A woman from Long Island has claimed that, despite sending her Ford Bronco in for repairs after Ford noted a defect, her car still burned to a crisp after she had reversed it into her driveway. The story was shared on TikTok by Katie (@katieee_lin) with images of her car in flames.
Katie stated that after Ford warned of a fuel-injector defect that could lead to a fire under the hood of the Bronco, she took it in to be fixed. Months went by, and there were no problems at all with her SUV.
However, the repair didn’t seem to have the desired effect. With her car now languishing in a junkyard, Katie decided that the only thing to do was to file a complaint with Ford. After all, she said she had taken the car in to get fixed and didn’t expect it to happen.
Despite the car setting itself on fire, she claimed in her video, viewed nearly 500,000 times, that the Blue Oval didn’t get back to her with the news she had been hoping for. In fact, she said Ford decided that, despite the fire, it was none of their business.
How the Ford Bronco Caught Fire in Katie’s Driveway
@katieee_lin I guess FORD does stand for “found on road dead” #greenscreen #carfire #ford #broncosport #recall ♬ original sound – kp
Katie said that a few weeks before posting her TikTok video, she had been reversing her car, a 2022 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend, into the driveway at her home. After she parked, she noticed that smoke was coming out of the Bronco from under the hood.
Realizing something was amiss, she jumped out of the Bronco and said that, moments later, flames were shooting out of it and beginning to engulf the SUV. “This car is only a 2022; I have had it since 2023,” she said. “I got it brand new with like 7 miles on it,” added the Long Islander. Katie said she had driven just 50,000 miles in the car, with no issues at all, and she kept up with maintenance.
But what really annoyed her was that she had already had a potential defect on the Bronco fixed by Ford. There is an active safety recall covering the Bronco Sport and Escape for a defective and cracked fuel injector. This could let fuel leak onto hot engine components and cause a fire, but this is something Katie said she had already dealt with prior to the incident.
Katie Was Dismayed at Ford’s Interim Fix
Katie showed documents indicating Ford warned owners that there was no permanent repair or that new parts were not available. So she took it to the dealer, which performed a recommended software update that, in theory, was able to detect a cracked fuel injector, so that owners could deal with the issue should it arise.
This interim repair was performed on Katie’s Bronco, and Ford was going to inform her when the permanent repair was available. “Ford has not issued instructions to stop driving your vehicle under this safety recall,” she said while displaying her paperwork. Katie is now questioning whether the interim solution Ford provided is good enough, but is grateful that for her, the outcome wasn’t any worse, and that she physically is okay after the incident.
How Did Ford Respond to the Incident?
Katie’s description of Ford’s response was an interesting one. She stated that having called Ford to file a claim, they then called her back to say it wasn’t their problem. “Because it’s not Ford’s problem that they have an active recall that can cause your vehicle to just catch on fire and, like, potentially put you in danger and maybe death,” said Katie angrily. Perhaps her video will force Ford to revisit the situation.