Local news article broadcast yesterday regarding rear axel problem with Ford Windstar. My 2000ford Windstar LX was becoming more difficult to drive/control, similar to driving with flat tires & unable to maintain vehicle control. The van was"drifting" from side to side. I looked at the rear axel & there is a visible crack on driver side of rear axel. Passenger side of rear axel is also starting to crack.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

The rear axle beam of my 2000 Ford Windstar split in 2 while I was making a right hand turn causing the rear wheels to flare out. The service station said they have made repairs to other Windstar with the same problem. Lucky for me I was not going fast and there were no injuries. I learned later that the beam rusted out from the inside as water had infiltrated the beam.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

My 2000 Ford Windstar with approx 140000 miles had its rear axle snap in two. As I review other complaints this does not seem to be an isolated case.

- Portsmouth, RI, USA

I had been concerned about a bad shimmy at 50 mph on my 2000 Ford Windstar, and I had spoken to my dealer about it when I had the oil changed. Less than a week later, as I pulled from my driveway, the rear axle broke completely in two. We have tried to get Ford to address this problem, as there must be millions of these vans still on the road, and most of them carry children. We have not had any response so we are filing this complaint. We have heard of other failures and as you know they could be deadly. We paid to have the axle replaced.

- Sycamore, IL, USA

In 2004/2005 the paint on my 2000 Ford Windstar began flaking off. It started on the hood, then the liftgate and the roof. At this point if we have a wind storm I find chips of paint all over my drive way. Ford says "paint doesn't last forever" and basically the problem is all mine.

- Berwick, ME, USA

There were no events leading to the failure. Vehicle got new tires and alignment then two days later the vehicle started pulling to the left. I went back to the tire dealer, the mechanic check the alignment and noticed that the rear axle had a crack on the driver side and was rusted through. The crack was so severe that the axle was almost in two parts and at the base there is a quarter inch separation in the crack. The tire is no longer laying flat. The bottom of the tire is facing out. If the mechanic didn't find the failure there certainly would have been a tragic accident.

- River Vale, NJ, USA

Every time we get heavy rains my front windshield leaks. While checking recalls I have come across this problem which my mechanic explained to me exactly as the recall reads. Ford will not fix the problem because there is no recall on their site. I was told it could be because the recall was too old or it was already taken care of but they don't know which. This vehicle was purchased from a Ford dealer almost a year ago. I was told in event of an accident my windshield may come loose because of the bonding and could result in injury or death.

- Folcroft, PA, USA

Catastrophic failure of the right lower control arm mounts at the subframe occurred with no warning or prior symptoms. The vehicle is a 2000 Ford Windstar with approximately 95K miles. At the time of the failure the driver was pulling away from a curb when the control arm mounts broke causing the wheel to swing away from the vehicle and the drive axle to pull out of the transmission. The vehicle was towed to a local service station where it was examined. The dealer was contacted who in turn instructed me to contact Ford Motor Company directly. Under the direction of Ford Motor Company the vehicle was towed to the dealer to determine the cause of failure. The dealer determined that the sub-frame was rusted out in the area around the passenger side control arm mounts. Ford has refused to offer any assistance in fixing the problem. A search of the NHTSA complaint database revealed 12 other complaints of similar failures with 1998-2001 Windstar. (ODI #S: 10152076, 10103097, 10152712, 10138539, 10183135, 10171784, 10173473, 10153590, 10200106, 10005872, 761511, 10172459) there appears to be a trend related to excessive corrosion leading to premature failure of the rear portion of the subframe on the passenger side. One possible factor could be the placement of the air conditioner system and the tendency for condensation to drip on this portion of the frame whenever the system is in cooling or defrost mode causing accelerated corrosion. This is a severe failure that is premature, not easily detectable, potentially fatal, and will likely occur more frequently as these vehicles age. I strongly urge the NHTSA to conduct an engineering investigation regarding this failure.

- Montpelier, VT, USA

Joints are not connected under quarter wheel weld. One weld is completly missing, and 3 are not properly connected. Automobile started with squeaking noise which led to a very loud noise. Automobile has been taken to the dealer 3 times. The 1st and 2nd time, dealer was unaware of defect. The 3rd time, dealer found the defect, but stated that any authorized Ford repair center was unable to fix the defect. Dealer would also not allow consumer to drive the automobile out of the dealership.

- Kansas City, MO, USA