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NHTSA defect investigation · Equipment Query

Ford, Honda and 3 others equipment query EQ12010

Stabilus Rear Liftgate Struts Failing. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this equipment query about the support device/strut on 12 model years (2004–2009). Opened Sep 28, 2012, closed Dec 31, 2012 after 3 months without a recall. closed

What NHTSA says

Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filed

Please see the attached closing resume summary. It has been attached to this document as a PDF.

Stage Equipment Query Opened Sep 28, 2012 Closed Dec 31, 2012 Manufacturer Ford Motor Company Components Structure › Body › Hatchback/Liftgate › Support Device/Strut

A Equipment Query is a query about a piece of equipment — a component, a tire, a child seat — rather than a whole vehicle. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.

The paperwork NHTSA filed

Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov
DocumentCodeFiledAt NHTSA
Opening resumeINOA2012PDF
Closing resumeINCLA2012PDF
Information request to the manufacturerINIM2012PDF
Manufacturer's response — full submissionINRL2012PDF
Memo granting a response extensionINRE2012PDF
CorrespondenceINOT20122 files 12

These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.

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 closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.

Model years it names

Source: as NHTSA filed them

Also named: 2004 Ford Freestar; 2005 Ford Freestar; 2006 Ford Freestar; 2005 Honda Odyssey; 2008 Honda Odyssey; 2009 Honda Odyssey; 2004 Mercury Monterey; 2005 Mercury Monterey; 2006 Mercury Monterey; 2004 Toyota Sienna; 2005 Toyota Sienna; 2006 Toyota Sienna.

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 EQ12010 a recall?

No. A equipment 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 closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Is EQ12010 still open?

No. It closed on Dec 31, 2012 without a recall.

Which vehicles does EQ12010 cover?

NHTSA opened it on 12 model years: 2004 Ford Freestar, 2005 Ford Freestar, 2006 Ford Freestar, 2005 Honda Odyssey, 2008 Honda Odyssey, 2009 Honda Odyssey and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.