Ford Windstar Rear Axle Recall Surpasses 600,000 Units
Almost down to the day, it’s been two years since we originally reported the Ford Windstar recall that still seems to be out of control. Most recently the automaker added 27,000 of the minivans from Virginia because of cracked rear axles.
Thankfully, it’s unusual that the defects meriting a recall can be linked to someone dying, but this is one of the less fortunate cases. While the most recent addition of vans wasn’t spurred from someone being killed, the number of added vans boosts the overall figure to more than 600,000 total vehicles between the U.S. and Canada.
Affected Windstars built between 1998 and 2003 may have faulty rear axles that may crack and fail. According to Ford, the problem occurs in states where salt is used to clear snowy roads. Over time the part corrodes and is unsafe to use. Virginia wasn’t included in the original recall, but in the last year there have been 11 failures related to the defect.
As is standard protocol with recalls, Ford will notify owners to bring their vehicles in for service. If you live in Virginia and own a Windstar you can contact Ford at (866) 436-7332 or the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at (888) 327-4236.
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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