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.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that she started the vehicle and activated the air conditioner. She then shifted into drive and depressed the brakes and the vehicle lunged forward abnormally. The failure recurred sporadically during the operation of the air conditioner. The same failure recurred while in reverse. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the failure was contributed to the throttle body. The contact was waiting upon additional information provided by the dealer regarding the diagnosis. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
2005 Ford Freestyle has uncontrolled acceleration or "lunging" or "surging". when the vehicle is at low speeds such as maneuvering in a parking lot or pulling into driveway, vehicle will increase the RPM's and cause the vehicle to jump forward or backwards. The vehicle may move up to 15 feet if the brake is not applied and is very scary.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that while reversing out a parking space the vehicle lunge. The vehicle was taken to a local shop who was unable to diagnosed the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 38,800 and the current mileage was 39,067.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped and shifted into park. Upon shifting out of park and into drive, the vehicle surged forward abnormally. The etc fail safe engine mode warning light then illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 93,000.
- Shawnee, KS, USA
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The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact was driving 10 mph when the vehicle suddenly surged forward while the brakes were applied. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled and the check engine light was illuminated. The air conditioner was activated during the failure. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the dealer advised that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The dealer replaced the throttle body. The contact stated the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The failure mileage was 86,500.
Car lunges forward or backward intermittently, when I leave the house. I have just put the car from parked into reverse, when I step my foot off the brake, but haven't touched the gas yet, it accelerates on me. It's very scary, each time it has occurred (about once a month in the past 2 years), I was fortunate to have quick reflex, step on the brakes and didn't hit anything. But I am worried about this happening one day when I am too close to other objects (ie. A drive-thru) and hitting another car!
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly when his foot was not on the pedal. The vehicle also accelerated when it was idle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer, but the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 44,000 and the current mileage was 46,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. While the vehicle was parked the contact placed the gear shift in reverse and the vehicle suddenly lunged backwards. The failure also occurred when the gear was placed in drive. The contact had to apply excessive pressure to the brake pedal in order for the vehicle to stop. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technicians were unable to duplicate the failure. There was an open investigation under NHTSA action number:PE11018 (vehicle speed control) that may be related to the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
2005 Ford Freestyle acceleration problem primarily with ac running. Only started happening in July 2011 at end of road trip from Ohio to North Carolina, when we would come to stops in traffic. Now that it started it keeps happening. Just last night I parked at the curb, had my foot on the brake and before I could get it in park, it lunged forward. With foot on the brake already I was able to control it and immediately shut it off. I'm going to test to see if I turn off the ac before I come to a stop or once it starts happening, if that makes any difference.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle would unexpectedly accelerate while light pressure was being applied to the brake pedal and the vehicle would also lunge backward while in reverse. In addition, the vehicle would lunge forward or stall while the engine was idled. The manufacturer was notified, but denied any assistance with the failure. An authorized dealer diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 71,800 and the current mileage was 72,000. Updated 11/07/11
I am the original owner of this Freestyle and have experienced problems with it surging when the air conditioner is turned on since its purchase. Initially, I took it into the dealership and other service companies, but they "could not duplicate" the problem. The surging has grown worse as the car ages. Presently, I cannot go through a fast food drive through with the air on because of the possibility of the car lunging and rear ending the car in front me. Further, I work in a city with pedestrians and cannot turn the air on until I am out of the city because I fear hitting a person. Recently, I contacted Ford directly, but they responded with a scripted message that there was no recall on the vehicle.
Update on ODI 10419757: Took car to Ford dealer because engine light came on after car lunged (while backing up). Said it was the throttle control actuator sticking was replaced at a cost of $895. Two other customers with Ford Freestyle have had the same problem.
On 8-2-2010 I had some problems with my car not moving when the gas was pushed, then it wouldn't go on its own. Had to have the throttle body replaced. After that, there were a few times it felt it would do it again. But no problems occurred. Then on 8-4-2011 I had the same problems again and Ford told me it needed another throttle body replaced.
Normal driving conditions-when backing out the car lunges and goes dead. Fail safe engine mode is displayed. Have had it lunge forward when foot is on brake and engine dies. Happens more often when air conditioner is on. Check engine light comes on. Ford dealer said air compressor was no good. Did not replace because we saw complaint about Ford Freestyle.
Just after starting the vehicle put the vehicle into reverse to pull out of parking space and it begins to accelerate and lunge backward. Same symptoms happened moving forward from hot start, with A/C on. The vehicle stalled after one occurrence with the wrench light on, upon turning the key to restart no fault lights were on and the vehicle was operating as designed. This unattended acceleration happens typically upon a start when the vehicle is at operating temperature with the A/C on. Outside ambient temperature is approx 95 degrees and only will do it immediately after starting it. No parts have been replaced at this time as there are no stored fault codes or visual failures at this time.
My 2005 Ford Freestyle was lunging forward while idling. I nearly hit some pedestrians and also nearly hit the car in front of me at a traffic stop when the car lunged forward on its own. Since I have a newborn baby and was very concerned about safety, I did not hesitate to bring it to the dealer. I was notified that the throttle body of the car needs to be replaced. I understand that the problem is fairly common which indicates it is a manufacturer defect and should be considered for recall. I feel this issue is a major safety concern and has the potential to cause injury or death.
We have experienced multiple instances of this problem happening recently. What happens is at very low speeds or idle speeds, our 2005 Ford Freestyle limited has started lurching or lunging either when backing up, out of the garage, for example, or out of a driveway or into/out of a parking place. It doesn't happen at driving speeds or highway speeds, but only occurs at low speeds. I have read about this problem on the internet and other Freestyle owners say it is a throttle body problem. I luckily have been paying attention when it happens and have been able to stand on the brake, which cuts down the lunging feeling. This shouldn't be happening in the first place. If someone is caught off guard and they back into a car because of a lunge by their car, no insurance company will just believe that "the car did it." If someone is pulling into a parking spot and hits the car opposite of theirs, due to this lunge, it will not be pretty. Thank you for your time.
My 2005 Ford Freestyle has developed a significant surge when maneuvering at low speeds like in a parking lot or driveway. If the driver is not very quick to respond to this surge the driver would easily lose control. Since, parking lots and driveways often have people (especially children) around it is a very bad situation not to have total control of a car. It seems to occur when the A/C is running and the car is at normal or high operating temperatures (not when the engine is cold). I searched the internet related to this issue and it seems there are many who are experiencing this condition and there does not seem to be a straight forward answer as to the cause. I would not normally write a complaint but when I saw that the NHTSA is investigating this issue, I called a local dealership to see if Ford had any notices or bulletins that might identify the cause. I described the condition and explained that NHTSA was investigating this issue but was told that they had never heard of it. I then asked if they could search for notices or bulletins and get back to me, I was told that they would not do that unless I first brought the car in to their service center. I tried to explain the safety significance of this issue and that since he had never heard of this problem that it would make more sense to search for any information Ford had on the issue before I brought it in and charged for service that may not be of any help. The service rep then said he would not help me and then basically hung up on me. The answer to this issue may be something very simple (like cleaning the throttle body) but the vehicle's computer controlled response is very real and very dangerous and Ford should be working much harder to resolve this.
Vehicle surged forward after very lightly touching the brake while parking. I was maneuvering the car into a fairly tight parking space, and the sudden surge cause the car to lunch into a fence post, damaging the front bumper and fender (and the fence post). This is the 3rd or 4th occurrence, but was the most violent. The car lunged forward about 6-8 feet, and the idle jumped up from 750 to 2,500 or so. The other surging instances also occurred immediately after applying light pressure on the brakes. Immediately after the surges in those instances, the idle then dropped to normal. The car has approximately 100K miles on it, and the throttle body has been cleaned on a regular basis sine 20K, typically every 20K. The first surge was noticed at around 98K. It happens approximately once a week now.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Port St. Lucie , FL, USA