2002 Mercury Mountaineer AWD V8 - approximately January and May 2009 both rear hub bearings went bad at 87,000 and 90,000 miles, both sets of emergency brake shoes were disintegrated when taken off. Rear coil springs are broken. Front differential box has leaked for some time now. Rear end axle seal has been leaking for some time now. Going on 4th set of brakes on front. June 2010 at 109,000 miles transmission finally went out - after acting up from time of purchase at 37,000 miles - it would slip when put in drive at first morning startup and would jerk erratically at low speeds - we have never pulled anything with vehicle.

- Lucasville, OH, USA

Rear coil spring failure - completely broken in two poses a major safety problem.

- Mullica Hill, NJ, USA

On cold mornings, the front windshield fogs/frosts up. Turning heat on and selecting defrost provides little to no air to windshield. Dealership identified it as a broken vent select door, requiring dashboard to be removed and part replaced, $1100 fix. In doing research on the vent select door - cars are designed that if the selector breaks that the air should default to the front defrost so that windshield would not fog/frost and cause a life threatening situation. Multiple times this has occurred while driving, all along believing that the fogging up was due to snow build up on outside vents. The fact that the vent broke and did not push air to the windshield is why I'm logging this complaint as it could have resulted in a life threatening situation. In reading the other entries, noting that I've had to have the rear coil springs replaced and had back liftgate replaced after cracking.

- Lakeville, MN, USA

2002 Mercury Mountaineer. In the past 4 years we have replaced the rear bearings 5 times and now Ford Motor Company will not honor the warranty. Each time the bearings last between 4 and 6 months.

- Odessa, FL, USA

Both rear coil springs were broken. Both had been weakened due to corrosion before they broke. This is a widely-known issue with this vehicle and I had been checking for this problem every couple months. I last checked in December of 2008 and neither spring was broken through and neither showed external corrosion at the time, but they must have been very deteriorated even then. My point is that a visual inspection with the wheels off did not reveal the problem before the springs broke. One of the broken springs has a split along the length of the spring wire several inches long and a complete failure roughly perpendicular to the wire. The other does not have the split; it is just broken in shear perpendicular to the wire.

- Woodridge, IL, USA

Failure of rear coil spring on 2002 Mercury Mountaineer.

- Greenville , MI, USA

While driving my 2002 Mercury Mountaineer I hit a bump on a small bridge and my rear drivers side coilspring snapped in half. Oddly about ten days later I was following a Mountaineer that hit a dip in the road and the same coilspring broke. I do not know the year of that Mountaineer though. To repair the coilspring is extremely expensive because it is dealer only $300 for the part and $135 to install it.

- Fairborn, OH, USA

I had a flat tire at the left rear of the vehicle, when changing the tire I noticed the spring was broken in several pieces. I have to see of the dealer will replace it under warranty my vehicle has 90,000 miles.

- Far Rockaway, NY, USA

I had noticed the stance of the vehicle had change and during a routine New York state inspection it was determined that the rear springs on my 2002 Mercury Mountaineer had broken. The rear spring defect also cause the rear shocks to prematurely wear out and need replacement. The springs were cracked entirely in half. It appears as if there were a defect relating to the metallurgical properties of the metal used or possibly a defect in the manufacture of the springs. At no time was this vehicle driven off road or used to tow anything. The vehicle simply was used by my wife to drive back and forth to work( 20 mile round trip on the highway) the car was out of warranty by about 2 years and had about 50,000 miles on it. A Ford representative told me to take it to the dealer for them to inspect it, there conclusion was the same. Two rear broken springs, as well as 2 rear shocks that required replacement. Their cost....over $1000. There is no way this item should break...god forbid it happens on the highway at a high speed, .... a spring break at highway speed would cause the vehicle to become extremely unstable and possibly cause a high speed crash. Springs actually support the weight of the vehicle and when there broken.....there is a sudden and unforeseen unsettling of the vehicle.....which in my opinion is a major safety issue. I brought this to the attention of Ford via their 800 telephone # - (800-392-3673)...their response was..."we are under no legal responsibility to fix this problem. The car is out of warranty and it was my responsibility to fix the car....." I believe Ford has a responsibility, not only me, but to all it's customers who own this vehicle or its cousin the Ford Explorer. I expected more from a large company such as Ford. I'm sure they have a protocol to document this incident, but I wonder if they just swept this incident under the Ford carpet. I feel I have a responsibility to let others know...this is why I made this complaint.

- Massapequa Park, NY, USA

Normal driving lead to parts failure. Fortunately no accident occurred, however my mechanic stated that the wheel bearing failure was that severe that had I been traveling on a highway, the result could have been catastrophic. 2002 Mercury Mountaineer (Ford Explorer) with wheel bearing/hub failure on all 4 wheels at different mileage intervals. I researched this problem and found hundreds of owners with the same failures. Please research.

- Reading, PA, USA

Both rear coil springs have broken in two places for no apparent reason which over time ruined my rear wheel bearings my wife drives this vehicle daily and has never towed a trailer or hauled heavy loads.

- Woodson, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer. While driving 30 mph uphill, the contact heard a clunking noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The dealer stated that the wheel bearing needed to be replaced. The VIN and engine size were unknown. The current mileage was 70,000 and failure mileage was 65,000.

- Bushkill, PA, USA

Leaking rear-end fluid. Rear-end noise (howl/roar) defect not covered by Ford Motor Company records show that ssm17560 was removed mysteriously.

- Round Rock, TX, USA

At 43577 miles I am having to replace my rear-end. This is going to cost approximately. $1500. Also ABS sensor has to be replaced.

- Buford, GA, USA

While driving 55 mph heard a knocking noise coming from the rear. Consumer took vehicle to dealer for analysis, and mechanic could not resolve the problem.

- Myrtle, MS, USA