The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-150. According to the vehicle owner's manual, the ignition key had to be used to open a lock in the rear of the vehicle to access the spare tire. The contact discovered that the lock was rotted out and needed to be replaced. The dealer (betten baker Ford in ludington, Michigan) diagnosed that the lock to the spare tire was corroded and a special tool needed to be used to remove the cylinder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was invalid. The approximate failure mileage was 73,000.

- Ludington, MI, USA

My 16yr old son was driving down the highway at around 60mph when the drivers side window just fell down into the door almost causing him to crash into oncoming traffic.

- Oakland City, IN, USA

Automatic transmission shift cable is routed too close to the engine causing the cable cover to melt over time allowing the cable to become loose. This prevents the column shifter from transferring the vehicle into park even though the dashboard indicator is in the park position.

- Prichard, WV, USA

2004 Ford F-150 crew cab lariat. Driving in rainstorm, the power window regulator fails and the window comes crashing down. This is the 3rd of 4 windows that has fell down for no reason in a 18 mo. Period. The shock and surprise has caused me to lose control and run into a fence. Had this been on a freeway it could be worse.

- La Porte, TX, USA

My Ford F150 2004 power window regulator broke while I was driving. Not only did it scare me because of slamming down so hard, it made me swerve off the road. Thank god I got safely over, but was so shaken I had to wait before proceeding. It was L09 degrees that day and had to drive with the window broken and down. I know many people have had this problem with this model and year, why haven't you done anything about this. It is a safety issue that needs to be addressed to all consumers who own or going to own this auto. I can't afford to fix it now, they want nearly $400. I am so afraid my truck is going to get stolen, but what can I do? I also worry that when I park my truck in a public parking area, that someone may easily take my truck with me in it!!!!!!!!!

- Exeter, CA, USA

I have a Ford F150 5.4 Triton, and the window regulator cable broke dropping the window into the door on the drivers side with no way to get the window back up without a new part.

- Hemet, CA, USA

No access to spare tire: 2004 Ford F-150 "heritage" (2003 body style) spare stored under truck bed lowers using "key" and winch.the winch and key are supposed to engage via a "star shaped" indentation. If this does not engage one cannot lower the spare tire for use. The replacement (Ford refuses to pay for)comes re-designed so that one actually inserts the lowering rod into the winch.there is no "star" to strip out or be worn down. With a flat tire on a busy road and one under the truck trying to access a spare tire constitutes a life threatening situation. Ford has sold the re-design as a replacement and this in itself is an admission of a defective product design. Dealership informed me that they simply cut the tire free and replace the winch at customer cost.

- Mcmillan, MI, USA

Second window drive failure in 6 weeks. Very loud bang from door (sounds like truck is hit by large rock/hard object) which is very startling, then window glass slides down into door. On the freeway this is extremely distracting and dangerous. The first window failure (one month ago) cost me $430 at Ford dealer to repair. I was never informed that this was a frequent problem. After second failure in 4 weeks, I went on the web and discovered that this is happening to thousands of 2004-2005 F-150's, and Ford refuses to address it! I'm waiting to talk to dealers service manager about second failure to try and get Ford to pay for the repairs, as well as inspect the other windows and repair them as necessary. It's only a matter of time before they fail as well. - this is a well-known design defect!!! Ford has already changed the design/part # for the faulty part (regulator/cable assy) three times- and it still fails without warning! these trucks should be recalled and fixed at Ford's expense!!!!

- El Dorado Hills, CA, USA

I was driving when I heard a loud pop! at that point my driver side window rolled down and couldn't be rolled back up. Ford said they would look at it for $200 and that was just to look at it. I tore into it myself and found the window regulator to be broken. Ford wants to charge me $198 for the whole assembly. This I believe to be rediculous. Also my passenger side window does not want to role up with the passenger side control so that is inopporative. One more thing my cruise control doesn't work half of the time. My major complaint though is the window regulator as this seems to be a major problem with Ford components and even the Ford mechanics I talk to say this is a big problem.

- Rapid City, SD, USA

2004 F-150 crew cab 4-door, 77,000 miles. In the last 2 weeks, starting October 20, 2008, I have had 3 windows fall into the doors of my truck. Windows effected are the rf, rr and lr. The first was the rt front passenger window which fell in the door while traveling on the interstate at 70 mph, at night and during a heavy rain. When I attempted to crack the window for air circulation, I heard a loud bang and the window fell all the way into the door causing me to swerve and nearly miss a vehicle in the next lane. The failure also soaked the interior of the truck and many items in the front seat. I had to continue driving in the rain for several miles to a gas station for a plastic bag because the door panel had to be removed to get the window back up. The rt rear was next followed by the lt rear windows. Each window failed with a loud bank and slid into the door while attempting to roll down the window. All 3 windows are being held in the up position by wedging screw drivers between the door and window. 3 windows in less than 2 weeks! the estimated cost for repair is 1500 dollars which I cannot afford. This poses not only a safety issue but also a security issue. Judging from the frequency of complaints on these window assemblies, Ford needs to take responsibility for replacing, through a recall, these faulty window assemblies.

- Ocean Springs, MS, USA

I was opening the back door of an extended cab, Ford F150 2004, truck to get out of the back seat. Another person was attempting to open the door for me using the outside handle. The handle caught my hand and severed my middle, ring, finger on my left hand. It cut through my fingernail and the bone. My finger was almost completely severed. It was sewn back on by an emergency room doctor. I've had to see an orthopedic doctor several times for pain and treatment. I am concerned that this door handle would do very severe damage to child's hand. It may severe several fingers of a child; this handle could severe a child's whole hand.

- Hahira, GA, USA