10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
74,695 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #296

Dec 252010

Freestar

  • 80,150 miles
TL - the contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle stalled. The contact was unable to shift gears. The vehicle was towed to a local garage and was diagnosed the failure was located at the torque converter. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they stated their was not a recall for the failure, therefore they are not responsible. The current and failure mileage was 80,150.

- Naperville , IL, USA

problem #295

Dec 302010

Freestar

  • 74,400 miles
We have a 2005 Ford Freestar van, I was pulling out of a parking lot and started down the road got up to 40 mph and all of a sudden my van coasted to a stop no gears. This never happened before, brought the van to a transmission place and they had to replace the torque converter costing me $810. I have read other complaints about this happening to other people.

- Batavia, NY, USA

problem #294

Jan 012011

Freestar

  • 51,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. While driving approximately 65 mph, the transmission suddenly failed to operate without warning. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road safely. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that there was an internal problem within the transmission. The transmission was in the process of being replaced. There were two open investigations regarding the transmission under NHTSA action numbers; EA09016 (power train:automatic transmission:torque converter) and PE10033 (power train:automatic transmission:control module/tcm, PCM). The failure mileage was approximately 51,000.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #293

Jan 032011

Freestar

  • 64,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. While stopped at an intersection, the contact attempted to accelerate when the vehicle lost all power suddenly. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who stated that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The contact did not inform the manufacturer nor was the vehicle repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 64,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Nedaunee, MI, USA

problem #292

Dec 312010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 118,416 miles
Transmission failure on 2005 Ford Freestar. No warning, failed unexpectedly while driving on the highway. Luckily no other vehicle was behind us or it might have caused an accident. Have to replace the transmission at a cost of $3500.

- Raleigh, NC, USA

problem #291

Jan 032011

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 83,586 miles
The torque converter went out on my 2005 Ford Freestar 4.2L. It has 83,586 miles on it. I had no warning signs of transmission failure.

- Brainerd, MN, USA

problem #290

Dec 172010

Freestar

  • 125,000 miles
2005 Ford Freestar - 2nd transmission failure. In March 2009 the transmission went out on our 2005 Freestar. No warning, like all others with problems, it was like it was in neutral & would not go into gear. Service tech informed us that 2005 Freestars have transmission issues/torque problems. Our warranty had expired, & we had to pay $3200 for new transmission. Complaint was filed with NHTSA. Thankfully, we purchased a warranty w/ the new transmission - because it has gone out again! van has been sitting at Ford dealership for over two weeks now, waiting on Ford's approval to replace transmission for 2nd time, due to same problem. I don't understand why Ford will not address this issue, or at the very least, repair the transmissions that are failing at no cost. I strongly encourage everyone to not purchase another Ford, I know I won't. class action lawsuits have been mentioned, I would definitely be interested in participating in one! I guess Ford is not going to do anything until someone dies in a horrific crash due to this problem.

- Lagrange, GA, USA

problem #289

Dec 262010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 103,000 miles
I was driving at 65 mph when the transmission failed on my 2005 Ford Freestar. Resulted in a loss of control of the vehicle. There were no previous warning sighs such as grinding of the gears, slipping of the fears or loss of transmission fluid. Car acted as if it was in neutral through all gears. Subsequent investigation with a mechanic revealed a failure of the torque converter.

- Palm Coast, FL, USA

problem #288

Sep 152007

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 71,000 miles
Ford Freestar 2005. The radio flashes phone and runs down the battery. It was replaced by Ford, still having the same problem. They don't know what is causing this. Next, transmission failed at 71,000. The torque converter came apart internally and sent metal through the transmission destroying it. When having the transmission replaced by Ford, they found that the drivers cv joint was bad. We changed the cv joint/ trans axle combo, it is now bad again.

- Strawberry Plains, TN, USA

problem #287

Dec 212010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 100,006 miles
While driving down highway without warning my 2005 Ford Freestar transmission went out.

- Beulah, ND, USA

problem #286

Nov 082010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 74,000 miles
Driving down the roadway at 50 mph the vehicle suddenly acted as if it was in neutral. There was no forward or reverse gears, the engine ran fine, just no power to the wheels. There were no warning signs of the failure...no erratic shifting, noises, etc. We were just driving down the freeway, not accelerating or doing anything to strain the drivetrain. It was towed to the Ford dealership where they diagnosed the problem as a stripped output shaft on the torque converter. The transmission had to be removed, torque converter replaced along with the output shaft and several seals, transmission fluid, etc. Total cost of repair was $1552.

- Niles, MI, USA

problem #285

Dec 062010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 94,717 miles
Wife was driving the 2005 Ford Freestar van and came up to a stop light. The light turns green so she stepped on the gas and the van moved forward a few feet and then nothing. Thankfully she was able to coast to the side of the road, where she put it in park and back into drive and the van would not move. The van made no noise to indicate anything was wrong with the transmission.

- Richlands, NC, USA

problem #284

Dec 092010

Freestar

  • 92,500 miles
While traveling on an interstate, it was noticed that RPM of the vehicle rose instantly on its own. When the accelerator was depressed there was no acceleration. The vehicle no longer was able to accelerate on its own. The next exit to a highway was used as the vehicle coasted to a stop on the side of the highway. A nearby policeman arrived at the scene to assist by pushing my vehicle to a nearby gas station to prevent other vehicles from hitting me. The vehicle was then towed to the dealership where a diagnosis revealed that the torque converter had failed. The vehicle is currently in shop and expected repairs should be done in one week. There were no signs leading up to the torque converter failure. The vehicle did not drive any different before the event than it did a year ago. Failure occurred around 92,500 miles.

- Zachary, LA, USA

problem #283

Dec 032010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 47,000 miles
My wife was driving home from work in our 2005 Ford Freestar when the transmission failed. This happened during rush hour traffic and was very traumatic for my wife as several cars almost rear ended her. We had the van towed to the Ford dealer who told us it was going to be $2700 to replace the torque converter and pump shaft. After doing some research we see that Ford is aware of this problem and the NHTSA is investigating. A warning from Ford to those who are putting their lives in peril by driving these vans with defective transmissions would have been nice. What if she had gotten into an accident over this? we'll count our blessing that we will only be out $2,700 (I guess).

- Rocky River, OH, USA

problem #282

Sep 252010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 111,265 miles
My '05 Freestar died on Sept. 25 while I was on my way to Kentucky to my sons graduation from army basic training. I was coming over a bridge that I couldn't pull over on when the transmission stopped pulling. Luckily, I was going fast enough it happened and coming down a hill to pull over when it died. I had it serviced last year in Sept. Had a tune-up in February and had the oil changed every 3000 miles. My family and I, which consisted of my husband, mother, father, daughter and her 9 month old baby and sister-in-law, had to rent a car in Alabama to continue on to Kentucky to my sons graduation. I had to pay aamco the grand total of $2400 to rebuild a transmission, that the Ford place told me should not have went out. I called the national Ford company and they were absolutely no help.

- Hattiesburg, MS, USA

problem #281

Dec 042010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 84,400 miles
I was driving during rush hour traffic with my 3 young children, when I came to a stop sign. I went to turn the corner when my minivan wouldn't go forward at all. We barely missed being rear ended by the other car turning behind us. I was lucky enough to coast into a residential area and pull over.

- Tampa, FL, USA

problem #280

Dec 032010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 65,000 miles
Driving on busy freeway in the fast lane at 75mph with cruise control engaged. Suddenly a loud revving sound and dash gauge showed rpms at well above 5,000. Tapped the brake to turn off cruise control, and felt confused because pressing gas pedal resulted in no acceleration but rpms would go through the roof. I was traveling in the fast lane, so I put my right blinker on and thank god was able to safely maneuver over two lanes in heavy and fast-moving traffic and semi-trucks to the right lane. Was also blessed to be on a fairly steeply inclined portion of the freeway, so that I was able to continue coasting enough to take the next freeway exit and turn into a gas station instead of being stranded on freeway shoulder or in the road blocking traffic. Called the nearest Ford dealership, who sent a tow truck to pick up van. I told the service tech what happened and he said that they would examine the car and call me with their diagnosis. Later, they called and said that the transmission was shot, and that they would have no way of knowing what specific part of the transmission failed unless they did more extensive dismantling of the transmission, which would end up costing more money in labor. He said we should just buy a brand new transmission, which would be $3,100. I got online and did a bing search for '2005 Ford Freestar transmission' to maybe find the repair cheaper, but instead I found all of these complaints from other Freestar owners. Now, I don't even want another defective transmission put into that van because I will never drive it again, especially with my two young sons in the car. I could have been killed had the car stopped in a hairier traffic situation, like on a railroad track or as I was turning in front of oncoming traffic. I want the blue book trade-in value for this vehicle so that I can buy another vehicle not a Ford. This is a travesty of justice that Ford has been able to get away with letting these defective cars stay out on the road.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #279

Dec 012010

Freestar

  • 46,789 miles
My 2005 Ford Freestar transmission went out as I was driving. It has less than 50,000 miles on it.

- Derry, NH, USA

problem #278

Dec 022010

Freestar 6-cyl

  • 126,000 miles
I was driving my 2005 Ford Freestar on the garden state parkway in South jersey at 65 miles per hour in the right lane when I realized I could not give the car any gas. The highway has small hills and turns, and I had driven approximately 50 miles prior to this occurrence, driving my son and his friends to school. After pushing the gas pedal, the van did not respond and I began to coast. I pulled the car over to a safe area with my hazard lights flashing. Since the car did not respond after turning it off and starting it again, I placed a called to aaa. As I waited, cars and trucks traveling at full speed past me were a bit alarming. I was towed off the parkway and to a local transmission shop as recommended. After investigation, it was determined that the transmission failed and a new one is being put in the van. This will cost $2300 and leave me without a vehicle for work for almost a week. There was no warning to this occurring. No warning lights were lit up, and incidents such as this had not occurred prior to this.

- Wildwood Crest, NJ, USA

problem #277

Nov 242010

Freestar

  • 47,073 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle began to stall. The contact drove onto the emergency lane. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic who stated that the vehicle was not pumping fuel, that there was a faulty cam position sensor and a transmission speed sensor. The mechanic replaced both sensors but that did not remedy the failure. The contact called the dealer to explain the stalling failure; however, the dealer stated the vehicle needed to have the transmission inspected. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that since there was no recall they could offer no assistance. The contact stated due to the safety issue there should be a recall. The failure mileage was 47,073.

- Ecorse , MI, USA

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