6/24/2020 woke up and my 1999 Ford Expedition was running and the radio playing. Tried to turn it off with the key but radio will not turn off. Also when I started the vehicle up the windshield wipers started up even though I didn't turn it on. Wipers and radio starting and stopping without me doing anything. It rained the night before so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. A few weeks ago it rained and I had to drive four hours with the vehicle trying to stall out. I would like any suggestions about this problem because I am tired of spending unnecessary money for a problem that Ford knows about. Thanks

I financed this vehicle in February of 2014. It looks good and ran good when I test drove it but the roads were covered in snow and it looked like it needed new tires. The next day the roads were clear and I went and bought brand new tires, cost me almost $800. Instantly I noticed the steering had a sticking spot when you turn the steering wheel in either direction and the starter would grind every once in a while, also I kept smelling antifreeze and I noticed it had a miss in it.

Well the dealer (Kendall Richards owner of Sundowner Used Auto Sales in Parkersburg, WV.) told me and my wife if there was anything at all wrong with it we were to bring it back and he would have his mechanics fix it for free. Mind you this vehicle came with the standard 30 day warranty where the labor is free and I pay 50% for parts. I asked him again "for free?" he said yes. Three days after buying the vehicle I notified him about the problems he said to bring it in an one of his mechanics would check it out and get it fixed right up. So I take it to him and dropped it off. A week later he calls me and says it's done I can come pick it up. He says he put new spark plugs in it to fix the miss, he replaced the starter, he replaced the intake gasket, the alternator, and put new upper ball joints on both sides which did fix the steering issues. He charged me $480 and it was supposed to be free. Kind of ticked me off!!

Anyways I am leaving the lot and notice right away it is still missing and I can still smell antifreeze so I called him up and told him, he said it just has a rough idle and the smell was because the mechanic may have spilled some antifreeze on the engine. Well the next day I was driving to the gym and the transfer case locked up and was making some god awful noise that sounded like the front end was getting ripped out and I was on dry pavement too. I called the dealer he told me to bring it in and he would have it checked. I told him I was not paying this time and I was pretty blunt about it, he said not to worry he would take care of it. So I took it in, again his mechanic looked it over and drove it and said it needs a new transfer case and a new radiator and he would fix the starter to. A week and a half later it is done. I went and picked it up without getting charged and it seemed fine except for the miss.

Couple weeks go by, the starter starts grinding again, at least once or twice a day. Then a few days later the transfer case starts acting up and the 4x4 light on the dash starts flashing. Called the dealer again he said the parts are under warranty but he would have to charge me for labor though. I was furious and demanded that he gave my money back and take the loan out of my name because I didn't want the junk. He said there wasn't anything he could do, I need to call the bank. So I called the bank they said all they did was lend me the money and it was out of there hands, they don't know why he told me to call them. The next day my wife loses her job because she couldn't get to work with a broke down vehicle. I just wanted to go to his lot and break his jaw so he couldn't sell any more junk but I didn't.

I waited a day or two to calm myself down, then I called a lawyer to see if there was anything I could do and the lawyer said because it was a 1999 it was too old to be considered a lemon and the only thing I can do is call the WV district attorney and file a claim. I called them and they sent me some forms for a claim to fill out but by the time they arrived in the mail I had already contacted the bank and cancelled my auto pay on the loan and told them to come and get it. Then I got to thinking this was my first financed vehicle and I can build up my credit and wait the 7 months and go somewhere else and trade it in towards a newer vehicle. So I set up the auto pay again and just decided to chalk it up as a loss.

After about a month went by I went to the dealer and demanded that he give me a receipt for the transfer case and the starter so I could get the new parts and have my mechanic do the work. It took his secretary 2 days to come up with the receipts and it was only for the starter and it wasn't even the original receipt it was a print out that didn't even resemble an Advanced Auto receipt. He told me that the transfer was coming from LKQ when he ordered it. Well his secretary couldn't find the receipt but I know the guys at LKQ because I worked there for 5 years and they have no record of Sundowner ordering that transfer case. Finally his secretary told me it came from Eddy's salvage yard and they did not have another one so I would have to take it out of the vehicle and take it to Eddy's and they would send it off to have it rebuilt. I kindly said thank you out loud but really I wanted to bitch slap her then I left with my fake copy of the receipt for the starter.

Well my wife is having a major surgery in a week and this piece of crap is the only vehicle we have. I can't just tear it apart and wait for a month to get it fixed and since our income has been cut in half now we have this payment and full coverage insurance payment and property taxes are due. I started selling things just to make ends meet. Now I have no four wheeler, no gun collection, the wife has no jewelry collection any more. I am losing my ass because of this vehicle costing my wife her job.

Today I drove into town to apply for a second job for some extra income and then stopped at the gym to get my daily workout in. I came out of the gym opened the back door put my gym bag in the back seat, then went into the grocery store that is in the same building duplex as the gym, I do this every day. Well when I came back out I opened the driver's side door to get in and as soon as the door came open I thought what the hell is going on? My heater was blasting full speed, my radio was on, and I still had the keys in my hand, how can this be? I put the key in the switch turned the switch and the heater and radio went off but the engine would not start so I turned the switch off and the heater and radio started blasting again. Checked for bad fuses but couldn't find any, couldn't take off the battery terminal because I had no tools with me so I called a friend to come help me out.

While I was standing beside the vehicle on the phone with my keys in my hand, door locks started to lock and unlock over and over, the heater was blasting, the radio was jamming, the lights were flashing, and starter was grinding the engine was cranking over all by itself, and the fuse box was popping cracking and buzzing. After about an hour of trouble shooting I found an effed up mess in the wiring around the starter where there was bad ground causing the wire to arc against the starter, messed with a couple starter relays and got it to start but if I turned my headlights on the starter would take off again. I ended up getting it started but my radio did not work, my power windows did not work, and if I took it out of drive the starter would start spinning and grinding and the wipers did not work. If I opened my door my window works.

So decided to take a chance and make a run for the house. It was raining I had no wipers and my window was down and seat belt was off because I was not going to be stuck in it if it caught on fire. I had my friend follow me in case something happened and once I got home he had to unhook battery terminal because if I shifted into park my starter would start spinning and grinding. Now I am without a vehicle and income is cut in half because of that cock sucker that sold me the piece of crap... What can I do????

just sent this to ford and advise everyone with similar sitiations to do the same , website below

I have a 1999 Ford Expedition and it seems that every time we have a good hard rain it it messes up, the lights will come on by themselves, it tries to start on its own, no key, 4x4 light and rear wiper light flashes on and off, i have searched online and found several other complaints similar to this , so it would seem that there is a factory default , some complaints stated that there is actually a leak in the windshield that causes the computer to get wet and malfunction, whatever the case this is not normal and ford needs to investigate and do something before someones vehichle shorts out and starts a fire. i am sure many others have small children who ride in these cars and am concerned about the safety, but as many other owners most likely I can not afford another vehichle, but if I did it would not be a ford, I would like to know how ford plans to handle this matter, or maybe the media and some attorney,s could handle it better.

http://www.ford.com/owner-services/customer-support/contact-ford