Bridgestone insignia SE 200 with 35,000 miles. Car was driving normally at 40 mph, began feeling a vibration. Soon the car was wiggling like a wheel was loose. Handling worsened rapidly. In 5 miles I became so concerned I pulled off the road & called aaa. One tire had bulges. Put the spare on and saw the tire had began to separate in the middle of the tread about 8 inches long & down to steel belt. Another separation inside near sidewall.

- Irving, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis. The contact stated that one of the tires became flat. The vehicle was taken to a tire shop for inspection where the contact was advised that the wheel exhibited a one-quarter inch fractured. The tire was replaced but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

- Haskell, TX, USA

My son has a 2003, Mercury Grand Marquis. The car has know had three rims crack at the weld that hold the two halves of the steel rim together, one was cracked almost completely around the entire rim and if it had cracked in half, the two halves of the rim would have separated and you would have lost the tire and complete control of the vehicle. The car now has 32,000 miles on it and the spare is now cracked and losing air and this tire has only been on the car less than a year. If you google cracked rims on Mercury cars or Grand Marquis you will get hundreds if not thousands of people having the same issue with their steel rims and if you go to online parts houses and put in Mercury Grand Marquis steel rims you will find repaired rims for about $47 and a couple sites even say, "these rims have been re-welded and have no cracks." I know that the san jose police cars use the same rims as my son's car and last week I asked a police officer if they have problems with the rims cracking and he told me they change the rims twice a year because they are prone to cracking at the weld. I have also taken the car to Ford several times and they have had no interest in providing different rims or even giving me the information needed to file a complaint, all they wanted to do was sell me a new rim or rims for $197 each. My question to them was, "why would I want to buy something for $197 that will crack again since it too isn't welded together correctly?" I feel that this is a serious safety issue and should be recalled. We should not have to wait until somebody dies because a rim separates and the person loses control of the vehicle and hits and kills someone.. I am also surprised that no one has complained about this to you before and that if they have you have taken no action, I guess you have to get the problem on the news before action is taken.

- San Jose, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis. While driving between 30 and 60 mph, the steering wheel vibrated. The contact noticed that the front passenger side wheel had a crack, which caused the tire to deflate. He has pictures. The fuel system was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 107,000. Updated 09/26/07

- Sulphur , LA, USA