Ford To Recall, Buy Back Windstar Minivans With Defective Axles
Ford‘s Windstar minivan is undergoing a massive recall, with over 460,000 1998-2003 Windstars being recalled over a fault rear axle that may corrode and ultimately fail.
Ford has informed dealers that rather than fix the problem, they may buy back the vehicles instead. “At our discretion, the remedy we offer may involve repurchasing a customer’s vehicle at a price we believe either matches or exceeds market value,” Ford said in a prepared statement.
Not surprisingly, the recall affects cars in “rust belt” states like Michigan and locations in Canada where road salt is used. NHTSA said that 96 percent of complaints came from the following states; Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C.
[Source: Detroit News]
UPDATE: The Ford Windstar is now under investigation by NHTSA for rusting subframe issues. Click here to read the story.
More by Derek Kreindler
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The problem with the trans.,is probably a result of fords factory bent axles sending exsecc vibration through it,same with the leaking pinion seals,its not the seal that leaks but through the spline.I was being scammed by ford into paying for the replacement and repair of the rear axles on my harly model f150.I went into suspition mode when they said i must have hit something and bent it so i investigated,and found that the polished bearing surface is ground over top of the first sizing cut done before the tempering process(polished bearing surface needs to be machined on hardend steel),when the first cut is made the prepared suface where the actual bear rides is then tapperd down and featherd into the original cast size,on this tappered area the polishing of the bearing surface acually polishes part of the tappered down area of the axle (ONLY ON HALF OF THE SHAFT) more on my facebook page jaysontherres.