Yucca Valley man fights to get Ford to replace recalled Takata airbag in his Ranger pickup

Joshua Tree resident James Wehe fought back tears, yet showed his anger, while recently talking about his recalled 2006 Ford Ranger.

“A big company like Ford, and to play the game they’re playing, right now with my life, i can’t believe it,” said Wehe.

Ford recently alerted all owners of that model truck, and the Mazda “B” series pickups to stop driving the trucks altogether, because of defective, and potentially deadly, Takata airbag inflators, capabable of exploding without warning.

The rare “do not drive” order came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“So mean time, like I said, I have to drive that, with that airbag could go off anytmie, anyplace, and i would die because of it,” said Wehe.

Wehe says he wanted to park his Ranger, but could not, because it was his only transportation, which he needed to get to his doctor appointments, and the pharmacy, to pick up medication.

He suffers from debliating back pain after years of driving a big rig.

“Its my life, the only thing I have, the only thing I probably ever wil have,” said the retiree while talking about his pickup.

Wehe contacted CBS Local 2, and asked us to “Stand for Him”, after he repeatedly tried but failed to get an appointment scheduled with Yucca Valley Ford to have the airbag replaced,

After talking with Wehe at his home, we visited Yucca Valley Ford to get some answers.

In the service department, we spoke with manager David Flannigan who said Ford is “having a hard time keeping up with demand” for the airbag replacements for the Rangers. Flannigan said he ordered an airbag for Wehe April 1st, but said he had “no idea” when the shipment would come in.

We then contacted Ford headquarters in Michigan, and told a media relations represenative about Wehe’s unsuccessful attempts to get his truck serviced.

Then, a few days later, Yucca Valley Ford called Wehe, asked him to bring his truck in, and they finally replaced the airbag.

We spoke with Wehe again after the work was finished, and he was grateful.

“If you guys wouldn’t have been involved, I would never have gotten it done. But you guys obviously pushed the right button on somebody, to get off their dead butt to do something about it,” said Wehe.

The media relations represenative for Ford, Elizabeth Weigandt, did not provide an explanation for why it took so long for Wehe to get his air bag replaced.

However, she did provide this written response:

“Safety is a top priority and Ford is committed to moving quickly on behalf of our customers. We identified certain 2006 model year Ranger vehicles in with airbag inflators that pose higher risk of rupturing in the event of a crash. We take this matter very seriously and are advising owners of these specific 2006 Ford Rangers to stop driving their vehicles so dealers can make repairs immediately. Parts are available now, and dealers are prepared to get vehicles directly from customers, make permanent repairs that will resolve the safety risk and provide a free interim loaner vehicle, if necessary. In the case of other Takata recalls, some parts are available for certain vehicles now and Ford is providing loaner vehicles in circumstances where replacement inflators are not available. Customers can determine availability by using Ford’s VIN look-up tool at Ford.com.”

“I don’t have to worry about something going off in my face now at the slightest little bump,” said Wehe, while talking about his Ranger, after the airbag was replaced.