Having read a fairly large number of complaints on this problem and seen that there was possible financial assistance from Ford for what is obviously a vehicle defect, I contacted the Ford Hotline. As can be expected, the CSR was very nice, but emphasized that there was no recall, only a TSB out on repairs. She did suggest that I bring the truck back to the dealer from whom we purchased it and talk to the Service Manager. He stated the obvious - no warranty, tough beans. He had only a limited amount of Ford "Good Will" money and apparently I wasn't on that list. He did say he would try to work out a discount, but with his estimate of $500 it isn't likely to be sufficient. I have purchased many cars from this multicar dealership (Leith) over the years and will never buy another and will try to influence anyone else to avoid doing so as well.

This should be a no cost recall for a product defect!

This is clearly an engineering issue and is due to improper material selection. The cracking is temperature related and appears to be because the panel and the underlying structure have very dissimilar CTE's (coefficients of thermal expansion). As the temperature cools, the panel shrinks more than it's substrate. This creates stresses in the panel due to this CTE induced size difference. The problem is exacerbated because the panel will get more brittle as it gets colder. Eventually the stress is relieved by a fracture that propagates through the part.

back hatch has cracked from glass around emblem to bottom of hatch when I told dealership about problem, they said that that was a common problem but it was not covered under warranty. It would have to come out of my pocket.It is a shame that you can spend a lot of money to for a vehicle but you can not get any kind of warranty work done when their product fails do to there bad manufacturing. I only have 35,000 miles and it is falling apart.This is no way to keep your costumers coming back. I have purchased ford products for over 25 years but now I am having doubts about their products

In December of 2007 I brought my 2004 Mercury Mountaineer to my service provider as I had a crack in the hatchback around the emblem. The dealer fixed the issue charging me only $100 as they told me this was a common problem and that a recall would be coming out shortly. In January 2010 the same crack appeared I called by service provider and they told me the charge for repair would be $450. In looking at Mountaineers around my area 8 out 10 of these vehicles have the same crack. The internet tells the same story common defect. Consumers should not be charged for a default in the make of the car. I will NEVER by another FORD/MERCURY product. Make this Right! Fix our cars and fix the problem

When we first noticed the crack, it was very small. Within 2 days, the crack not only expanded by 1/4 inch, but also split several times around the Mercury Emblem, which looks extremely, extremely terrible. We are really disapointed, as because of this defect, we are unable to open the rear window and have to lift the whole tail gate to get in the back. I am fearful the window will fall out if we pop open the window using the button by the license plate. Pretty sad that we have to alter the use of our vehicle due to a defect that Ford has know about for years and refuses to acknowledge.

Take care of your customers Ford!!! That is the right thing to do. So much for a good, strong company standing behind their product. Totally unacceptable!!!!!!! Without customers buying their product, Ford would slowly lose market share. So much for being a faithful consumer. Our next vehicle, which we plan to purchase in the Spring, will not be a Ford product. Such a shame. Shame on you Ford !!!! You are only hurting yourself by not taking care of your loyal customers. I'm sure it wouldn't cost you that much to fix the issues and work with your engineers to design a better product.

I hope Ford chooses to do the right thing and take care of everyone who submitted a complaint. It is the right thing to do.

I agree with Complaint # 318 I also have noticed many other Ford SUV with the same problem that I also have with 2004 Mercury Mountaineer Premier that we paid dearly for. I have also checked with Ford Motor company and there is NO recall for this issue. If so many people are having the same problems, it has to be a defect in the making of the part. There was a vertical crack to the right of the ford emblem just under the window on the back hatch in December. There is the same vertical crack with 2 cracks now coming off of the original one. I sure hope that it does not get to the point where the pieces come off of the car! FORD SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING ALL OF THESE CUSTOMERS TAKEN CARE OF! IF THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO GIVE THEM MONEY TO "BAIL" THEM OUT OF DEBT, THE LEAST THEY COULD DO IS FIX EXISTING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS FIRST~

This is the first Mercury that I have ever owned and I bought the car brand new off the lot, have never wrecked it or took it off road and now a major crack has showed up on my hatch! I believe that this is a major defect in Mercury's engineering of the back hatch and that they should replace all of the parts that are defective. When I purchased my vehicle I was not expecting to buy a piece of sh*t plastic car I wanted to buy a dependable vehicle for my wife and now it is a eye sore that I have to pay for every month with a big ass crack in the back of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The manufacturer and the Lincoln-Mercury dealerships are well aware of the "problem" with cracking around the Mercury emblem on the liftgate; however, to my knowledge the manufacturer has not seen fit to fix it, recall it, or, WHATEVER!! I was informed by the service manager of the dealership where I've done business since 1991, that this is a "common" problem. I have a really hard time believing that since this is my 4TH MOUNTAINEER and this is the 1ST TIME this has ever happened! I thought maybe they were just blowing smoke until I started paying attention to the Mountaineers in my city that 1 out of 3 Mountaineers have that same crack around the emblem on the liftgate. That's not just a "common problem"; THAT'S A DEFECT IN THE MANUFACTURING!

About 3 month ago the lift gate cracked below the mountaineer emblem. While sitting in the garage just last week during cold weather it cracked again above the mountaineer emblem. Took it to the Ford dealership and he told me it was cracking because it was plastic and for over $400.00 he could fix it. I ask if I had it fixed would the new one crack also and he told me no guarantee. Crack #3 is starting to show now and that has happened just today when I showed it to the body shop manager. The cracks are big enough to slide a dime into them. If you park in the sun the crack will get smaller, but opens back up when it is cool. And as far as using the back lift, it hasn't been used maybe 3 or 4 times in the year I have owned the Mountaineer.