Ford has a "DEATHSTAR" on their hands. I got rid of this piece of crap!! Ford is fixing a broken subframe issue with an UNAPPROVED EPOXY!!!!! My wife was driving our van with our 2 daughters in it when the right front control arm bracket broke off from the sub-frame!! The frone wheel fell off!!! Everyone was alright, because this happened in a parking lot. This is a recall from ford, but I thought they would replace the whole sub-frame,,(which is the ONLY VIABLE FIX FOR THIS) I had to fight with Ford just to get a rental which I NEVER GOT!! Then I find out they won't replace the sub-frame, they will fix it. W.T.F.!!!! I made them put the van up on a rack after they fixed it, and it looked like a piece of sh*t repair with brackets clamped around, not to mention the epoxy they use to glue a new bracket in place of the broken one.

I contacted the manufacture of this epoxy (TA-1-B made by the LORD corp.) and the guy who actually helped frmulate it said in no way was this ever designed to be used in this type of repair. It was made for gluing body panels on a vehicle!! I notified an ececutive at Ford about this, and told her about this, but they couldn't (wouldn't) do anything. They wouldn't even buy the van back off of me which is what they had been doing before!! 3 shops told me that they wouldn't even pass it for inspection knowing what happened. Basically, I had a useless van, which it has been for years. This has been the worst vehicle I have ever owned, a money pit, and now an accident waiting to happen. I would not put my family in it anymore and got rid of it!

I plastered this story all over the internet, and I will never own a junk Ford again!!!!

Driving on highway noticed that the steering wheel was coming out of alignment as I drove. Got off at earliest convenience. Felt like driving with loose lug nuts. Since tires had been off, used emergency jack to check. Nope. Drove around residential block to get a feel for what was going one when bang! then the tires looked like this =<

Very very lucky as just put the first full tank of gas in it, primarily highway driving. Bought it used 9 days ago and the Ford dealer whom I purchased it from was excellent and is standing behind this. Still counting my lucky stars though thinking about the average speed of the 800-900K when it could have broken on me with 4 kids in tow.

Ford get your crap together. This kind of structural failure shouldn't happen at 372,000km let alone 72,000km. 1985 called and they want their "Quality is job #1" slogan back.

All 1999 through 2003 Ford Windstar minivan owners should be aware of a potentially life-threatening defect that can result in the total loss of steering control. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States and Transport Canada are aware of this issue and both have investigations underway.

The sub-frame issue is similar to the corrosion-related failure (cracking and breakage) of the 1999 to 2003 Windstar rear axles, for which Ford has now issued a recall. The front sub-frame, which supports the vehicle's engine, transmission and lower suspension control arms, is corroding and being seriously weakened, particularly in the area of the lower control arm mounting brackets. When the control arm mount eventually breaks the control arm detaches from the sub-frame, at which point all steering control is lost.

If you own a 1999-2003 Windstar, have the right side lower control arm mount inspected by a qualified service technician. If the mount has failed or appears to be about to fail file a report with the NHTSA or Transport Canada.

Our 2003 Ford Windstar is 7 years old and only has around 54,000 miles on it with no accidents. Today, after pulling out of a parking space at the grocery store and pulling forward, something "popped" very loudly and the van had a "grinding" sound when trying to move forward. Passersby thought it was the tire rod, but the tow guy said the "control arm" was completely rotted/rusted out and came off of the frame.

Has this happened to anyone else and is there any recall info on this? How difficult and expensive is this to fix and is it worth getting fixed?