Unadvertised recall?

[AJMike]

I just had our 2018 Fuse fixed at our local Ford dealer. While the experience of the repair itself was pretty poor (how can the needed repair part be delivered to parts and service never finding out it was there? How long would it have sat there if I had not called to find out what was going on and called parts myself? Why did I have to call the service advisor and tell him that the part was sitting in the parts department and had been there for almost a week?) my big question concerns the recall itself.

The recall number is 20M02 and if you Google it you find several hits referring the problem. One of them contains the following language:

Owner Letters are expected to be mailed the week of March 30, 2020. Dealers should repair any affected vehicles that experience a MIL illumination and applicable DTCs, whether or not the customer has received a letter.

I never received this letter, and the Ford dealer who regularly services my vehicle never told me about it. And, to add to that, the repair ticket lists it as an unadvertised recall. What is the purpose of an unadvertised recall? And note that the recall information does not say that dealers should repair the vehicle. It says that dealers should repair the vehicle if it hs an MIL illumination and applicable DTCs.

[DavidM]

Unadvertised recalls are a way for the builder to notify the dealer without a formal NHTSA recall. Total crap way of handling it IMO.

David

[JBP]

FMCA has recalls listed in each magazine. I don't remember if it list the unadvertised ones. Call and ask. We been members for years.