I recently bought a 02 Mercury Mountaineer with 58K miles. A few days after I bought it, I noticed a "groan" from the rear end of the vehicle. I have worked on many vehicles before and it was obvious it was the differential. I planned to have the bearings in the rear end replaced, but after doing some investigation on the internet, I have realized that there are a lot of people that have had this problem and spent a lot of money to get it fixed with no good results. Even with a used car purchase, I think Ford should be embarassed at the fact that I am embarassed for making the purchase of the vehicle. I wish Ford would do the right thing and re-gain our trust in them and fix our vehicles the right way. They have knows since day one that they were not right and have done nothing to fix them. I won't buy another Ford until they do something about this. I know they don't care, but right now I own three Ford and they will be the last if this is not rectified. Thanks for listening!!!

- Thornton, CO, USA

: the contact stated when the vehicle was taken to the dealership to rotate the tires, the mechanic noticed oil leaking from the rear differential seals. No warning light alerted the contact of the leak. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed there was no recall for this problem.

- Bellflower, CA, USA

The rear differential bearings have gone bad. The complete differential was replaced in July, 2003, September 04, and in an attempt to do something different to fix the problem the drive shaft was replaced in October 2005. Now it is February 2006 and the bad bearing noise is back. We are taking it into the dealer yet again for the same problem. We are also going to notify Ford and the California consumer protection Agency and BBB.

- Los Gatos, CA, USA

Our 2003 Mercury Mountaineer rear differential needed rebuilding in May 2003 at 35,500 miles. Now it needs to be rebuilt again at 55,000 miles. All bearings and cones were replaced both times.

- Los Gatos, CA, USA

At 34,365 miles we had to replace the rear end. It was covered by warranty. Now at 58,472 miles we are having to replace it again. This time it will cost approximately $1400.

- Lanett, AL, USA