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Ford settles class action suit over defective Navistar diesel engines

The 2003 Ford F-Series Super Duty (shown above) introduced the 6.0-liter Power Stroke diesel supplied by Navistar, and while that is an engine Ford would love to forget, it's now one step closer to putting that particular problem behind it. Automotive News is reporting that Ford has settled a class-action lawsuit brought on by problems with this engine that started right out of the gate and ultimately broke up the 30-year relationship between Ford and Navistar.
Owners and lessees of 2003-2007 Super Duty trucks and E-Series vans equipped with the 6.0-liter Power Stroke are eligible for deductible reimbursements of between $50 and $200 from the original five-year/100,000-mile engine warranty, while Ford is paying out as much as $825 for out-of-warranty engine repairs. These repairs may include the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler, EGR valve, oil cooler, fuel injectors and turbocharger, but are only covered if the components failed before six years or 135,000 miles.
In total, Ford has agreed to pay about 50 percent of the value of the repairs and deductibles paid by its customers who submit a claim before the end of this year, and $150,000 is going to the 16 named plaintiffs in the case; Navistar was not included in the lawsuit.

Ford recalling nearly 700k Escape CUVs, C-Max hybrids over two separate safety issues

Poor Escape. Ever since its launch in 2012, Ford's small CUV has been the subject of many, many, many recalls. And today, The Detroit News is reporting that Ford is adding two more recalls to the 2013-14 model year Escape's permanent record, one of them also involves the C-Max hybrid hatchback.
The first recall, covering 692,500 Escape and C-Max vehicles, is due to a software glitch that could cause the airbags - specifically, the safety canopy - to not deploy in a timely fashion during rollover crashes. According to the News, Ford says no crashes or injuries have been reported in relation to this problem.
The second recall, covering 692,700 Escapes, is related to the door handles. The News reports that the exterior door handles could open while the vehicle is in motion, and could also fail to latch properly. Once again, no crashes or injuries have occurred because of this. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration has not issued an official notice on either recall as of this writing.

2015 Ford F-150 configurator is ready to go to work

Ford is inching towards the on-sale date for the eagerly anticipated, aluminum F-150 pickup. While we're preparing to drive the new truck (expect our take on it sooner rather than later), the best-seller has reached another, albeit more minor, milestone as its online configurator has officially been switched on.
We took to Ford's consumer website to mess about with it and see just how ridiculous of a truck we can build. Among the fun things we discovered were these two nuggets - the most expensive truck we could configure was not the top-end Platinum model, but instead the King Ranch, which rang up at $65,955. The other exciting discovery? The new truck would be available in a questionable shade called Blue Jeans (shown above with the optional contrasting Caribou paint). Yep, Blue Jeans.
You can head over to Ford's consumer page and build your very own aluminum F-150 now. Take a look.