2008 MERCURY MARINER Complaints

QUITS RUNNING WHILE CAUTION WITH EXPLANATION IN MIDDLE LIGHT APPEARS AND WRENCH LIGHT APPEARS. THEN NOTIFICATION TO STOP AT ONCE SAFELY. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON FREEWAY. AFTER 15-20 MINUTES CAR WILL CRANK AGAIN BUT MAY ONLY GO A FEW FEET AND STALL AGAIN, NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE.

IT STARTED OFF WHEN YOU GET ON THE FREEWAY YOU HAVE TO HOLD THE STEERING WHEEL TIGHT BECAUSE IT JUMPS IN THE NEXT LANE. AND IT'S HARD TO STEER ESPECIALLY TRYING TO TURN AND GUIDE IT GOING STRAIGHT.

WHILE MY COLLEGE AGE DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING TO CAMPUS ON SUNDAY 8/28/16, CAME TO STOP AND WHEN SHE TRIED TO ACCELERATE, RPM BEGAN TO RACE ERRATICALLY AND CAR WOULD BARELY ACCELERATE. WRENCH LIGHT ON THE DASH BOARD IS NOW ILLUMINATED.

THIS HAD BEEN A GREAT CAR FOR ME UNTIL TODAY. I LEARNED THE HYDRAULIC CONTROL UNIT IS BAD AND WILL REQUIRE NEARLY $5000 TO REPLACE. IT IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. IT HAD 105000 MILES. IT IS NOT WORTH MUCH MORE THAN $5K. I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TRY AND TRADE THE CAR IN. I LATERALLY JUST GAVE IT TO MY DAUGHTER FOR COLLEGE ON SATURDAY. SHE HAS ALWAYS LOVED MY CAR.

APRIL 2016 THE ABS LIGHT WAS ON ALONG WITH THE MESSAGE "CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM AND THE REGEN BRAKES." WHEN BREAKING THE VEHICLE TOOK MUCH LONGER THAN NORMAL TO SLOW AND STOP. THE REPAIR FOR THIS WAS $4100 ($4800 WITH LABOR). I WAS ADVISED THAT THIS WAS A SAFETY ISSUE SINCE THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING PROPERLY AND TO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE. I CHOSE TO HAVE THE REPAIR SINCE I NEED THE VEHICLE FOR WORK AND STILL OWE MONEY ON IT. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND IT APEARS THAT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM AS OTHER COMPLAINTS ON NHTSA AND OTHER FORUMS ATTEST TO. I CONTACTED FORD AND ASKED THAT I BE REIMBURSED AS THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE. THEY DECLINED MY REQUEST.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY MARINER. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO TURN RIGHT ONTO A MAJOR HIGHWAY, THE POWER STEERING SUDDENLY MALFUNCTIONED AND THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE STEERING COLUMN AND HOUSING WERE FAULTY AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED IN AUGUST OF 2014 PER NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V284000 (STEERING). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 55,000.

THE CPU UNIT HAS HAD A COMPLETE FAILURE AND THE A NEW REPLACEMENT PART IS NOT AVAILABLE. VEHICLE YEAR IS A 2008. THE PROBLEM STARTED TO BECOME HARD TO START THE COMPLETE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY MARINER. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL ASSEMBLY FRACTURED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT RECONNECTED THE ARM; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,000.

SAFETY RECALL 14S05 -AS A RESULT OF THE RECALL FORD UPGRADED THE SOFTWARE IN MY CAR IN DEC. 2015, BUT THREE MONTHS LATER THE STEERING FAILED. (THE CAR WAS PARKED ON A QUIET SAN FRANCISCO STREET WHEN I TRIED TO START IT AND REALIZED THAT THE STEERING WOULDN'T WORK.) I FIRST TOWED THE CAR TO MY LOCAL MECHANIC, WHO LOOKED AT IT FOR A WEEK AND THEN TOLD ME THAT IT WAS RELATED TO THIS SAFETY RECALL; HE ADVISED ME TO TAKE THE CAR BACK TO FORD. WHEN I RE-TOWED THE CAR TO FORD DEALERSHIP, THEY REFUSED TO HONOR THEIR WRITTEN COMMITMENT TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM AND INSTEAD TRIED TO ARGUE THAT BECAUSE I GOT A SOFTWARE UPDATE, THEIR RESPONSIBILITY WAS OVER. WHEN I ASKED IF THE SYMPTOMS IN MY CAR MATCHED THOSE THE RECALL WAS MEANT TO FIX, THE DEALERSHIP ADMITTED THE SYMPTOMS MATCHED. THEY SAY THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING B/C A "CODE" DIDN'T TRIP. I ALSO NOTICED THAT THE RECALL SAYS THAT SOFTWARE UPGRADES "MAY" FIX THE PROBLEM AND SHOULD AT LEAST NOTIFY THE DRIVER BY BEEPING. MY CAR NEVER BEEPED, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY A SOFTWARE UPDATE THAT "MAY" FIX THE PROBLEM IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR SAFETY! THE STEERING ISSUE SHOULD BE FIXED/REPLACED BY FORD! FORD IS NEGLIGENTLY PUTTING CUSTOMER LIVES IN DANGER. MOREOVER, FORD SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO PUSH THE COST OF A MALFUNCTIONING, CORE PRODUCT FEATURE ONTO CUSTOMERS. WHEN I PURCHASED THE CAR, AT THE TOP OF THE MARKET PRICE FOR IT, I WAS NOT TOLD "IN 50,000 MILES YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A COMPLETELY NEW STEERING COLUMN BECAUSE THIS ONE WILL FAIL AND PEOPLE IN YOUR CAR MAY DIE." PLEASE INVESTIGATE AS MANY CONSUMERS ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW FORD IS TRYING TO PUSH RESPONSIBILITY FOR RECALL 14S05 ONTO INDIVIDUAL CAR OWNERS.

UPON STARTUP AND SOMETIMES WHEN DRIVING THE ABS WARNING LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE ALONG WITH THE SERVICE BRAKE SYSTEM AND THE REGENERATIVE BRAKE SYSTEM SHUTDOWN. CAUSING THE BRAKES TO BECOME WEAK AND INEFFECTIVE.