I was about 50 miles from the dealership where I bought this car when the wrench light came on and the car would not come out of low gear, the tack was going crazy. To say the least we drove it into the dealership at the rate of about 35 to 40 miles an hour. After checking it out they informed me that it would have to have a new transmission because the magnaton was over heating, at the rate of $6000.00. I brought the car home. It does fine to drive a little way until you have to brake really hard, then it goes back into limp mode causing it to stay in low gear and shift really rough. I found a transmission from a salvage yard that only had 3000 miles on it, had been checked out to be a good transmission. I had it shipped into my mechanic, after having it changed out, the car is still doing the same thing as before. They contacted the Ford dealership, and they don't have a clue. It was giving 2 codes when they checked it, one was P0218, which meant the inside was getting too hot, and the other was P0701, transmission control out of range. When they contacted the Ford dealership to see what that meant, they commented they had never heard of that code before. I called Ford Motor customer service in Detroit, and they didn't know anything either.

I was one of first people in this area to buy this vehicle, it is a pretty car, rides good, drives good, plenty of room, but other wise its a piece of junk. Ford should have done something with this disaster car. I do know I would never buy another Ford, even if it was cheep. At one time we had 4 Fords and a Ford tractor, but never again for me. A 30,000 dollar lesson.

As another person mentioned...I had the same problem with the car accelerating with my foot on the brake (went from stepping on the brake to standing on it) to the point the engine actually shut off. One significant time in a drive-thru (REALLY scary!) and another while I was in a center lane waiting for cars to pass so that I could cross over the 8 lane highway (terrifying!).

This was a daily occurrence and tended to happen most often when the temperature was up outside. When the weather changed this fall and the temperature cooled down, the problem seemed less severe. Then, all of a sudden late one October night this year, I was driving home with my son I had just picked up from the sitter and we were getting on the interstate when I heard a horrible revving sound and I actually thought someone was street racing. It wasn't until I pulled onto the interstate and began to merge that I realized it was my car! All of a sudden, the RPM's were at like 7K and I was only going about 45mph! The car started shaking and jerking and I tried all I could to keep the car driving (and not dying) so that I could get safety off the interstate. All the while, my 2 year old is repeating over and over again from the back seat, "Momma I scared! Momma I scared!" Fortunately I did make it off the interstate, and I literally pulled into the Carmax dealership where I bought the thing 2 years ago. With 2,500 miles left on my extended warranty, they replaced my transmission at a cost to the warranty company of $4,500. Apparently, there's a computer inside these CVT transmissions and that was what "went out." They also told me that because Ford doesn't sell this part individually, they had to replace the whole thing. Dodged that bullet!

Then, the sales guy at Carmax said, "Yeah, these CVT transmissions don't last for more than about 70K miles anyway. They're too new and there's only a handful of people that can work on them, the parts are hard to find, and a fortune to replace." My next thought? You weren't saying that 2 years ago when you were trying to get me to buy the POS!

My transmission started giving me problems in August of 2008. When I would try to change gear my shifter would not unlock to put into gear. I would sit there for 30 - 45 seconds clicking button on shifter to get it to engage and put into gear. Once I got the shifter to change from park and put into reverse there would be big thud sound and violent motion. The problem continued to get worse and at times the engine would not start and engine light would illuminate. I took the car to a Ford dealer and they ran a diagnostic check on the car. They told me the code that appeared was "transmission failure" and the manual's recommended course of action was replace transmission. GREAT!! $4500 was the quote. I told them to stick it in their ear.

I beat myself up for a week "Why did I buy a ford?" Eventually the car completely stopped running and I took it to AAMCO to get an estimate. They replaced the transmission with a 48k mile transmission. It has run ok for about a year now (even though I have had the brake pads and rotors replaced during that time). Took my car back to a place that handles "just" brakes in Colorado Springs and they tell me I need to replace all rotors again. I'm so completely fed up with this car. My transmission is at the beginning stages of the transmission problem again. I WILL NEVER BY A FORD AGAIN...

Wife was driving kids to mall on Sunday morning when front wheels locked momentarily, on wet pavement at 45 mph, and then BANG! Transmission parts and fluid all over the road after nearly loosing control of car. Input shaft struck underside of car so hard it bent. Other pieces of transmission inner workings and casing were shredded beyond recognition. whole in transmission almost large enough to place fist in. The funny thing, no previous problems or warnings noticed while driving this vehicle, EVER! My opinion, the Ford Corp. knew there was a problem with components of the Freestyle transmission and failed to address them. Ford has neglectfully and recklessly jeopardized the safety of my family. I see litigation coming from this one regardless if I have to pay for repairs or not.