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.
Bought car and within two weeks it had a complete transmission failure. Car makes a horrnedous noise and will not drive forward. Prior to this happened the car would suddenly accelerate or surge. Took to transmission repair shop who quote me $4,250 to remove and replace the transmission. At that price I asked what a new transmission would cost and they informed there are no new transmissions available. They also informed me that Ford had abandoned the Freestyle and its cvt transmission. I check wiht junkyards and found the cheapest I could find a cvt transmission was around $3,000. Car has become a lawn ornament for the past two years. Ford refuses to do anything ohter than to say it is out ofwarrantly. Tere are class action suits brought over this.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. While driving at 15 mph, the vehicle would not accelerate when going up a hill. The vehicle also jerked violently and the check engine warning light illuminated. The failure recurred only when the vehicle was driven up a hill. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 148,255.
Was traveling at approximately 40 mph when car suddenly jolted, as if it had struck something. After looking to insure nothing had been struck, we proceeded and the car made another odd noise and ceased to go forward. The transmission had blown and all fluids escaped. The car is ruined and from all I have read, this is a serious and extremely costly flaw costing consumers a small fortune and endangering lives on highways.
AWD malfunction light started coming on occasionally last fall. It is now on all the time. Talked to a mechanic and was told it was either a sensor or a wheel bearing. In the process of replacing the wheel bearing right now.
I purchased the 2005 Ford Freestyle used. Issues: (1) shortly after purchasing the transmission light came on, then I took it to a transmission shop, who replaced the fluid, which seemed to fix the problem. (2) random surges of power, which almost resulted in a few accidents and was severely frightening (corrected before a recall) (3) this past winter problems with shutting the front doors, then with out warning ( with two children in the back sets ) the back passenger door few open when I turned the corner. The children screamed, I was thankful that a child was not severally injured and then, I had call someone to pick us up. I called Ford and was told I was the only complaint! later at a children's recreation, I parked next to a woman with children driving the same model. I asked her if she experienced door issues, she stated both doors flew open with the children in the back seats, and stated her husband lubed the doors down. (4) now the transmission will randomly decide not to move, but if I turn the free style on and off it might go into gear. No transmission light on indicated an issue. My opinion is the 2005 Ford Freestyle was created to market toward families, the design and marketing worked, but as a result several families are now in danger.
- Columbus, OH, USA
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The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the AWD warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the AWD system failed. No further information was available. The contact also stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would suddenly loose power and would not accelerate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 109,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that while proceeding after a complete stop, the vehicle abruptly accelerated. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a transmission specialist who stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced. However, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle continued to abruptly accelerate. The vehicle was taken for a second diagnostic to an independent mechanic whom located a failure code at the throttle body. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
Throttle body stuck closed, forcing limp home mode - stall in middle of highway, Ford recall 12N03 did not work - after idling, there is a power surge which lunges vehicle forward while in drive at a stop sign, happened directly after service.
For about a month now my car has been making this loud "helicopter" noise. We thought it was the alternator so I had that changed, thought it was the water pump and cooling fan, had that changed. The mechanic believes it's the torque converter within the transmission. After doing research I see this is a very very common and dangerous problem with the cvt transmission. Thankfully my car has not lost power while driving but has gone into safe mode while attempting to drive. A few weeks ago I was trying to backup and I put the car in gear and it wouldn't move. I revved the engine but instead of revving up the RPM's went down...it had happened again twice last week. I turned off the car and let it sit for awhile and it started working again. I don't feel safe driving it and it feels like it could stop at any moment. I contacted Ford today but they say it's nothing they can do being there is no recall and my car is no longer under warranty (I bought it used 4 years ago). I had the throttle body cleaned about a year ago because of the surging issues and had the motor mounts replaced a month ago. Too many issues with the 2005-2007 models. I find it funny they stopped making them, then started again under the name Taurus X with a different type of transmission. Seems they know they messed up. I googled my issues and found a lawsuit plus many many many complaints of the same issue. Something needs to be done as these transmissions are no longer being made and you run the risk of having the same issue if you "fix it" or rebuild it. Not safe at all and Ford needs to be held accountable! now I either have to fix it or save for a new car. We have 4 kids and need something safe.
Own a 2005 Ford Freestyle, V6, 3.0, all wheel drive, limited edition. I started hearing loud grinding and knocking noises from the cvt transmission. The vehicle will start, and the rpms will increase and decrease uncontrollably. This is the reason the cvt transmission in these vehicles are going bad, malfunctioning, and breaking continuously. The rpms are delayed in the decreasing rpms process, which tells the computer to shift prematurely, or to quickly, causing any internal parts and external parts to be damaged. These vehicles are equipped with a computerized throttle positioning sensor that is attached to the actual throttle body. The computer is sending improper commands to the throttling position sensor, rpms, shifting delay and synchronized shifting sensors. This is putting too much of a load on the gears, bearings, clutches, and other parts pertaining to the functioning of the cvt transmission shifting and everyday use. Ford Motor Company (as stamped on the VIN and vehicle information sticker inside and on the driver side door jam of the vehicle) should have perfected and or recognized these issues during the manufacturing, testing, and or dino sessions. All vehicle designs are to be tested, diagnosed if any issues occur, and are to be fixed, redesigned, and replaced. Ford should take recognition to the customers and dealers that own these vehicles. People are purchasing these vehicles without the knowledge of possible failure and technical difficulties of these units. These issues can cause the vehicles, especially the vehicles that are all wheel drive, to lock up, brake, break, accelerate uncontrollably, and cause wrecks, fender benders, or more severe injuries, and even the lives of people of this great nation. The United States government will need to take action immediately, before Ford Motor Company vehicles kill, eliminate, and or decease people.
While driving on the highway the wrench light suddenly came on & my car was put in "safe mode". this make my car stop. I almost slam another car. Had engine light that came on read & was told the throttle body was stuck open. Took it to local Ford dealership where they changed the throttle body. When the wrench light comes on the car doesn't want to accelerate & goes into safe mode. I took the car to a Ford dealer and was told the transmission has to be replaced but it was replaced few years ago.
Car lunges when sitting still with engine running both forward and reverse and is worse when air cond is on. Loud noise I believe is coming from transmission while parked and running and sitting still. System was overcharging and caused my battery to explode. Check light comes on intermittently.
Cars runs fine when cold or early in the morning after few minutes wrench light gets on and transmission start to make noise when shifted and won't accelerate well, runs but engine stay at high rpms, if I turn it off for few seconds wrench light come off and runs fines but after few minutes running wrench light come on and the problem again.
Car was financed and purchased used from authorized Ford dealer in 2007 @ approx. 64K miles. Previous owner was registered as Ford Motor Co., Indiana. On 12 Jun 2014, without warning, the continuously-variable transmission (cvt) first showed signs of a problem: Failing to shift out of lower speed gear from a stop to higher gears during travel. Problem was remedied temporarily by shifting from D to R and back to D while stopped. The problem recurred sporadically, but within last week frequency of problem has increased while awaiting service appointment. This morning, 13-Aug-2014, transmission slipped and failed to engage in any forward gear while stopped at intersection, resulting in a complete loss of forward propulsion. Problem remedied by shifting from D to R and back to D, with significant difficultly. Service technician states that cvt failures in this make and model are common and recommends replacement of transmission with rebuilt (as transmission is no longer manufactured by Ford). Moreover, only Ford can perform the repair/replacement. No warning lights were activated during any of these events. Cost of repair will exceed value of car. $5800 or more versus $3600 trade-in or instant-cash offer price $1500. Ac compressor failure and rebuild (including rear ac) in 2012 cost $875.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle jerked without warning. The failure recurred multiple times. An independent mechanic stated that the transmission fluid needed to be changed and the transmission filter replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the fail safe mode and the check engine warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that there was a sudden loss of power and the vehicle failed to accelerate over 10 mph. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 145,000. Updated 10/02/14 the consumer stated the vehcle would surge at low speeds and experience a loss of power at high speeds. Updated 03/2/2015
The problem with this car and the throttle body has been going on for a while. I took the car to the Ford dealer but they only cleaned the throttle body when it needed replacement. The last event was in August 1 when while I was driving the fail safe mode came up and the car suddenly lost the power and wouldn't run faster than probably 0.1 mile per hour. This was the second time this happened the first time I was with my kids in a major highway and the car suddenly stop running. Thank god I had a chance to steer to the emergency lane. Many people are having the same issue with the 2005-2007 Freestyle, this is a super safety issue and nobody is doing anything about it. When my car stopped I could have been hit on the back with a worst outcome. I got a tow truck and they took the car to the Ford dealer. Those people are not helpful at all and treated me with a bad attitude. Very expensive to change that's why Ford is not getting involved and only offered to clean the part in the extended warranty, knowing that wouldn't fix the problem. Ford should have a recall for the throttle body part before somebody gets killed in a very serious accident that this problem could cause.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Mulberry, IN, USA