Ford's internal hotline (SSSC) refuses to authorize repairs for the black screen or phantom navigation until a tech physically catches it glitching on command. Ford’s policy is to return the vehicle unrepaired if it does not fail during active observation. I am requesting NHTSA to investigate Ford's active evasion of safety recall 25V540 (Ford 25S88). The official recall paperwork states the defective supplier software entered production on May 14, 2024. My truck was manufactured in August 2024—squarely within the defective window—yet Ford is using a model-year loophole to exclude 2024 vehicles from the recall population. They are denying owners a permanent factory software remedy and forcing dealers to use unapproved, temporary physical workarounds. The vehicle is at the dealership and available for federal inspection if need be.

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.