2000 Ford Windstar rear axle failure -

- Miton, MA, USA

2000 Ford Windstar subframe rusted out. Vehicle with less than 90,000 miles is suffering from subframe rot.

- Armdmore, PA, USA

Was driving about 35 mph on a residential road. When my 2000 Ford Windstar began to shake. Then my rear axle snapped in half. I have not yet gotten my car fixed.

- Buddlake, NJ, USA

Driving straight on road approx. 35 mph in town normal stop and go traffic, and rear axle broke completely in half. Had vehicle towed to my mechanic. Need to replace the axle. Will cost around $1000. No one was hurt but it could of been tragic if I had been on the highway or going around a curve. Van has approx. 142,000 miles on it.

- Winthrop Harbor, IL, USA

I was backing up in my driveway when the rear axle of my 2000 Ford Windstar broke in half.

- Mcfarland, WI, USA

I own a 2000 Ford Windstar SE. I noticed my car shuddering a bit on the expressway late last week (5/20/10.) I slowed a bit and the movement stopped. I pulled off the expressway and continued driving on city streets. I tried increasing my speed but could not recreate the 'shuddering.' Over the weekend, I felt the movement once more so I stayed at low speeds on city streets and planned on taking the car in on Monday to have it checked. The movement had not returned. On Sunday, May 23 I had to drive about 7 miles to work. About 1 mile short of my destination the shuddering returned, but much worse and at low speed. I slowly drove the car into a parking lot and saw my left rear tire was tilted. Thinking the tire was loose (I had new rear shocks put on about 1 month ago and thought maybe they had not tightened the nuts enough) I jacked the car up a bit and popped the hubcap. The lug nuts were all tight but the raised car gave me a clear view of my rear axle, completely split in half. The axle was still holding up the car only because the two halves were still pressed together. The axle was completely broken through (not just cracked) basically right at the mid point. I have had the car taken to a repair shop on a flat bed truck, but work has not started on it yet. Tonight I checked on line and found that this problem is being investigated by your Agency. Here's another case for you to add to the list. I feel extremely lucky to be writing this to you without having been in the accident that this defect so easily could have caused. Interestingly, I have had work done on the car a couple of times in the past month and no one noticed/reported any axle damage. The car was riding fine up to this past week.

- Wauwatosa, WI, USA

I hit a small pot hole and when I got to the parking lot I was told my rear tires were side ways. My husband was able to get the car home 2/10ths of a mile. When the mechanic look at it he said the pot hole wasn't the problem. It was already cracked. He said he had repaired a number of axles on Ford. Also, my transmission began skipping at the same time this whole incident started. When we first bought the van, I was in line in the cafeteria and a gentlemen asked me if I was picked each day in a Windstar and I said yes. He informed me that Windstar are notorious for having transmission problems. I know he is right.

- Manville, RI, USA

Hi..on January 25,2010, I was driving my 2000 Ford Windstar when I received a flat tire on my right rear wheel. Aaa came out to repair flat and when the tech was finished he showed me the cause of the flat. The rear axle was rusted and broken, causing the wheels to tow inward and make the tire rub on the car body, causing a blow out. I took the car to the dealer, kelly Ford, of melbourne, Florida. I requested a recall check and was told that there was no information on this failure at this time. The rear axle and the tire were replaced by the Ford dealer on January 28, 2010. My repair bill was $1030. Dollars.. I understand that you are now investigating this problem. I hope this will help..

- Satellite Beach, FL, USA

While driving my 2000 Ford Windstar minivan with 3 children in car, the rear end of vehicle was swaying sideways. There was a loud clunking noise when going over bumps then car would jump sideways. Drove car home slowly with flashers on. My husband inspected underneath car to find rear axle rusted and cracked in half and rear tires tilting inward. My husband said I was very lucky to have not been a serious accident. Car deemed too dangerous to drive.

- Crompond, NY, USA

Have 2000 Ford Windstar with 120K miles on it. While servicing last week, mechanic was checking rear brakes and noticed rear axle was cracked about halfway through about 10 inches from right side. Also a hole around 10 inches from left side end.

- Washington, NJ, USA

Rusted right rear subframe mount which I found before complete faliure.

- Weirton, WV, USA

On this date, rear axel of my 2000 Ford Windstar broke and both rear wheels were bowed out and a large crack was discovered.

- Hollidaysburg, PA, USA

Snapped rear axle leading to loss of control. This axle had obviously been cracked for several years, based on corrosion in the crack. The loss of control was such that lives were in immediate danger.

- Warsaw, NY, USA

I was driving hit a small dip in road and then all of a sudden I felt something slam into my car from underneath it. I stopped did not find anything. But as I started driving again I kept hearing a knocking sound from front end. I knew something was wrong. I immediately took it to my mechanic. He found the undercar frame completely rotted through by the right front shock. He said this car could not be driven with this defect and I was lucky that engine didn't fall out as I was driving. The car is still the same, nothing has been done to repair the car.

- Rockaway Park, NY, USA

2000 Ford Windstar with approx 102,000 miles and rear main axle beam broken almost into. Have done some internet searches and found several cases of this. There is no recall from Ford and this is extreme safety issue with Windstar. Lost almost total control of my vehicle and thank god I was traveling at only 10 mph. At interstate speed this would have been an almost certain catastrophe. Will be contacting Ford in morning to see what they have to say but from all online accounts they seem to be refusing to acknowledge or even offer to repair. I would much rather have a sticky gas pedal that I can somewhat control the to have an axle snap into at highway speeds.

- Greenup, KY, USA

The rear axle on my 2000 Ford Windstar just split while driving it! there is no rust or wear and tear. I have all my maintenance receipts and my mechanic says this should have never happened. My children and I could've been killed if we were driving on a highway instead of a local road.

- Brielle, NJ, USA

On or about December 1st,2009 my 2000 Ford Windstar started making loud squeaking noises from the rear of my van when I would make turns and also started swaying from side to side whenever I would go over bumps.almost felt like my rear wheels were going to fall off from very loose lugnuts, but they were tight. As the next few weeks went by the problems became worse. Today(1/2/2010)I decided to look underneath the rear of my van. I was in disbelief to see my rear axle cracked almost all the way through about 2 feet in from the drivers side. I couldn't believe it. I have 4 small children and we just went on a trip on the highway 2 days prior to me checking the problem. I have seen this is a common problem with the Windstar. I have done some research on this problem and found this to be a widespread problem with all different years of the Windstar. Something has to be done before someone is seriously injured from this problem. This axle should not crack or break under normal wear of the vehicle. This is a major component of the van and causes serious safety issues. Right now the van is sitting in my driveway. I am trying to find a used axle from somewhere so I could get it back on the road. Ford should really do something about this issue. Thanks you...

- Olyphant, PA, USA

After having trouble steering took the car in for a front end alignment. Was told that the right subframe was completely rusted out and cracked and unsafe to drive. Car is just 10 years old and 85000 miles. Mechanic says this should not have happened with a car of this age. Ford has been contacted and would not take any responsibility for it. In addition took it to a Ford dealer who said that the starting price to fix the car was 1600 and could only go up.

- West Orange, NJ, USA

The 2000 Ford Windstar had been having some handling issues such that if there was water or sand on the road we would fishtail and feel like driving on black ice. I was always able to recover control of the vehicle without incident. It got to a point the vehicle couldn't be driven safely in wet or snowy conditions. The vehicle was pretty much driven in small town conditions. The problem was identified when the rear passenger wheel top was angled into the vehicle (I.e. camber off by 2-3 inches). Mechanic inspected the suspension and found a cracked rear axle with no signs of rust or damage nearby. The axle will have to be replaced.

- Machias, ME, USA

While backing up to parallel park my 2000 Ford Windstar the rear-axle snapped in half, and the rear tires bent in!!

- Upper Black Eddy, PA, USA