Driving along at minimal speed, +/- 30 mph, I heard and felt a "snap" in the rear of my Ford Windstar. Then an immediate dragging feeling and scraping of metal from the rear end followed. The car swerved and slowed to a stop. No additional vehicles were involved, but an easy collision could have resulted, if not for the fact I was approaching a left turn lane and was able to steer clear of traffic. I checked the back of the vehicle and the axle was cleanly broken in two, as if a seam had split. This could have been an extremely dangerous situation, life threatening in my opinion if I was driving at highway speeds.

- Valparaiso, IN, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Windstar. While driving at 70 mph, the contact heard a loud, unusual explosion. The contact was able to exit the vehicle and found that the front sub frame and axle had fractured from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was awaiting repairs. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 110,000. Updated 11/19/10. Also, the oil pan gaskets was leaking. Updated 11/24/10

- Martinsville, IN, USA

I was backing out of a driveway when the car began rocking and then I heard a grinding noise. When I looked at the rear end I realized the rear axle had snapped in half.

- Norwood, MA, USA

Rear axel cracked in two driving around 40 mph as of today do not have the money to fix it 07/01/2010. Also pass side door opens every once and awhile when driving.

- Fox Lake, IL, USA

I own a 2001 Ford Windstar limited and while driving the car the rear axel snapped in half. I was stuck but thankfully was able to have a tow truck bring it to my house. Both back tires and totally bent in as the axel is literally broken in half. I now have no means of transportation which kills me as we always kept this car up to date on all maintenance. We just had the front aligned, tie rods replaced as well as many other repairs recently. As I said we always have the oil changed and all other scheduled maintenance on time. This is a real blow as right now we don't have the money to fix it or replace it. I cannot believe Ford does not have to have a recall on this and their error is our loss and the loss of many others. I am disgusted and although a Ford costumer for many, many years will no longer consider Ford in the future. Shame on you Ford, lives are at stake her; have a conscience.

- Wantagh, NY, USA

2001 Windstar was fishtailing when I hit bumps. Looked under there and the rear axle was cracked. Only hanging together by less than 1" got another from a junkyard and it is cracking now too. Safety issue!! Ford should pay!!!

- West Chester, OH, USA

Rear axle broke, car was towed (flatbed) to repair facility. Broken axle assembly removed and replaced with a new axle.

- Hillsdale, NJ, USA

On Feb. 21, 2010 it was necessary to have my vehicle towed by aaa. After the driver got it on the ramp truck, he told me he wanted to show me something at the rear of the vehicle. There is a crack in the middle of the rear axle. He informed me that mine was the third vehicle of the same kind in about 2 weeks, that he had to tow because of a broken axle. I haven't driven it since, until I can make some arrangements to get it fixed. Apparently from information I have found, there are numerous people who have had the same problem. It happens unexpectedly and usually around 100,000 to 122,000 miles. There is as yet no recall but I think there should be. It's a definite safety issue.

- Dracut, MA, USA

I have a 2001 Ford Windstar and for the 3rd time the rear end tire support has broken in half driving down the road. My family and I feel lucky to be here to write this at this time and it is my 17 year old sons primary car to drive so I can have general insurance but not full coverage. I feel if he was driving when this happened he would have been in a terrible accident, god was watching out for us. It has cost me over a thousand dollars for each repair and at this time I am without the family vehicle and don't see that it would be a good idea to fix this again knowing that its going to break again. I cant afford a new vehicle and this car has been dependable other than this problem. The rear end is scarce at salvage yards, we haven't been able to locate one yet that tells me I'm not the only one having the problem. The van is made for seven and there are 5 in my family so overloading is not the problem, nor rust they are free from that and the last repair we replaced the shocks to reduce vibration problems if it existed. I fear soon I will read about a family tragedy because of this problem and I want it on record about this complaint. Before making each repair we checked to see if there was a recall and to date there is none. I am in the service work business and I understand thing fail, brakes, water pumps, computers, engines but I should have never had to put a nickel into this problem. Any help or guidance you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening.

- Clinton, OH, USA

On November 3rd, 2009, the rear axle failed in my 2001 Ford Windstar while I was on the highway. The car had begun performing erratically so I was not traveling at high speed, but even at low speed it was essentially uncontrollable when the failure happened. In the weeks leading up to the actual failure, I had experienced handling problems with the vehicle. After my mechanic replaced the front struts and rear shocks the car still didn't handle right. They thought this might be because the rear alignment was not a little out of spec - they were waiting for shims to come in to correct that when the axle failed. In addition to my unhappiness about the complaints - the vehicle kind of swerved when going around corners, especially highway on/off ramps - the only warning the car gave in the weeks up to the failure was seemingly-random indications from the tire-pressure warning light. In end end, the garage I took the car to ended up replacing the rear axle assembly and the two rear tires - when the axle failed the tires had rubbed against the tire wells. When searching online for other reports of this problem I came across several here, and posted my own. (my own description as well as four pictures of the failed part are on the site under November 3rd 2009: www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Windstar/2001/drivetrain/rear_axle_snapped_in_two.shtml.

- Norwood, MA, USA

I own a 2001 Ford Windstar. I noticed strange sound when cornering and brought car to dealer. The rear axle is severely cracked. Being a front wheel drive car, the rear axle is more of a stabilizer, an inverted, U shaped length of steel. Crack is half way up one side of U and over the top. $500 part plus labor would be $1000+ repair. Still deciding to repair or scrap car. It is too unsafe to drive. Dealer states they've never seen anything like it. On web boards, I have seen several cracked / broken axle complaints. This is a real safety issue. Axles should be inspected for cracks. The vehicle was not involved in any collision or incident and dealer can vouch for maintenance record. Dealer thinks crack started small and grew with each turn - especially when turning over a hill or into a low point in the road when flex pressure is largest. They've worked on car several times over past year ' replacing brakes... the crack is glaring now and hard to miss. I agree that it probably started small. Axles on Windstar should be examined carefully for hairline cracks which will grow.

- West Chatham, MA, USA

The lower control A-arm on the passenger side broke loose from the frame causing the van to dropto the ground. This luckly happened when I just pulled into a parking spot in front of a wendy's.

- Riouna, PA, USA

Paint blistering and coming off, 2001 Ford Windstar SE, color is emerald. Has come off on the hood down to bare metal and also the panels under the doors.

- Hamden, OH, USA

Without any warning the rear axel on my 2001 Ford Windstar minivan snapped completely in two. We had just gotten off a busy highway and luckily were going very slowly on a side street. We all would surely have been killed if this had happened 5 minutes earlier.

- Austin, TX, USA

There was no crash or injury, I was just wanting to know if there was a recall on the paint on a 2001 Windstar. I just bought one and did not realize the roof paint is peeling. I called the dealer and I guess I am screwed.

- Summertown, TN, USA

Bought the used vehicle from a used car dealer. Didn't check for paint peeling or rust, thought a 2 year old car wouldn't have any. I washed the car, and as I waxed it, discovered the peeling paint on the roof rib, almost entire lenghth of vehicle, then found rust at the bottom of the front passenger door and rear passenger sliding door. Contacted Ford, instructed me to go to local dealership, went to gervais Ford in ayer MA. Service manager looked over the car, made notes, informed me he would contact Ford headquarters to see if they will do anything. Two weeks later, he contacted me and informed me there was nothing they could do regarding the paint or the doors rusting from the inside out.

- Shirley, MA, USA

The consumers child stuck her finger inside of the a small hole in the console and a saw had to be used to get the child's finger out of the hole.

- Portland, OR, USA

Brakes failed on three different occasions (repair dates: 3/22/02, 4/1/02 and 4/15/02). First, my wife noted the brake pedal was going all the way to the floor before there was any response. The dealership advised that this was normal. We insisted that it wasn't, until there lead technician found and replaced a faulty hcu. The second failure came while I was driving my wife and 6 month old baby from mo to va. While on the West Virginia turn pike, the anti-lock brakes failed again and eventually the brakeing system failed all togoether by the time we reached our destination of suffolk Virginia. Barton Ford, in suffolk va, replaced the hcu and the ECU and repaired a brake fluid leak. The third incident occurred while driving back to mo. Once again the brakes did not respond normally. Once back in O'fallon, mo. The dealership found a air bubble in the brake line and they reprogrammed the ABS module. Each brake failure also affected the traction control system and the speedometer. We have also had to have one window replaced, the drivers side sliding door adjusted, a seal inserted in the rear of the vehicle due to a recall item, and bolts tightened at the engine cradle mounts. Recently, the fuel cap indicator light illuminated for a period of 5 days for unknown reasons and we are currently unable to fill the gas tank to its normal capacity. This vehicle is unsafe and hardly worth the $27,220 that we are paying for it.

- O'fallon, MO, USA