NHTSA Complaint #10971676 — 2011 FORD TAURUS

MY FORD TAURUS HAS AWD. TODAY, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE POWER TRANSFER UNIT (PTU) IS LEAKING BADLY AND MUST BE REPLACED. THE TOTAL COST ESTIMATE IS $1700 INCLUDING PARTS AND LABOR. ACCORDING TO THE DEALER AND CONFIRMED BY OWNER COMMENTS ON THE WEB, THE PTU MAY NEED TO BE REPLACED AFTER 80000 MILES. IF IT IS NOT REPAIRED THE UNIT WILL FAIL AND THE CAR WILL LOCKUP AND HAVE TO BE TOWED TO A MECHANIC FOR REPAIR. THE PTU IS ONLY USED ON VEHICLES WITH AWD. MY TAURUS HAS 82500 MILES ON IT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS IS A DEFECT. I PURCHASED THE CAR WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT I SHOULD NOT EXPECT A LARGE REPAIR BILL FOR A BROKEN PART AFTER 80K MILES. MAINTENANCE IS ONE THING. A LEAKING POWER TRANSFER CASE IS QUITE ANOTHER. IF THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT, FORD SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO PAY FOR REPAIRS AND TAKE STEPS TO REDESIGN THE PTU SO THAT IT DOESN'T FAIL AFTER 6 YEARS OF USE.