This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was driving and stopped at a red light. I had my foot firmly on the brake. The car suddenly surged forward almost two feet. I pulled into a restaurant and it did the same thing at the drive thru window. It then shut off and when I turned it back on it went into safety mode. Took to Ford dealer and they took some money off for the repair - throttle body, etc. Have also had over 1,000 in brake repairs and now the air conditioner isn't working; looks like the compressor. Why hasn't this car been recalled? this is getting ridiculous.
Sitting at stop light, engine surges and lurches into "fail safe" mode. Car slips out of gear into neutral, and limps to a stop. Has occured multiple times, especially in the heat of summer. Taken car into multiple shops, have never received consistent answer. Answers range from transmission failure to a bad computer, or a sensor.
Car lurches when placed in reverse. Needed to stomp brakes to prevent crashing. This has happened twice in the past month. Lurching stops if car is turned off for a while.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that when shifting into reverse, the vehicle would lunge backward with the illumination of the fail safe mode error message. The vehicle would then stall. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the throttle body was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 43,824 and the current mileage was 60,100. This would also happen when stopped at a stop sign or light. Although lunging forward. Updated 09/29/2011
After starting car and putting it in gear forward or reverse car will surge. Contacted Ford dealership. Was told no recall. Mileage 105,000 started at 102,000.
While going about 75mph on interstate I459, my Ford Freestyle slowed down according to the driver behind me and I was rear ended in heavy traffic. This may have been due to transmission problems.
My 2005 Ford Freestyle lunges forward at slow speeds, in forward and reverse, without me initiating it! this has almost caused me to rear end cars when parking in parking lots, and when stopping at stop lights! this scares me to death! I just recently purchased this car used, now I see why the previous owner got rid of it! I have two small children. I have a four month old and a 3 year old! I bought this vehicle to have something safe to drive them around in. Now im wishing I would have bought something else!
My complaint is about a 2005 Ford Freestyle that has some acceleration problems when it idle and at slow speed forward and reverse. It will accelerate it self specially when using the ac and also when the front wheels are turned. It has been going on for about a year and Ford service center claims that there is nothing wrong with the vehicle.
Vehicle lunging into reverse 1. events to make it happen: Put the vehicle into reverse with foot on brake and sometimes the vehicle will accelerate rapidly 2. occurs whether or not the engine is hot, but usually the weather is warm. 3. when first noticed the problem in 2008, was told the part to replace was the throttle body position sensor assembly and the part would be unavailable for 12 months. Never replaced the parts. Learned to keep foot on brake.
Vehicle is surging at low idle. Last night I had to press very firmly on the brake to avoid being forced into on coming traffic while exiting a parking lot. Another time I had to brake very hard to avoid hitting the steel security gate while exiting my work parking garage. I has happened on other occasions but these two have been the scariest.
Own a 2005 Ford Freestyle that lunges when the air conditioner is turned on. I've had this problem for several years now with no resolution. It lunges after I've been sitting in idle at a traffic light or if I am backing up. So far I've not had an accident, but just wonder when my luck will run out. Sometimes the car will stall out and go in to engine fail safe mode. Also I will have my foot firmly on the brake and the car seems to over ride this action and lunges/accelarate on its own.
I experienced an uncommanded and overcompensating throttle response while backing up. At the time the air conditioner compressor was engaged and the steering wheel about one turn from full lock. I was able to control the vehicles speed with the brakes and no incident resulted, however without a timely response the outcome may have turned out differently. The "wrench light" illuminated during the occurrence but turned off after restarting the car. The throttle does serge slightly at highway speed but is barley noticeable compared to a load placed on the engine at idle. Looking back several years, we also have experienced some starting problems, which I think is related. I believe there is a problem with the throttle body unit, part # 5F9Z9E926B. The problem is inconsistent. I have not yet replaced the unit, only cleaned it, which is not a solution.
Problem started about 2 yrs after buying vehicle used. Wife shifted into reverse to back out of parking spot and vehicle attempted to move backwards fast. Wife had to basically stand on brake to get it to stop. Vehicle cut off and went into"fail-safe" mode. It scared her the first time it happened, but she learned quickly to expect it especially if it is very warm outside or A/C is running. It happened to her several more times then it happened to me(I rarely drive the car). The engine seems to RPM up and then there is a lurch -happens most often in reverse, even with your foot on the brake. Brake must be pressed hard. My wife estimates it happens about 5% of the time. Other than that has been a great car, very comfortable and roomy
When I back out of a parking space, the car lunges backwards without me pressing on the gas. This started about 6 months ago. Originally it was intermittent. Now it happens all of the time. Originally, it only happened when the car was in reverse. Now after I have backed out of my parking space and put the car into drive, the car lunges forward. Now that I know what to expect, I'm very careful because especially in a small parking lot, it would be very easy to hit another car. This is an ongoing incident.
First, let me start by saying that I like my Ford Freestyle. It is a comfortable car with a smooth ride. The event occurred one week ago on Sunday May 15th. It was a sunny day, good driving conditions at about 1pm. I was exiting the church parking lot with the radio and air conditioner on. I was in a line of cars waiting to turn onto the main street. The vehicle was in gear in the "D"(drive) position. The car was not moving, and my foot was in mid-air (neither on the accelerator nor on the brake) as I was anticipating the car in front of me to move in a few seconds. Suddenly, the engine revved slightly and the car lunged forward about one foot before I could apply the brake. I was very surprised, as this was the first time it had happened. Fortunately, I had left about 10 feet room between my car and the car in front of me. ( I am absolutely positive that I did not touch the accelerator pedal, nor did the floor mat) ironically, a few days later, I read an article in our newspaper about a current investigation of about 200 Ford Freestyles with similar problems. I am very concerned about this potentially serious safety problem that seems to be affecting the Ford Freestyle. Thank you for investigating this matter.
Sudden acceleration- vehicle will lunge forward or backwards when vehicle is stopped or when first put into gear. This happens more frequently when the weather is warm. The vehicle can be stopped with extra brake application. This happens all the time in warm temperatures. I have not had this problem looked at, the vehicle is out of factory warranty and after researching this online it seems like people who have had this repaired continue to have issues.
2005 Ford Freestyle-lunges forward and backward without touching gas pedal. Ford dealer replaced throttle body ($700) June 2010 and worked fine till May 2011 and now it is happening again. Intermittent now. RPM gauge fluctuates when lunging. Wrench light came on-burning.
2005 Ford Freestyle randomly lurches when placed into gear. This has been an ongoing issue since 2008 but initially attributed the problem to driving in excessive heat and improper irregular vehicle maintenance.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Jacksonville, FL, USA