2012 Ford Flex

2012 FORD FLEX LI HAS 70K THOUSAND MILES. WHILE DRIVING, VEHICLE STARTED TO HUM. SUDDENLY CAR STARTS TO SHAKE AND GRINDING NOISES COMING FROM CENTER OF VEHICLE AND VEHICLE BECOMES DISABLED IN MID-STREAM DRIVING. VEHICLE SMELLS OF BURNT TRANSMISSION OIL. AFTER DOING RESEARCH ON POSSIBLE PROBLEMS, PTU IS IMPROPERLY FILLED WITH EXTREMELY LOW AMOUNTS OF LUBRICANT FROM FACTORY. AFTER FURTHER RESEARCH, SEE LEAKING OIL FROM PTU WHICH IS ALREADY LOW. I WAS LUCKY TO BE DRIVING AT A SLOWER SPEED OR THE SHAKING AND VIBRATIONS COULD HAVE CAUSED ACCIDENT DUE TO POOR DESIGN FLAWS. A RECALL IS A MUST.

MY VEHICLE HAS 188,000 MILES ON IT AND IS AN AWD MODEL. IT HAS ALWAYS, UNTIL THE LAST TWO OIL CHANGES EVERY 3000 MILES, BEEN SERVICED BY THE FORD DEALERSHIP AND THE CAR WAS BOUGHT FROM (LEO CAYTES FORD). THE RPMS SKYROCKET TO 3000 - 4000 RPMS WHEN THE CAR IS CONTROLLED BY SPEED CONTROL SUDDENLY, BUT THE CAR DOESN'T SPEED UP. WHEN THE SPEED CONTROL IS RELEASED, THE RPMS DROP TO THE NORMAL SETTING FOR THAT SPEED. THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN EVERY TIME THE SPEED CONTROL IS USED, BUT, MUCH MORE FREQUENTLY AS OF LATE. THE FRONT AWD MECHANISM (BETWEEN THE FRONT WHEELS - PTU????) IS LEAKING AND THE OIL HAS SHAVINGS AND "DIFFERENT COLORS" IN THE FLUID. AND, ON OCCASION THE LEFT INTERIOR FRONT LIGHT ( BY THE REAR VIEW MIRROR) WILL TURN ON BY ITSELF. THESE ARE RECENT EVENTS AND I LOVE MY FLEX AND WOULD BUY ANOTHER ONE IF I COULD AFFORD TO DO SO. IT HAS REALLY GIVEN ME NO PROBLEMS FOR THE MOST PART, AND I WOULD SAY, "ITS THE BEST CAR I'VE EVER OWNED, FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC!!!! ALSO, ON MOST OCCASIONS, THERE HAS ALWAYS, FROM THE BEGINNING OF OWNERSHIP - BOUGHT NEW - BEEN A PROBLEM IN THE WINTER THAT WHEN THE CAR IS STATIONARY (PARKED OR AT A LIGHT) WITH THE HEAT ON, IT BLOWS COLD AIR! THE DEALER HAS TRIED TO FIX THE PROBLEM SEVERAL TIMES, BUT, TO NO AVAIL. AS SOON AS THE CAR MOVES, HEAT FUNCTIONS OK!

HAVE A 2012 FORD FLEX WITH 72XXX MILES THATS LEAKING FLUID FROM THE PTU (POWERTAKE OFF UNIT). LEARNED THAT FORD HAS THIS PROBLEM IN MANY VEHICLES FLEX,EDGE, MTX. MY CONCERNS ARE THAT ITS HAS A SMELL FROM TIME TO TIME LEAKING ON THE EXHAUST. I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT IF IT GOES COMPLETELY OUT IT WILL OR CAUSE THE CAR TO LOCK UP THE DRIVE TRAIN WHICH PUTS FEAR INTO DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND MAKES ME FEEL PRESSURED. THE COST IS AROUND $1900.00 AND FORD MOTOR COMPANY WILL NOT ISSUES ANY CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE OR RECALLS. FORD IS WELL AWARE THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM AND THEY SHOULD STEP UP AND TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM