NHTSA Complaint #10180951 — 2005 FORD FREESTYLE

LEAKS WATER FROM WET WEATHER INTO VEHICLE'S CARGO AREA AND FRONT PASSENGER FLOOR AREA. FREEZING TO SUB-FREEZING TEMPS CAUSE WATER TO FREEZE CARPET AND ANYTHING IN CAR WITH MOISTURE ON IT. FIRST TIME THIS WAS APPARENT, CAR WAS IN FOR RECALL ON DOOR LATCHES; AT THAT TIME, WE TOLD DEALER ABOUT WATER LEAK IN CARGO AREA AFTER IT HAS JUST RAINED - THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND THE LEAK, AND THEREFORE NEVER FILED WITH FORD. SECOND TIME CAR WAS IN WAS AT THE END OF DECEMBER '06 FOR A WATER LEAK ON FRONT PASSENGER FLOOR. DEALER SAID THEY SPENT MORE THAN AN HOUR WATER TESTING UNTIL IT DID LEAK IN THEIR PRESENCE. SAID THEY REMOVED AREAS OF CARPET AND DOORS WHERE WATER WAS COMING IN, FIXED SEAL, AND DRIED OUT CARPET BEFORE RE-INSTALLING AND GIVING CAR BACK TO US (KEEP IN MIND THIS IS ROUGHLY 11-12 TOTAL HOURS OF LABOR). A MONTH LATER, WE ARE IN THE SAME POSITION AFTER A LIGHT SNOW (1-2"). THIS TIME, HOWEVER, THE FRONT PASSENGER FLOOR AND REAR CARGO AREA ARE SOAKING WET. DEALER HAS HAD CAR FOR ALMOST A FULL WEEK. ORDERED NEW CARPET FOR FRONT AND REAR, REPLACED ANY PANELS AND ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATED WITH WHERE WATER WAS COMING IN, SAID THEY HAVE MADE FIXES TO SEALS WHERE WATER IS NOW COMING IN *ANOTHER 12-14 HOURS). STILL WAITING FOR VEHICLE TO BE RETURNED. DEALER SAYS THAT, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE THE HIGHEST END WARRANTY YOU CAN BUY THROUGH THEM AT 7 YEARS/75,000 MILES, THIS PROBLEM WILL MORE THAN LIKELY NOT BE COVERED BEYOND THE 3YR/36,000 MILE MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY. WE ARE TALKING ROUGHLY 25 HOURS OF LABOR AT ALMOST $100/HR. I CANNOT AFFORD $2,500/MONTH. WHAT IS FORD GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS? THERE IS A BLOG ONLINE, HTTP://WWW.FORD-FORUMS.COM/FORD-FREESTYLE/3008-WATER-LEAK-ISSUES.HTML, ABOUT THIS VERY PROBLEM, HOSTED BY FORD, YET THERE ARE ZERO TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS (TSBS) OR COMPLAINTS POSTED ON THIS (NHTSA) SITE. *NM