Ford Motor Corporation
Complaint 36652 Details

I am the original owner of a 2007 Mercury Mariner Premier 4WD.
It has approx 128,000 miles & have been extremely pleased w/the vehicle.
The transfer case went on it a few days ago. I took it to a garage and they showed me the fluid that was in it- being black w/metal pieces which is most likely the cause for its premature failure. I was asked when I last had the fluid changed. My reply was that I didn't even know that it had to be changed; moreover, I looked in my service maintainence booklet and nowhere does it mention that the fluid needs to be changed in the transfer case nor that the unit needs to be serviced at all.
I emailed Ford several times & told them of the situation. I received 4 replys back from four different individuals from Ford all telling me that the unit is out of warranty (but making no mention to my reference of the fact that the service maintainence booklet makes no reference to the changing of the fluid). However, the last individual that replied to me said "We appreciate you have taken the time to make us aware of this issue....."
I feel that I should not have to bear all of the cost for its replacement.