Filed under: Convertibles, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Etc., Recalls/TSBs, Safety, Ford
Ford recalls 2003-2004 Cobras for carpet problems
Yes, that's right, a carpet problem. Ford is recalling nearly 20,000 2003-2004 Ford Mustang Cobras because an
issue has quite literally cropped up with the ponycar's carpeting, which evidently may ride up under the accelerator,
potentially causing an accident. The recall comes after one hundred complaints from Cobra owners, two accidents and an
injury. It's the little things in life, right?
[Source: The Car Connection]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael G 7:47AM (4/12/2006)
The carpet comes up on the 05 models too. Its a shame how it takes someone getting hurt before they fix something in most cases.
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Gardiner Westbound 8:14AM (4/12/2006)
How does Ford make complicated components like engines and transmissions if after 85-years it still hasn't figured out how to install carpeting?
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Chris 8:36AM (4/12/2006)
#2 The same way that NASA can build a space shuttle but makes a mistake in the booster o-rings that causes an explosion. S*** just happens sometimes. Usually its a breakdown in communication between engineering and the outside vendors. Face it, all cars have problems, some more than others, but even the beloved Toyota has issues as evidenced by tens of thousands of sludged up engines. I'm a technician at Carmax, so I see and work on all the latest cars on the market. One of the most problematic vehicle lines on the market right now is Nissan, much more so than GM or Ford. Titans, 350Zs etc. have multiple serious problems including transmission failures, engine failures, brake problems , wiring issues etc.
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Howard Kerr 8:37AM (4/12/2006)
Strange, other websites that have this story are calling it a pedal placement problem, and say that the government is investigating problems with the gas pedal. According to them, when the gas pedal is pushed nearly to the floor (something the driver of a Cobra does more often than the driver of a V6 equipped Mustang), the gas pedal gets caught by the carpet. What's weird is that these same websites say that the pedal placement in Cobras is different than the pedal placement in other Mustangs. What's the deal Ford?
Apparently, not too many factory test drivers drive Cobras like John Q. Public does.
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Johnny B 9:18AM (4/12/2006)
This is just sad!
A carpet recall of all things...Can't even get that right Ford?, how poor...!
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Johnny B 9:28AM (4/12/2006)
Hey, this one is for Chris(the 3rd comment above)...
How dare you compare Ford Motor company to NASA. When speaking of space flight there can be "NO" problems, when there are problems people "will" die(If it is a maned flight) and Millions if not Billions of Dollors will be lost, not to mention the time. There is no "shit happens" attitude in the space program!
Now, to the point, how hard is it to put a damn carpet in a car? Compare that with landing on the Moon...!
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David 10:15AM (4/12/2006)
The carpet is messing up in my '99 mustang also...think the dealership will fix it?
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Mal Fuller 10:42AM (4/12/2006)
Since the car is a Cobra, maybe there's some kind of "magic carpet" effect happening here!
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J. Lioneye 11:16AM (4/12/2006)
Ah what a bunch of Ford haters. Check around - Chevy, GM, they all have the occasional issue / recall. I've got a Cobra and it has been problem-free for close to 70k miles. So I'll take it in and let them finagle with the carpet / pedal / whatever. Big deal. Feel free to whine about how "his carpet probably sucks" as I just yer @ss on the highway...
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Michael Smith 12:53PM (4/12/2006)
It's not only happening on Cobra's......
My 02 GT does it also.
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That One Person 3:45PM (4/12/2006)
This is unfortunate but things happen. I suppose its ok for Toyota engines to sludge up or VW's to have electrical problems or any other companies to have some sort of issue. But when it comes to Ford...ITS THE END OF THE FREAKIN WORLD!
I dont see why the pedal placement would be any different from a five speed Mustang GT. Who knows...
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rusty 6:13PM (4/12/2006)
They are different pedals, aluminum. They are also placed more conveniently by SVT engineers for heel/toe dowenshifts, something the guys designing V6s don't care so much about.
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Jim Cip 8:50AM (4/13/2006)
Of the 19,140 03-04 Cobra's built, 101 customers have had this problem, I'm not one of them. Considering it's one of the fastest and best priced production cars of all time, I still love mine!
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Tom Design 9:23AM (4/13/2006)
Any company who bothers with a recall should be applauded, instead of the whole product line being whined about by the blog flamers. If a maligned carpet is bothering you so much, sell the frigging car and move on with a TL or A4 or whatever you think will solve your carpet fitting nightmares. This is one repair that just seems trivial to me...it used to happen on a commuter Corolla i owned, but when the accelerator got stuck, i didn't go anywhere very fast and just flipped it with the edge of my shoe. I don't know why i floored that car anyway, it just moved at it's own steady, reliable pace.
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Richie Prasad 10:16AM (4/13/2006)
That's what you get for buying a ford. If you consumer out did'nt figure it out by now, I feel sorry you.
Ford is so caught up with putting more electronic stuff in there veh. that actually building a veh. that works.
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Jenna 1:15PM (4/13/2006)
Screw the cobra carpet, when are they going to recall all the trucks and SUV's that keep blowing the spark plugs out causing expensive repairs that the consumer is forced to pay.
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Jeff Fox 12:23PM (5/23/2006)
I had the recall carpet fix on my 2003 Mustang Cobra and beware: the idle seems to be f*ck*d now. I might need to adjust something, but not just sure what yet. If I come to a fast stop when the car is cold, it dies now. Sh*t just keeps on happening...
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