The Mountaineer is a 2005. I love the vehicle but, the paint is almost gone on the hood and is starting to bubble in other area. This is my daily car, has been garage kept until May 2018. I cannot think of anything which would have caused this.

- Murray, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the rear panel was cracked. The contact was concerned that the integrity of the rear window was compromised due to the cracks. The vehicle was taken to dick smith Ford (9505 E state rte 350, raytown, mo) where the cracks were confirmed. The dealer diagnosed that adhesive material needed to be added to the cracks to reinforce the panel. The manufacturer stated that if the contact were to repair the failure independently, she may be reimbursed if a recall were issued. The failure mileage was approximately 116,354.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

The rear lift gate is cracked. This is a known defect in Ford manufacturing and they should fix this

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

My husband was driving our 2005 Mercury Mountaineer and he was going less than 20 miles per hour on a main street and got in a accident the woman stopped short and he rear ended her. The car totalled up buckled up air bags never inflated they came out completely deflated. Issue with this car also is the electric driver window dies out mechanic could not figure out bought new motors still wouldnt open electric switches they thought it was fully electronic they where going to re wire very expensibe but car was totalled. Car horrible on gas also. Have pictures of delated air bags both driver and passanger

- Westbury, NY, USA

Transmission jerks. Have that crack in middle lift gate around emblem like I see everybody has. Lift gate window bolts rusted and one broke in half on the driver side back lift gate at top back window it cracked in half didn't know that when I noticed my warning light saying hatch was open I didn't noticed anything went too open and try to shut it and when I lifted open the door the glass fell out and bent the hinge that supports the whole rear glass I grabbed glass held it till others came to help me in parking lot glass was heavy im tiny petite girl so thank goodness for people who came to help me at store it was just hanging there and the other side was just as bad just didn't break in half at that point yet thank goodness or I think the whole thing would have fell to ground and shattered.very expensive to fix at a dealer so my husband order parts at store and online for a lot less and fixed it himself so that's all fixed now.. right after that we noticed same kind of car as our with same problem only they had it all duct tape and stuff to keep it together (probably because they found out how expensive it is to fix) I didn't think that was safe at all either. My cruise control stopped working had it replaced during warranty. My air conditioner sucks. Just last week the newest thing is my trunk lock wont open no matter what I do. I can only open the lift gate window that's it. But the whole back door wont lift open. Lock wont budge to open don't know why?

- Bakersfield , CA, USA

There is a crack in the lift gate which occurred over time for no apparent reason as there was no accident or collision of any kind with my Mountaineer. I understand that there have been other complaints on this. The Mercury dealership where I purchased and serviced my Mountaineer are out of business.

- Riverside, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that there was a crack in the lift gate. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Bloomingdale , GA, USA

I bought this SUV cash from a dealership and was told no damages! I have all the original paperwork stating no damages to the vehicle. I paid $14300 cash. I went to trade in my SUV to downsize and was told there were title issues and the frame was cracked. I then looked over all my paperwork front and back to see if I missed anything-to see if any damages were noted. I contacted the dealership and they said it is not there fault that the dealership that I was trying to trade the SUV in was just telling me that to buy my trade in for a less value. I obtained the report from auto check and it clearly states the SUV was a lease. It was in an accident on 12/06/07 then sold for auction. New england auction reported clearly: Auction announced as frame damage. Was sold to the dealership on 12/28/07 then sold to me on 01/09/08. Again no damages reported to me. Now I am driving a vehicle with a damaged frame which is unsafe to drive. And no one will take the SUV because of the frame damage. The dealership wants "proof". I have been unable to find the original dealer or auction group. I only have this report to go on. Please help me! I would have never bought this vehicle if I knew it had frame damages to it. Can you please help in anyway! I would like to be refunded or given a car of equal value that is safe to drive. I don't know what to do. Please contact me. Thank you.

- Orlando, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear lift gate exhibited a quarter inch crack from the bottom of the rear window and down to the bottom of the rear hatchback door. As a result, water was entering the vehicle through the crack. The contact stated that the rear of the vehicle had strong odor of mold. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 74,848.

- Lake Tahoe, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that the lift gate panel was cracked. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 72,000. The VIN was not available.

- Tampa, FL, USA

Transmission jerking and jumping into gear, and reverse, roll forward in park on a hill. Liftgate has a crack around and under the symbol.

- Natchz, MS, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that there was a crack in the rear lift-gate, right down the middle and around the manufacturers emblem. The crack stretched from the top to the bottom of the lift-gate. Due to the crack being located near the windshield wiper motor, it would freeze and cause abrasions to the hands whenever the lift-gate was opened. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer at least three times, but the contact was informed that he would have to pay for the repair expenses. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 44,000. Updated 09/28/11 the consumer also stated ice formed in the cracked area causing bubbling of rear gate and freezing windshield, which caused the rear wiper to not work. Updated 10/07/11

- Summit, NJ, USA

I have a 2005 Mountaineer that has a crack in the plastic below the rear window that goes around the Mercury emblem. This was noticed in January of 2011. This vehicle was not involved in an accident. Since then I have noticed four other Mercury Mountaineer with the same crack.

- Houston, TX, USA

Automatic transmission- this transmission is horrible a few times I noticed the severe noise and jerk when I went to reverse. I thought perhaps it was me. On christmas eve I went to pull away from stop light and car started to accelerate then slowed down I gave it a little gas and it jerked me so hard it hurt my neck (which is still bothering me today). The od light came on and check transmission. Repair cost $2,7000, basically everything went bad. After hearing from numerous people this is a problem that Ford is aware of. They even went so far as to correct it for future models but has yet to perform a recall on 2005 Mountaineer and Explorer. As Ford was aware of this problem corrected it for future models they should be liable and a recall notice should be forthcoming. Anyone who has experienced this should get full refund of monies paid. Now to address the cracking around the Mercury emblem on the lift gate. Ford is aware of this problem and has changed it for future models, but instead of stepping up and correcting pass models they sweep it under the rug. A full investigation into both of these concerns as with transmissions someone could easily be fatally injured.

- Royal Oak, MI, USA

Upper section of rear hatch body cracks. Made of plastic. Changed on next year models to all metal. This the second occurrence of the defect. Ford refuses to repair free of charge.

- Cherry Hill, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer. While examining the vehicle, the contact noticed a crack extending from the bottom of the rear glass to the bottom of the vehicle. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 31,000.

- Bradenton, FL, USA

My 2005 Mercury Mountaineer developed a crack in the rear lift gate right around the Mercury emblem. I have seen many more with the same problem, both Ford Explorer and the Mercury Mountaineer. When I took it to the dealer they were like too bad so sad it is out of warranty even though I bought a extended warranty from Ford. I have been looking around now and I see lots of them with the same problem. I have heard that Ford is fixing the Explorer if it is under 5 years and under 75,000 miles but that just seems to be a dealer thing, I have not seen any official account of this.

- Burlington, IA, USA

The back liftgate has a crack around the circular Mercury emblem. I noticed it on mine, and have seen the same thing on other Mercury SUV's. the vehicle has not been wrecked, or had anything hit the back liftgate. Problem with the structural integrity of the plastic used in the liftgate?

- Pensacola, FL, USA

I have a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer the SUV has 66,000 miles on it and the roof has paint peeling on it and a large rust spot. I took to the Mercury dealer and they said it was not rusted through the body. I said not now but it will the service manager replied yes but hopefully it will be out of warranty by then ( he was so helpful ) the Ford rep came today and rejected the claim do to her buying the SUV used even through she brought it from this dealer. I will try to appeal it with Ford lets see what happens "???"

- Woodbridge, VA, USA