Tailgate problems of the 2004 Lincoln Aviator

I purchased this vehicle as a certified used vehicle. It had an extended warranty. Once it expired I've experienced every single complaint people have stated online about this vehicle. As of today (12/02/13) it still has only 74,000 miles on it and the latest problem is the transmission needs to be replaced but they don't know why. I am a stay at home mom and wear-and-tear on it is very minimal (grocery shopping, to and from school, etc. ). I have never had so many problems on a "so called" luxury vehicle before! I've had bad coils in cylinders 3, 4, 5 (twice), and 7 replaced under Lincoln's recall. The tailgate panel cracked (just like all the other people who own this vehicle and the mountaineers have complained about), but they won't fix it. In addition, a white plastic piece fell out of the top half of the tailgate and now it will not close anymore therefore I can no longer take it through car washes. The bracket for the sun visor on my passenger side completely deteriorated and caused the visor to suddenly dangle from the roof of my car while driving. Now, I cannot flip it up and it causes a blind spot. There is also something faulty with the brake light switch which drains my battery on a regular basis and I have to have my jumped. The brake light switch has been replaced 3 times now because it is has shorted out. To complicate matters, every time I take the car to the dealership for these repairs, they insist on doing a "diagnostics check" and every time they want to charge a fee for this service. Every time the price is different. . . Some times its $50, sometimes its $100. This vehicle is a lemon and I will never buy a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury again.

Without impact the tailgate applique of my 2004 Lincoln Aviator cracked. I understand this is common among Ford explorers merc. Mountaineers and Aviators as reported by my local Ford dealer and various bodyshops and thousands on the internet with similar defects. Ford wont fix if its out of warranty . The broken tailgate section can dislodge and cause damage to pedestrians or motorists. Please advise as this is a widespread manufactures defect. Thank you.

The contact owns a 2004 Lincoln Aviator. She stated that there was a crack on the side of the tailgate near the Lincoln emblem. The vehicle was repaired at her expense; however, there is another crack in the same location. Her mechanic stated that the crack is due to the cold weather. The dealer stated that she needed to have the vehicle inspected. The vehicle will be repaired again at the owners expense. The failure mileage was 30000 and the current mileage was 51525. Updated 04/16/10. Updated 07/13/10.