Explorer UT XLT V6

• Automatic transmission
• 59,428 miles

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Complaint Photos

I bought my explorer in November 2007 and took it on holidays. All went well and as far as holidays went it was a dream. No transmission problems, went straight up sand dunes and we had a ball.
A month later I was driving home from work, peak hour traffic, 70km round a bend when suddenly there was an enormous bang and everything went white. Regaining control of the car I managed to steer it off the road, without killing anyone. I actually thought a limb from a tree had fallen on the roof of the car. No such luck!
The reason it had all gone white? I had an enormous air bag wrapped around my face.
For anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of this experience, let me give you a little insight.
Firstly, the explosion, which not only deafens you, but stuns you into complete shock for precious minutes.
Then the interior roof of the car shoots down and shunts your head somewhere into the middle of your neck and shoulders. If you are unlucky enough to have your sunglasses on top of your head, it actually pounds the nose grips into your scalp!
Now with your head securely embedded down your throat somewhere, the airbags proceed to knock you senseless at a speed of about 220mph. Are they soft? NO. They feel like a flying sand bag, which then wraps itself around your face for PROTECTION!
And last but not least, when you think things can't get any worse. You dazedly fall out of your car, hoping to retreat before anything else decides to go off, only to be left dangling by the neck. Pity those little signs on the back of the visors don't tell you that when they deploy, they pull all the door trims off and also have a thin nylon rope that they are attached too. Beware! If you actually survive the airbags, the door trims and ropes may strangle you upon retreat. With all the dust these things give off and the shock of it all, you just can't see the dangers until its too late.
The photo that was taken was nearly a week after the accident, and most of the swelling had subsided, but as you can see, these things are not gentle. The rope that holds the thing, has a knot in the end of it, which also cut into my forearm. Causing bruising, swelling and quite a lot of blood.
My airbag lights had gone on intermittently on previous occasions, but every time I took it in, they went off again.
Ford replaced the airbags with new ones, and a chip that is part of the electronics, which had apparently registered a side impact. (definitely no impact on any part of the car)
What worries me is that this chip has not been updated, redesigned, modified at all. If the existing chip can cause this fault, then what is to stop it happening again? The new chip is made the same way, by the same people, with no modifications. How many people have to get seriously hurt before they take this seriously?
No explanations, no "were terribly sorry, we will have a full investigation". Just, the chip malfunctioned and we replaced it.
I can't afford to take the chance of it happening again. My daughters young skin is a lot softer than mine.
So after only three and a bit months, my car is on the market again. I'm going to loose money on it, but at least I wont be driving something I don't trust.