Federal safety regulators have expanded their investigation of Ford and Mercury minivans for rust in wheel wells that can become unsafe.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the rear wheel wells can rust so thoroughly on Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans that owners can't latch the third-row seat properly.
The probe covers more than 82,000 thousand minivans in the 2004 through 2007 model years. The problem hasn't caused any crashes or injuries. the vans have not been recalled.
