I have a 2005 Mercury Mariner, purchased in March of 2007. Miles on it were 11,000. Traveled from Houston to Austin first couple of years was fine, with some strange shifting in the gears. June of 2009, I begin hearing rattle noise in the engine, shortly after, and with no warning, the transmission begin running really bad.

Had it checked out, and shocked to learn the transmission needed to be rebuilt after 40,989 miles, cost for that was $2260.00. I contacted Ford about this problem, and they pretended they knew nothing about what I was saying. No support from Ford, they wanted me to bring my car to them or get it there some how. I had stopped driving the car and begin using rental car. Ford was going to charge me for looking at the problem, since the warranty had expired after 36,000 miles, I should have knew something was up with the short length of warranty, and could not give me an estimate of how long it would take, and said I did not qualify to use a loaner car until the transmission problem was checked out.

Today, 7-29-11, my car is back in the shop for this same transmission problem, two years later and 19,000 miles later from the first transmission rebuild, getting rebuilt again, costing me $2290.00. I drove to Austin from Houston before this time, on the way the O/D off light begin flashing, shortly after that the check engine light came on, but the car did not appear to be over heating. I stopped for a little bit got back in the car and no lights. Got outside of Giddings, before Elgin, the O/D off light begin flashing again, check engine light followed approx. 45 minutes later. Got to my sister's home, everything appeared fine, no over heating visible, no foul order, nothing. Left the car parked for approx. 3 days.

On the way back to Houston, on 7-18-11, approx. half way into Brenham, O/D light flashes again, right before Harris County check engine light comes on. Check engine light remains on, located a coupon for free diagnose with AAMCO made appt. to get the free diagnose on 7-26-11 and learned again the transmission was bad and needed to be rebuilt, the fluids were flushed out and were burnt, very foul odor, never smelled anything from a car so horrible. Mileage is at 59,909.

I have my car serviced every 3000 to 4000 miles since I bought it in March of 2007, and right before my trip, I had my oil change first week of July, 2011 and all fluids inspected, tire pressure checked, and there were no sign of my transmission needing service each time.

I can not believe the complaints about the same problem I'm having here and throughout the internet. Everyone needs to go to www.nhtsa.gov and file their complaint with the government. With all these similar complaints, I do not understand why the Mercury Mariners, and Explores are not under investigation. This is clearly a transmission defect of some sort, and I will never purchase a Ford product again. Ford needs to pay for junk they have sold, because they were very well aware of this issue with the transmissions and but thought they could get away with screwing people around and their families. I will never purchase an American made car again, and I would not recommend anyone touch a Ford. Their customer service and products are a joke.

I have a 2005 Mercury Mariner, purchased in March of 2007. Miles on it were 11,000. Traveled from Houston to Austin first couple of years was fine, with some strange shifting in the gears. June of 2009, I begin hearing rattle noise in the engine, shortly after, and with no warning, the transmission begin running really bad.

Had it checked out, and shocked to learn the transmission needed to be rebuilt after 40,989 miles, cost for that was $2260.00. I contacted Ford about this problem, and they pretended they knew nothing about what I was saying. No support from Ford, they wanted me to bring my car to them or get it there some how. I had stopped driving the car and begin using rental car. Ford was going to charge me for looking at the problem, since the warranty had expired after 36,000 miles, I should have knew something was up with the short length of warranty, and could not give me an estimate of how long it would take, and said I did not qualify to use a loaner car until the transmission problem was checked out.

Today, 7-29-11, my car is back in the shop for this same transmission problem, two years later and 19,000 miles later from the first transmission rebuild, getting rebuilt again, costing me $2290.00. I drove to Austin from Houston before this time, on the way the O/D off light begin flashing, shortly after that the check engine light came on, but the car did not appear to be over heating. I stopped for a little bit got back in the car and no lights. Got outside of Giddings, before Elgin, the O/D off light begin flashing again, check engine light followed approx. 45 minutes later. Got to my sister's home, everything appeared fine, no over heating visible, no foul order, nothing. Left the car parked for approx. 3 days.

On the way back to Houston, on 7-18-11, approx. half way into Brenham, O/D light flashes again, right before Harris County check engine light comes on. Check engine light remains on, located a coupon for free diagnose with AAMCO made appt. to get the free diagnose on 7-26-11 and learned again the transmission was bad and needed to be rebuilt, the fluids were flushed out and were burnt, very foul odor, never smelled anything from a car so horrible. Mileage is at 59,909.

I have my car serviced every 3000 to 4000 miles since I bought it in March of 2007, and right before my trip, I had my oil change first week of July, 2011 and all fluids inspected, tire pressure checked, and there were no sign of my transmission needing service each time.

I can not believe the complaints about the same problem I'm having here and throughout the internet. Everyone needs to go to www.nhtsa.gov and file their complaint with the government. With all these similar complaints, I do not understand why the Mercury Mariners, and Explores are not under investigation. This is clearly a transmission defect of some sort, and I will never purchase a Ford product again. Ford needs to pay for junk they have sold, because they were very well aware of this issue with the transmissions and but thought they could get away with screwing people around and their families. I will never purchase an American made car again, and I would not recommend anyone touch a Ford. Their customer service and products are a joke.

I am doing my second transmission repair for a 2005 Mercury Mariner. The OD light blinks, and there is a serious problem with the transmissions for Mercury. If there is any attorneys taking this up to file lawsuits against Ford, please contact me. I will never purchase another Ford product again. I should have known something was up when Ford only covers 36,000 and then after that you're on your own and here comes the problems. I think something should be done about this, my first repair was around 40,000 miles, and cost me over $2200. My second repair is being done today (7-27-11) and I am not sure of the total cost, but the labor is $385. My transmission fluid is burnt, the mileage is approx. 59,000.