A woman who lives near Niagara Falls reached out to Speakers Corner after her driver’s side seatbelt — under a current recall — became completely detached. She’s now battling with Ford of Canada to get the repairs needed.
“I currently cannot drive this vehicle — it’s just not safe,” said Melissa Roma, a longtime Ford customer who owns a 2015 Mustang and was notified via mail about the recall earlier this month.
“Ironically a day after I received that letter, I get in my car and go to put on the seatbelt and it detached from the floor.”
The recall impacts certain 2015, 2016 and 2017 Ford Mustangs stating the driver and passenger front seatbelt pretensioner cable could corrode over time. As a result, the cable could break and the seat belt may not hold a person during a crash.
The problem, Roma said, is after taking her vehicle to several Ford dealerships she was told a fix will not be available until the second quarter of 2026.
“In response, they’ve basically said you can pay for the new seatbelt and then we’ll reimburse you in our second quarter. Well sadly that’s not an option for me,” she said.
She estimated the cost would run around $1,500.
“I just don’t have that kind of money right now,” Roma said.
She is still working with Ford hoping for a solution but remains frustrated with the response so far. George Iny, with the Automobile Protection Association, a membership based non-profit consumer association, doesn’t blame her.
“Her seatbelt actually broke. And in that case, the car maker should be stepping up, providing the part, even if they don’t have a replacement part yet, ordering one of their existing parts,” he said.
Speakers Corner reached out to Ford of Canada for a statement and they said they are continuing to work with Roma but at the time this story was published she remains waiting for resolution.
While impacted drivers have not been told to stop using their vehicles and there are no reported injuries due to the recall, Roma worries it’s still a safety risk.
“How many other drivers are out there where these seatbelts could break on them, luckily for me, I noticed the issue while parked.”
Under the recall notice, posted to Transport Canada’s website, it states: “a seat belt that doesn’t work properly could increase the risk of injury in a crash.”
We then asked Transport Canada if the government agency is investigating the delayed fix or putting any pressure on Ford to help drivers, like Roma, who are stuck without a car.
“We do not influence or control part availability,” the spokesperson told CityNews.
Iny said the agency should do more when responding to delayed action by automakers who issue recalls.
“In the past. they have issued advisories for companies that were laggards. Nissan was one. I know at some point they were not happy with Ford for past recalls but unfortunately the culture here is not to penalize car makers too much,” he said,
As for Roma, she has opened up a claim with the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan as she waits to see how Ford will respond to her issue.
“I just hope they do something to get me on the road again. Hoping someone at Ford will say ‘Good God, she’s had Ford vehicles in the past, there’s more than one Ford vehicle in our family. Fix her up’,” she said.
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