On my 2005 Ford Freestyle with 21,400 miles the rear brake pads were worn with less than 3 mm of pad remaining. At 6 days past my 3 yr / 36 K mi. Warranty, Ford cust service and Ford corporate said there was nothing they could do to help me. They did admit that they extended the rear brake warranty to 3 yr/ 36 K mi - however I was past the 3 yr date (even if by 6 days) -- thankfully my dealer contacted their Ford rep and he authorized the entire rear brakes to be replaced -- my copay was $119.68 vs $475. I grilled them as to what all was replaced and they said the pads, rotors, and caliper mounting plates and brackets and bolts etc. They said they rear brake issues that most everybody is having is due to the wrong caliper mounting hardware used. This caused the calipers to be always miss- aligned and excessive pad and rotor wear. Simply replacing pads and rotors will not fix the actual cause of the problem (the mis-aligned calipers) hopefully this may help someone who is replacing pads and rotors every 7K mi. Fords indifference to this problem is absolutely un-acceptable. I wish all of our complaints could be submitted to an attorney for a class action suit. It seems Ford does not want offer a fix for this unless you catch it while under warranty. Hope this helps.

- Roscoe, IL, USA

2005 Ford Freestyle, purchased new. Ford has serviced as well as nys inspections. At 30,000 mile service the rear brakes had little disc pad left, rear rotors were warped beyond repair, caliper frozen. Ford said not covered by warranty (bumper to bumper 3 yrs 36,000 miles) and had to pay $475. Caliper now frozen and again not covered by warranty. Called Ford at 800-392-3673 and confirmed problem that rear brakes failed before front brakes, they acknowledged there was a design flaw, but refused to cover with warranty, and said to keep my receipts in case a recall was issued.

- Pleasant Valley, NY, USA