The 2001 Mercury Villager has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 2,500 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 21 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the air bags. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
SEAT BELTS00V3380012000-10-262,500 affected
Defect
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: MINI VANS. THESE VEHICLES MAY HAVE THE PLASTIC TRIM COVER AROUND THE BASE OF THE FRONT SEAT SAFETY BELT BUCKLE TRAPPED BETWEEN THE SHOULDER OF THE RESTRAINT ANCHORAGE BOLT AND THE SEAT PEDESTAL. THIS COULD EVENTUALLY ALLOW THE SEAT BELT BUCKLE BOLT TO LOOSEN.
Consequence
IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE OCCUPANT SEATED IN THAT LOCATION MAY NOT BE ADEQUATELY RESTRAINED, INCREASING THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.
Remedy
DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE SEAT BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY ATTACHMENT. SOME BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLIES MAY REQUIRE REPLACEMENT.
Complaints by component
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
3
3crashes11injuries
SUSPENSION
3
TIRES
3
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
1
EQUIPMENT
1
EQUIPMENT:APPLIANCE:AIR CONDITIONER
1
POWER TRAIN
1
SEAT BELTS
1
1crashes6injuries
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY
1
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
1
Total complaints21
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“This is my second villager, the first was a 1993 and now own a 2001. The base structure where the rack and pinion gets bolted-in cracks, while the alignment and whole rack & pinion has shifted. The crack occurred when I was turning onto a ramp to merge onto the freeway.”
“In december of 2007 I was driving with my three kids and I was pregnant with twins. It had been raining for a few days I slowed to make a right hand turn my car slide and I went into a poll head on my airbags didn't open my car was later totaled by the insurance company. *tr”
“Seat belts plastic covers have broken and fallen off, which has made the locking mechanism useless. The seat belts are now inoperable, which has left us with five available seats in a seven-passenger vehicle. The local dealer was contacted regarding a recall notice for the 2001 village seats…”
“Dt*: the contact stated while changing a tire, the jack bent causing the vehicle to collapse. The contact was not injured. This was the first time the contact had used the jack. The dealership was notified.”
“A local sears auto center sold me a set of bf goodrich tires in october, 2004 that have shown extreme pre-mature wear. The sears outlet has refused to take any action to correct this. Upon consultation with the oem, b.f. Goodrich, I should have never been sold the tire to begin with. It is not the…”
“Consumer vehicle t-boned another vehicle at 45 mph, and neither frontal air bags deployed. Driver and the five passengers were all restrained with the seat belts. Everyone sustained minor injuries from the seat belts. No one needed to be transported to a hospital by ambulance. Dealer and the…”
“Consumer vehicle t-boned another vehicle at 45 mph, and neither frontal air bags deployed. Driver and the five passengers were all restrained with the seat belts. Everyone sustained minor injuries from the seat belts. No one needed to be transported to a hospital by ambulance. Dealer and the…”
“While driving 40 mph, the driver collided with the vehicle in front of her. Both frontal air bags failed to deploy. This caused the driver to sustained minor injuries. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. Please provide further details.”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2001 Mercury Villager as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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