I've worked in the auto business pretty much all my adult life, and I think you're getting your panties in a wad unnecessarily. There's no grand plot to wipe out Ford. [I thought it was just the libs that believed every conspiracy theory that came down the road.]
I've worked for Ford dealers, and a lot of these "recalls" that simply call for inspections are a plan by Ford to get vehicles into the service departments during the slow time of the year...once on the lift for the recall inspection, there are few '98 models out there that don't have some other service that can be sold while they're inspecting. If the service need is noted on the repair order and "customer declined repair," the shop is covered in case something falls off and causes a problem related to the suggested repair.
OTOH, if the shop sells the recommended repair, that's parts sold and labor hours sold that the customer may not have considered even fixing without being prompted. Not sure what the rear axle inspection labor pays the tech, but I doubt it's over 0.3-0.5 hours...hardly enough to open the tool box for, unless you can sell some other service.
With direct-mail advertising, a 2-3% response rate is considered excellent. What do you think the response rate will be on these otherwise-out-of-warranty Windstars? 50% would probably be LOW...so Ford gets "dinged" a little now, but they help the dealers keep the doors open until the shop picks back up in the spring and summer driving season. That way Ford gets to sell the parts as well, and not NAPA or AutoZoo as when Joe Independent puts the car on HIS lift. So it's actually a WIN for Ford, 'cause they're seen as being concerned enough with the problem to take care of cars that are otherwise out of warranty.
That's just my take...and I've worked in a lot of Ford dealerships over the past 27 years. [Shame they had to let a lot of Ford trucks burn down before they decided to recall those headlight switch connectors a few years back.]
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