Consumer complained about left front spring breaking. Vehicle was towed to the dealer, and the spring was replaced, but dealer refused to change the other ones unless they broke. Did not feel that this vehicle was safe to be driving again.
1998 Ford Windstar suspension complaints
Page 5 of 9: complaints 101 to 130 of 228, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Consumer has called several dealerships to have four recalls done and they were refusing to honor them. Recall # 01v199 concerning front springs:coil spring/ 99v147 000 concerning brake master cylinder/ 00e11 ford's additional warranty for front springs:coil spring corrosion, and 01m 03.
While driving the vehicle and no warning front left spring coil cracked, causing the vehicle to fall to the ground. Dealer notified.
On 5/22/03 I was driving down the highway and experienced a sudden feeling that the front end of my vehicle dropped and heard some of the worst noises I had ever heard. Upon driving the vehicle home (slowly) my husband came home and took off the tire. We discovered that the front coil spring over the strut had collapsed and the vehicle could not be driven. We paid out of our pockets to get the vehicle flat bedded to the local ford dealership. The parts have been on national back order and it's been over a week. I am personally in jeopordy of loosing my job because I have only been able to work 1/2 day.(1 vehicle left, 2 working parents with 3 kids) now I am being told that the tire on that side is damaged and can not be trusted to be driven on, and the van needs a front end alignment. Ford is saying this is not covered and refuses to do anything about it. We received the recall notice 6 days after the spring collapsed. It is for spring shields, at the ford customer service number told me the shields are to be installed so that if the spring collapses it doesn't damage the rest of the front end and cause an accident. Is this all ford is responsible to do? There are thousands of these vans on the road that are a potential danger. They know that these springs are a hazard and they don't cover towing, replace or repair of tires etc that get damaged due to their defective parts. My tire is only 1 month old. I just replaced it. Their only responsibility is to try to make sure no one gets killed in an accident caused by a defective part on their van. Why are they able to say the get the 5 star safety rating from the government, that makes people think these vehicles are safe. My collapsed doing 50 MPH going home from my morning run as a school bus driver. I had just dropped my son off to daycare 10 minutes before. This could have been a much worse incident.
The sway bar broke off inside the bushing. Which caused the vehicle to ride rough and bounce up and down.
Consumer called complaining about having problems with the left front spring breaking. The vehicle was towed to the shop and the springs were replaced but the shields for the spring were not replaced. The consumer does not feel safe driving the vehicle because the same problem may occur.
The front coil springs failed after the recall was performed.
The sway bar broke, which caused the vehicle to pull to the left.
While driving the vehicle would pull to the left side of the road. Dealer notified. Ph
Consumer states that the dealership wicker ford; ticonderoga ny; 518‑585‑2888 is refusing to honor the recall for the protection shield front coil 01 f 121 000. Ts
While braking there was a clanking noise in front end. Took vehicle to ford, ford replaced subframe bushings and tie rod ends. Please provide any further information. Ts.
There was a noise that had come from the wheel when turning, as the consumer traveled on the highway. Ts the ball joints failed, both left and right on the front end. Scc
Consumer staes insulation bushing/stabelizer bar was replaced twice with in present mileage. Provide any additional information. Ts
Mfr# 01s19 & the federal safety agency# 01 v 199 000/front coil spring corrosion: consumer states while pulling into a parking lot right front coil spring broke and puncture the tire. The make & modle show a recall. Dealer notified. Feel free to provide any further information.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Mounting bracket of right front strut snapped, right front of car collapsed and bent sway bar, which gouged and ruined tire. Occurred at low speed on smooth pavement. If we had been traveling at highway speed, the failure would have been catastrophic. I still have part and can e-mail picture of it.
Consumer stateed both front tie rods failed and were replaced, also the steering rack was replaced.
Front left coil spring broke and punctured tire while pulling into a parking lot. Dealer contacted. Feel free to provide any further information.
Recall 01f090000 was done in april 2002. Shields were installed within 1/8 inch of tire, new tires will rub on the shields.*ak consumer stated that the gas filler hoses are exposed to flying stones from the wheels after 98 fords added a shield to cover their hose.
After recall 01v199000 for front coil spring corrosion was completed problem reoccurred.
The vehicle had noise in the front end. The dealer indicated that the noise was due to tie rod end failures.
While in motion the front coil springs fractured and were in need of emergency repair. Consumer had the vehicle taken to a local mechanic who repaired the vehicle. A recall was issued for installing protective shields to protect the coil springs from fracturing. Consumer would like to be reimbursed for monies paid, but ford dealer will not honor the request for reimbursement, because the repairs were not made at the dealership.
This vehicle has had numerous braking problems/axles/sway bars/calipers/electrical problems
While vehicle was parked consumer saw front sway bar hanging down on passenger's side of vehicle.
Consumer states vehicle was experiencing a problem with the tire rubbing on the spring. The vehicle was taken in to have the recall (01v199000) work performed. Consumer began experiencing problems again with the recall related issue. The dealer refused to look at the vehicle, stating that the problem was not related to the spring, without even looking at the car. *yd
Left front coil spring broke. Dealer and manufacturer were not notified. Feel free to provide any further information.
Consumer received a recall notice 01v99000 that the front coil springs may corrode and fracture. Recall repair was done by consumer's local mechanic. However, when consumer requested reimbursement, the manufacturer denied reimbursement claim stating that the repairs were done after the date of the recall letter (september 2001), there were no indication that the springs were broken, and the recall only covers the springs if they actually fractured and that the repairs were not done by a ford dealer. Consumer is seeking some assistance with this matter. *tt
The federal safety agency recall 01 v 199 000/manufacturer's recall 01s19 concerning front coil spring corrosion, consumer states dealer, wally edward ford, port henry, ny; phone# 518/546-9911 is refusing to honor recall notice. *ak the ford motor company says the dealership is responsible for the safety recall repairs. Consuemr has complained of the transmission and no dealership within a 100 mile radius will attempt to access the problem.
The spring on the drivers side of vehicle had ruptured while consumers wife was driving. When the spring ruptured, it forced the guard into the tire (which happens to be one month old), and ruined the tire. Consumer was told that the spring had been recalled and ford would replace them. (in which ford said that the spring on this vehicle had been replaced already and they would not replace anything).
Ford mo said they cannot fix my suspension problem after working on my car since the first service call. This has been since 1999. There have been many service calls, parts replaced, and I was told that if I traded in the car that they would give me $3,000 toward another car, which amounted to me buying a new van for the regular listed price. I have been putting up with these excuses that they didn't want my car as a trade in as they could'nt resell it. Now I am stuck with a car that I can't sell as it is defective. What is a consumer like myself to do about this. I have gone to arbitration and they said they couldn't help. The lemon laws only applies to the first year of purchase and I spent the first year with ford telling me they were working on my problem and that it would always be covered by warranty. Now they tell me they can't fix it. The car has such a bad shimmy, pounding in the front end that no one would take this van as a trade.
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