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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
26,324 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1997 Ford Ranger seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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1997 Ford Ranger Owner Comments

problem #7

Jul 182017

Ranger

  • 24,600 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Takata recall -- I believe all airbags are defective and more dangerous than riding with seat belts alone. I recommend 100% disabling of airbags and the removal of all airbags and associated hardware from future vehicles.

- Elkton, MD, USA

problem #6

Apr 142013

Ranger

  • 106,243 miles
Air bags.. deflating, unserviceable, demand useless, only on passenger side, drivers side dislodged horn fuel/propulsion.. with fuel tank filled, first half(1/2) tank having excessive fuel consumed. Second (1/2) of fuel consumed at owners manual specifications of city and highway miles per gallon. Throttle pedal stiff, sticks, after normal daily warm up, extra foot pressure needed to dislodge pedal and cable, real sluggish as if not receiving enough fuel to injectors, even after regular maintenance completed.. seat belts.. drivers side hookup retaining latch malfunctions and " will not remain latched", several attempts need to be made before getting a strong seatbelt clip to latch locked

- Salem, OR, USA

problem #5

Feb 042013

Ranger 4-cyl

  • miles
We were doing 30mph and we hit a sheet of black ice. Then we hit the guardrail. When we hit the driver side air bag did not go off until the vehicle stopped and the passenger side air bag did not go off.

- Spencer, WV, USA

problem #4

Jun 262003

(reported on)

Ranger

  • 53,423 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Vehicle was in a very severe front/side collision. Vehicle was totaled, but none of the air bags deployed upon impact.

- Watson, AR, USA

problem #3

Feb 012003

Ranger 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
1997 Ford Ranger XLT extended cab. When I applied my brakes, instead of stopping at this "T" hwy intersection, I ran past it, and hit a 12" diameter tree head on. Ice on the road. I was wearing my seat belt. Neither the driver's side nor the passenger side air bags deployed. The indentation on the front bumper was over two feet deep. My head and right side of my body smashed against the steering wheel, and my I broke my left collar bone, fractured and bruised several ribs on my right side, broke my right foot heel bone, cut my nose, plus numerous other minor cuts, bruises and abrasions. After about 45 seconds, a huge ball of fire erupted from under the crumpled hood. I felt the sudden heat on my face, since the windshield was gone and there was a huge gap between the hood and the trucks body. A lady, an angel of god really, helped me out of the truck and into the back seat of her car. She drove about 100 yards to wait for the ambulance to arrive. Before we came to a stop, I heard the two front tires of my truck blow up. All I could see was a ball of fire burning about 20 feet high. Two things seem technically wrong: The air bags didn't deploy, and the fuel pump must have kept pumping fuel, for the fire to spread so rapidly and burn the front of the truck so very completely. This would seem to indicate the possible failure of the air bag crash sensors and the fuel pump safety cutoff switch. My tires were one month old michelins, so they weren't a factor. The truck was in excellent shape and it was carefully maintained and garaged. Everything worked on it and no malfunction indicator lights of any kind were on prior to the accident. I have very good maintenance records on it. I contacted Ford by telephone and via E-mail, to let them know of what I thought could be a potential component defect affecting others also. I also contacted their legal office via phone, and they never returned my call.

- Ripley, MS, USA

problem #2

Dec 272001

Ranger

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
While driving, the vehicle was T-boned by another vehicle on the drivers side, the air bag did not deploy, the driver was injured and the vehicle was a total loss. Nlm

- Memphis, TN, USA

problem #1

Sep 301997

Ranger

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Vehicle collided with deer, air bag burned arm of occupant and filled vehicle with smoke.

- Lansing, KS, USA

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