Ford Motor Company, P.O. Box 1904, dearborn, Michigan 48121, chose to not warn a segment of their full-size car owners who are "civilian" that their cars were produced with a plastic intake manifold that was failing and causing enormous coolant problems for their 4.6L V-8 engines and other component engine parts. Because Ford did not notify me of their known problems with the intake manifold the defected part caused my car to repeatedly loose coolant and cause my car to overheat and finally blow my intake manifold gasket causing me to replace defective intake manifold (copy of shop bill attached) and causing unknown damages to my engine. I am requesting a refund for these repairs.

- Indianapolis, , IN, USA

The contact owns a 1999 Lincoln Town car. While driving approximately 40 mph, the contact heard a loud crack. He pulled over but did not find the cause of the noise. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop where the contact was advised that the front ball joints needed to be replaced. The contact called the manufacturer in regards to recall 98V322000 (suspension: Front: Control arm: Lower ball joint) but was told that the vehicle was not included. The contact also stated that there was a crack in the intake manifold and a mechanic told him that it needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 111,500.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

We purchased two new towncars from germain linc.-merc., naples, fl, in 1999 and 2000 my car's, VIN [xxx], 1999 Town car, and my wife's 2000 Town car, VIN [xxx]. my first complaint is regarding my car that developed electronic problems right after it ran out of warranty, and needed a $500 repair. A week later, it developed a leak, and was repaired at $1000. Is this planned obsolescence" this was at 56,000 miles of use. Shouldn't the dealer check basic systems and make sure they are well maintained" my wife's towncar has a far more serious and hazardous history. She, along with our grandsons, experienced a tire blowout at 33,000 miles. After the tire was changed to the spare, she drove to the dealer and was told that both rear tires should be replaced for safety. She agreed. When she picked up the car, all 4 tires (!)had been replaced at the cost of $548. There was no price adjustment for any of the 4 tires removed. On 12-23-02 (3 days later) she reported to the dealer that the brakes were noisy (squeaked). When she got the car, the bill for the brakes was $420. When driving our 2 daughters and 2 grandsons the following day, the brakes did not hold, and she was unable to stop at a red light, nearly hitting the car in front of her. Only by forced pumping with both feet, and swerving into the turn lane, did she avoid a crash. Had cars been coming in that turn lane, any number of people, particularly in our family, could have been killed. Shouldn't the customer "advisor" advise a minor brake-pad replacement rather than wait for a major expensive/dangerous problem? we strongly doubt that we would consider another Ford product. This is a short history of 2 regularly-dealer-maintained luxury cars. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Naples, FL, USA

Car has a problen in the steering box. Took it to a specialist and Ford discounted it. They sent a Lincoln rep down and he just lied to me about the problem said it was a factory flaw and could not fix, then I took the car into the dealer for a pinging and they said they couldn't hear it (nothing was done)then later on a trip it went haywire sounded like a big diesel truck on the highway and ran like crap, sucking gas also, then changed dealers and they said they coulden't find a ping. I grabed me a mechanic and we took a little ride and before I could get it back it was pinging (took them 3 weeks to fix with me coming up almost daily to test it, and nobody can adjust the head lights on the car that is bad its idiot proof

- Denham Springs, LA, USA