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NHTSA defect investigation · Audit Query

Ford audit query AQ22002

Healey Brothers Ford / Open Recall Sale. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this audit query about the control/drive module on 1 model year (2021). Opened Jun 3, 2022 and still open — 4.3 years so far. open

What NHTSA says

Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filed

NHTSA is opening this audit query to investigate whether Healey Brothers Ford, LLC of Beacon, New York, has complied with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The Safety Act requires, among other things, that a manufacturer notify its dealers of defects related to motor vehicle safety and noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and in turn that a dealer not deliver a new vehicle subject to a recall unless the recall remedy has been performed. 49 U.S.C. § 30120(i).NHTSA is in receipt of information that indicates this dealer delivered at least one new vehicle to a first purchaser without having performed required recall repairs. Accordingly, we are opening this audit query to seek additional information concerning this issue.

Stage Audit Query Opened Jun 3, 2022 Closed still open Manufacturer Ford Motor Company Components Fuel System, Gasoline › Delivery › Fuel Pump › Control/Drive Module

A Audit Query is an audit of the manufacturer's own reporting obligations — early-warning data, recall notices, remedy — rather than of a vehicle condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.

What this means for an owner

Source: and what happens next

An investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.

This one is open. Nothing is owed on the vehicle today; if it becomes a recall, owners are written to and the repair is free. The moment to know is the day the campaign number appears — Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, or take a free one-line alert by model year.

Model years it names

Source: as NHTSA filed them

A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.

Common questions

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Is AQ22002 a recall?

No. A audit query is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one has not produced one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Is AQ22002 still open?

Yes, as of NHTSA’s latest file: opened Jun 3, 2022, 4.3 years ago.

Which vehicles does AQ22002 cover?

NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2021 Ford Escape. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.