Three problems related to seats have been reported for the 2000 Ford Explorer Sport. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I got into my car to go to lunch from my place of employment with my ceo. When I sat down the seat fell back and the seat back would not catch again. I took my life into my hands driving home that evening. Contacted our local Ford dealer where we purchased the car, they said the part was no longer available and they could not fix it. They never informed us of a recall. Until exploring the internet today 10-25-2013 we did not realize there was a recall at all. Nhtsa campaign id # 03v281000/NHTSA action #pe03020 of August 5-2013. Now we can not locate the part.
The driver side rear bottom frame failed in a non moving area. This cause the back of the seat to fall back as the hinge for seat tilt came out of the top due to this failure. Thank god I was in my driveway or we would have had a wreck. Structural steel in a seat frame should not fail in an 8 year old car. The car has not been in a wreck on the seat abused. The driver weigh 200 lbs or less.
Upon entering my vehicle, sitting in the driver's seat, and restinng my back against the seat while in an upright position, the back of the seat collapsed. This all occurred prior to the vehicle being started and engaged in any gear, which is probably the only reason the incident did not result in a serious or fatal accident. Due to the collapse of the seat, I did sustain a back injury/strain.