We had just put all new Pirelli Tires on the van, new brakes, a new radiator, new battery, oil change. It was our primary vehicle. I actually liked the Freestar. But it had this occasional intermittent torque converter problem that would cause it to make a bang at shifts. Eventually it killed the van after we had just invested a small fortune fixing it.

It also had other problems. None of the windows or vents worked. The leak issue under the cowl or top panel under wind shield wipers cursed the CPU connections and cause intermittent electrical problems.

These problems were obviously design issues. Most could have been avoided with better engineering. It was otherwise a nice drive.... and the Volvo frame was amazing on the road. Sad that Ford didn't work all this out, rather than run from it.

Now I no longer have a van. Since my girlfriend and I borrowed the van we have had problem after problem. But that is a different complaint. I dropped the van off with Berge Ford. The van had been with them for two weeks which was fine, I understood it took time to get it done. Well we were given a call a week in saying it was done then on the phone they changed their mind, so they needed more time to complete the recall on the torque converter.

They then called again on the Saturday and said it was done because we didn't want them to tack on an extra 400 dollars. We got there and wouldn't take a check after confirming that they do take checks. I go to the van to check it out and the battery was stone dead. So we had to pay cash for the van and we needed to call a tow truck as they said because no one was willing to help. So we left it there and came back the next morning. We jumped the van and drove off after it was charged enough to fire. I drove the van to the freeway and headed back to my apartment.

The van then started to act as if it was stuck in a lower gear and would not push through. I pulled off to look over the van and there wasn't anything that stood out so I hoped back on the freeway and the van did the same thing. It got up to 55 mph and bogged down and the engine revved up real quick to 4500 RPM's. I then heard honking and looked in my left mirror to see a puff of smoke and turned back to the road to see a lot of smoke and the van stalled. I jumped out and popped the hood and before I could get to the latch flames started to come out from under the hood. By the time the fire department got there the van had already burned to nothing but a shell. So now I don't have to worry about any of the issues I was having with the van because its so burnt that you could only salvage the rear tires on it.

So in the end the torque converter was replaced with one that was worse off then the one they replaced. So in the end I had to pay CASH out of pocket SO van to burn to the ground and since that wonderful eventful morning I have been having the worse time getting any sleep and I hope soon I'll be up to driving again. I had a car crash 2007 and got real messed up when I kissed the grill of a 2007 F250. At least then I was able to take a 2 week long nap and now I'm insomniac.

I have a 2004 Ford Freestar Limited 4.2. This has been the worst vehicle I have ever owned. From day one is been a headache. I was taking my 5 year old son to school and a light stated flashing. I was later told it was a gear light. Once we entered the school line it wouldn't go. It would only go in reverse. We had taken the van to have the transmission fluid changed about 3 to 4 months before this and the guy at the shop said the fluid in it looked very good. But we went ahead and had the filter and oil changed in the transmission.

Ford had forever lost my business after this vehicle. Worst purchase in my 44 years of life. Some people can't afford to fix a vehicle ever 3 months and unfortunately I'm one of them.

The vehicle on it's 3rd transmission. The original transmission gave out in July of 2007 with 102000 miles on the odometer, and a rebuilt installed thereafter at a cost of $2000.00. This 2nd transmission also gave out in Apr. of 2013 with 184800 miles on the odometer. Again, back to the shop, only to be told that the transmission had failed. The economy being what it is, we could not afford a new or take the chance on purchasing a used vehicle. Therefore we opted for the repairs once again. Bad decision on our part, as the transmission again gave out at 207000 miles in June of 2015. The cost this time was $2015.00 for the rebuild. Transmission now chatters, clunky between 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. ALSO, will not go in gear in cold weather (below -10 degrees C). I will not have it repaired anymore. That's it. I will drive it until it dies. No more long distance runs.

Obviously, I will never purchase or endorse another Ford product.

It is stressful driving under this condition not knowing if you'll get home or more importantly get home safely.

Thank you for venting my frustrations.

I have owed this vehicle since new. Previously I owned two E-150 conversion vans with no problem at all. This is the THIRD transmission this car has eaten. The factory installed one died completely at 80K miles, the second lasted 65K miles, cost me $1800 to replace, the gears would slip when I accelerated normally. For the third transmission I opted for a every expensive one that had a three year and 100K mile warranty. Well, it has died at 3.5 years, 80K miles, and a $3100 price tag. I keep fixing the vehicle because it has been very well maintained and it's cheaper to fix it than to buy my son a new car (he inherited it 10 months ago). What is going on and does anyone know if Ford will do anything for owners like me. Seriously. This is UTTERLY RIDICULOUS.

GOT A RECALL NOTICE TO REPLACE TORQUE CONVERTER, DIDN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS UNTIL I HAD THIS DONE. THEN A FEW MONTHS LATER, CHECKED THE OIL AND IT HAD WATER IN IT. THINK THE WATER FROM MANUFACTURE PROBLEM IN THE COWL. CHANGED THE OIL, FILTER HAD THE TRANSMISSION FLUSHED, FIXED COWL WITH SILICONE. 2 MONTHS LATER GO OUT START THE ENGINE SMELLED LIKE SOMETHING BURNING. PUT IT IN DRIVE WAS NOTHING IN ANY GEAR, NO NOISE, NOTHING. TRANSMISSION CLUTCHES MUST HAVE FAILED. SMELT SOMETHING LIKE BRAKES BURNING .WATER MUST HAVE WENT IN AT DIP STICK TUBE WERE IT GOES IN THE TRANSMISSION OR THE TRANSMISSION VENT. WATER DESTROYED THE TRANSMISSION AND SHOULD BE REPAIRED OR REPLACED BY FORD, FREE OF CHARGE.

I bought my Freestar in 2011, summer of 2012 I had it to dealership for a torque converter recall after having major transmission issues such as not going into gear from park and loss of gears while driving down the road. Less than two and a half years later ( a few days ago) on CHRISTMAS day, I go to leave with my family and nothing it won't go into any gears yet again! I call Ford and raise hell and they quickly inform me I am 3 months outside of their two year recall warranty window, convenient right?

I take the car to transmission shop that's accredited with BBB and they inform me that the torque converter that Ford replaced was the exact same part as the defective converter they recalled and showed me the matching part numbers! $1400 to rebuild some crap that Ford supposedly had taken care of. I will NEVER buy a Ford again EVER.......and of course Ford denies and basically tells me tough shjt. Thank you Ford for ruining my CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

The vehicle started shifting badly, shaking and loss of power. Brought to a mechanic and he said that there was water in transmission, so we had no choice but to rebuild it at a cost of $2200.00. That worked for a while and a few months later the torque converter started shiming and making noise. Had that repaired at a cost of $300.00. Then about eight months later the transmission started up again. Brought it back to mechanic and he found water in it again. Had to rebuild it again at a cost of $2700.00.

Then in July 2014 the transmission would shake and finally not shift in reverse. Brought van back and this time had a brand new transmission installed from factory with 3 year 100,000 mile warranty. I also had the radiator and transmission cooler changed with a total cost of $3400.00. Had van back less than one day and the gear light on dash comes on indicating trans-axle problem. Brought it back and mechanic says that the PCM is getting wet and causing these problems. After investigating further we found a TSB Technician Service Bulletin indicating that these vans have a factory defect and the cowl panels need to be replaced and sealed under windshield to keep water from running down on PCM computer.

So called Ford Dealership and asked about this problem and if I could bring in to have it fixed since it is their product and defect is from factory. I was told NO and if I wanted problem fixed it would cost me an additional $165.00. Well Now I really lost it!!!! How can Dealership know about this and not have a recall on THEIR product. FORD DEALERS YOU SUCK!!!!!!!! They told me if there is no recall they weren't liable for any damages or costs!!! I SAY BULLSHIT!!!!! It is your product from factory and your just not going to do anything about it!!! Costing people money they do not have to fix your F**KING problem!!!! Wow, now that is customer service right there!!!

I WILL NEVER BUY A FORD PRODUCT AGAIN!!!! And will let everyone I know about this and hopefully discourage them from making the mistake I did. So, to have the cowl panels sealed it was another $85.00 out of pocket!!! Thanks Ford Dealer for the ROYAL SCREWING!!!

so I got my first van in 2013, last one on the auction line, didn't even know ford mad a van this good, had it checked out, worked fine, no engine lights, no problems, started driving in 8/13, found out the dipstick for the transmission was missing, no big deal a few $$ at the dealer. Car drove excellent, no problems at all, couldn't ask for anything more for a work car which eventually became my personal and work car. I started to notice a jerking feeling when I was switching from D to R, and vice versa, didn't think anything of it, stopped after a while, I assumed that who ever owned it previously has not driven it much. in Nov 2013 I found out that there was a recall on the torque converter, now at this point there was no problems with the car, I assumed that this jerking noise was because of this part, so I took it to the dealer, they told me that that part has already been changed by the previous owner, but it was still under warranty until 11/20/13, so I figured what could be wrong? I bring it in under warranty and have it checked out, but I have to pay the diagnostics fee of $145, I figured what could be wrong, if there was a problem, they would fix it, if not I didn't mind paying the fee. in all my years of owning a car I have never taken my cars to the dealer, they quoted me $760 for a tune up, did it myself and saved about $680! yey! so I brought the car down to have the recall done, now aside from the torque converter, there was something on the rear of the car that was also on the recall, not exactly sure what it was, all I know is that from now on I had to add a quart of oil every week, the oil was going somewhere, had mechanic check it out 3x, even had the engine cleaned, still cant figure it out.... so I get the car back from the dealer, and I know fords have a delay in resetting the computer, like after a tune up, the check engine would go on, and then go off 2 weeks later, I assumed that the same would happen here. btw, have the limited model so it has the mirror markers on it. so I get the car back, and everything seems ok, and I leave, as I begin to signal, my mirror markers are not working, and then I see a small orange gear light in the lower left hand corner, and it was blinking, I once again assumed that ford put the car on their system and they did something and that it would reset soon, don't forget this light was never on until I brought it to ford, I should've went back that same day, but I didn't, there was no way to prove that the light wasn't already on when I brought it to ford, I came back 2 weeks later and made a complaint, I asked them if they keep records of all repairs done, or anything that gets hooked up to the computer for diagnostics, and they couldn't answer me, they instead told me that I had a misfire, and with after market plugs, "tests showed faulty coil" btw that recall on the rear was "3rd row seat latch striker corrosion repair 13s01" im guessing this has something to do with oil??? anyways after about a few days of going back and forth, they agreed to take the car back and do another diagnostics test for FREE this time, not admitting that they messed up the car, I had my mechanic do a diagnostics on the car as well, now don't forget these codes were never there until the I got it back from ford: P0733 gear 3 is not shifting properly, now since my mechanic cleared it before I went back to ford, the p1000 code came up as well, that just means that the system was wiped clean. now this small gear light as stated in the manual is called the trans axial, don't know what the heck that meant, eventually found out it was the transmission, if its blinking, its ok, but if it goes solid, BAD NEWS! so on the 2nd time at ford, I came back to get my van, guess what they did... usually you would have the mechanic bring the car and the keys to you at the return section of the dealership, now I knew there was something up, when my car was left outside the gates, and the service advisor called me outside to give me back my keys, I told him this was wrong, and the car had not a single problem until I brought it here, he knew it, but he also covered himself because I didn't come there right away to report it, but even if I did, what proof did I have? that's why I was asking for the technician paperwork to see if the light was on, or off when I originally brought in the car. well its now almost end of march, and I now feel the heavy jerking of the car and I know the transmission is shot! im not going to pay for a new one, its about $1800, too rich for my blood, I paid $2300 for the car, id be buying a whole new car. so I did the next best thing, I went out and started to look for a 3rd party warranty company that would cover me on the main components of the car and got the warranty, it wont kick in until may of 2014, so until then I just have to drive it till it stops! I will update once I have new transmission done, or better yet, I do forget, so you can contact me from here, and ill let you know when I got the new install. and ill never go back to the dealer other than to buy parts, my shop does excellent work!

Having had the vehicle recalled last yr. for the torque converter, the last thing I expected almost a year to the day the day was to have the transmission fail and leave me stranded in a main isle of a shopping mall.

The vehicle has been maintained according to schedule, and most all of the miles are highway miles to Florida and back. The vehicle has never been abused and still looks like new since it has never experienced a Canadian winter. The check transmission light came on during a short trip downtown and went out before I got home. Never the less I checked the fluid levels and it looked fine.

The light never came back on and then it just let go without warning. It would go in reverse but not forward. I was given the usual three options repairs, or replace with rebuilt after market or a ford transmission. Seems to me with all the problems being reported about this same vehicle and transmissions that it is an obvious defect that Ford should be taking care of.

I am still waiting for the repairs to be finished and as a senior on a fixed income had to rent a car in the interim to add to the repair costs.

Not a happy camper with Ford over what has otherwise been an ideal vehicle.