2004 Mercury Monterey Seats Problems

“When my 10 year old son was getting in the car today he noticed that the 3rd row seat was wobbly and moving around. We saw that the latch that holds the seat in place was no longer there! In its place was a hole to the outside of the car. I looked in the drivers-side rear wheel well and saw that the entire latch anchor plate had rusted completely off! …”

“There is a recall on Mercury Monterey 2004 vehicles to replace the seat anchor mechanism on the third row seat due to corrosion. Nhtsa campaign number 13v081000. My vehicle is not part of this recall by VIN number but my vehicle's seat anchor mechanism has become dislodged from the wheel well and moves freely causing my third row seat not to latch in place properly. I am asking for an investigation to be started into other Mercury Monterey 2004 vehicles outside of this recall notice to determine if they need to be included on this recall. …”

“The vehicle was stopped at the time. My daughter had opened up the 3rd row rear bench seat from the floor. In the process of trying to adjust it, she noticed that it made a racheting sound and the seat back would not stay in position. A week later, after a close examination, I observed that the bracket that the front latch is mounted on at the drivers side is rusted and allows large amounts of vertical movement. After wiggling the bracket up and down, I observed about a tablespoon of rust flakes on the carpet. Not really sure what to do about this.”

“On june 17, 2012 my son went to sit in the rear seat and the seat dropped. Then we heard a noise from that same wheel. I took it to our mechanic the next day and they said that the latch for the rear seat and floor has rusted through and causing the floor to fall on the tire which now has a big chunk out of it. He said that we should no longer use the rear seats. He said that with the progression that rust moves that we will only be able to use this van for maybe another year. This van is only 8 years olds and has serious interior rust issues. …”

“After a rainstorm I opened the tailgate of my vehicle and was surprised to find that the rear wheel well was wet. I vacuumed the water out and brought it to the dealer almost 2 months later after finding moisture several other times. The dealer had a service tech try to recreate how the water got in and determined that I had cracked a panel. The only crack visible to me was in a trim piece around the license plate. They told me it would cost over $600 to repair. I told them nevermind. That much water could not come from that crack. Fast forward to a time near the present. …”