The contact owns a 2001 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that the front driver side coil spring fractured while driving at an unknown speed, puncturing the tire. The spare tire was installed and the vehicle was then taken to an independent repair shop where the coil spring was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 127,383. The VIN was unavailable.

- Meadow Grove, NE, USA

I had a recall performed 2 years ago for the front coil springs. The driver side spring has broken and is cutting into the tire. The car was driven on 01/16/09 and ok. It was parked on the driveway until 01/18/09 when I started to drive, I heard a scraping sound which I thought was ice and snow in the wheel well. I drove aprox. A half block stopped and looked and the wheel wells were clear, I then drove the car back into the driveway and noticed smoke coming from the tire and a grove being cut into the tire. The coil spring is pressing into the tire.

- Cary, IL, USA

2001 Mercury Sable with 50,000 miles. Purchased in California, moved to Ohio in 2005. On Dec. 6, 2008, while backing out of garage the front coil spring broke and impaled the tire. VIN#, Ford site shows no recall in effect. I'm guessing it's because we bought outside of the "salt belt". did they forget that people move? I was never notified of this problem and was unaware of the limited recall until this happened. Could have been a lot worse had this happened while on the road. Will have it towed to a dealership tomorrow to see how well they'll stand behind their product.

- Hudson, OH, USA

Both rear springs on my car are broken. One of the front springs also broke (and has been repaired) and my mechanic has told me the other is about to go. I have found out that Ford recalled the front springs due to a substandard material used in construction, which is prone to road salt corrosion. Since I live in the northeast, road salt is a common occurrence during the winter months. The rear springs are made of the same material and are also corroding. It'll cost me around $1,600 to compensate for a design flaw that Ford is washing it's hands of (at 100,000 miles, my front springs aren't even covered under the recall, even though the problem was there from day-1). One would think Ford would do the right thing and replace the defective rear springs as well. I guess the number of potential deaths caused by a rear blow-out is below their threshold, so they'll take their chances in court. This is why we need NHTSA oversite. However, NHTSA has only required Ford to recall the front springs to date. Ford expects people to buy their cars, but they don't stand behind them (even when it is a known manufacturing defect). That is why many people are buying Japanese cars. I, for one, will never buy Ford again.

- Medford, MA, USA

At highway speeds, vehicle sways and veers excessively in moderate crosswinds.

- Andover, MA, USA