10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
84,235 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2005 Ford Freestyle:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #143

Jul 142012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 91,000 miles
Before Saturday, our 2005 Freestyle had surged forward a few (4-5) times within the last 6 months. On Saturday, the cvt (transmission) died. I now have to pay an inordinate amount of money ($7000) to possibly replace it (informed this is remote). The ongoing recall investigation on the Freestyle is for its lunging forward and backward, but I'd request a widening investigation on the cvt system itself.

- Jacksonville , FL, USA

problem #142

Jun 012011

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 65,000 miles
Engine surged when shifted from park to reverse on multiple occasions. Engine stalled, wrench light came on and engine safe mode appeared.. dealership replaced throttle body.

- Merrick, NY, USA

problem #141

Jul 122012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 79,502 miles
Check wrench light coming on and goes into safemode and service engine light on. Vehicle shuts down while driving on road, no response. Replaced throttle 2-3 years ago and need to replace once again.

- Whittier, CA, USA

problem #140

Jul 042012

Freestyle

  • 57,000 miles
The engine has begun surging, particularly at low speeds. Happens most often when it is very hot outside the A/C is on and the car is in reverse. The car will suddenly surge and I have to jam on the brakes to stop the car. This has happened several times when backing out of parking spaces and once now at a stop light as I was slowing to a stop. I've found many references to this problem online that the throttle body is the problem and has to be cleaned. Ford needs to alert owners of this issue and initiate a plan to remedy it before someone gets killed.

- Upper Darby, PA, USA

problem #139

Jul 052012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 143,865 miles
When I shift from park to drive or reverse while applying the brakes the vehicle will lung forward. Recently check engine came on and had hard time stopping vehicle and stalled. Luckily did not hit anything or person. Took vehicle to Ford dealer and they stated I had trouble codes: PO61 and P2106. Ford stated that I needed a new throttle body. Replaced throttle body and seems to have stopped stalling and lunging. Also have issues with upper motor mount and ac.

- Fishers, IN, USA

problem #138

Jun 012010

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • miles
Car lunges in forward or reverse. Usually in hot weather. Idles low and stalled a few time. If it does not stall it is sluggish and no power. Please lets have some service after the sale.

- Long Beach, MS, USA

problem #137

Jul 052012

Freestyle

  • 61,900 miles
My 2005 Ford Freestyle has been having issues with it lunging forward or backward when I am either stopped or driving at a slow speed. It seems to happen mainly when it a hot day and the air condition is on, but it has also occurred when the air condition is off. There are times when I am backing out of a parking space and I loose power and the car says fail safe engine mode. Now I have a check engine light on the dashboard that will not go away. This has occurred several times off and on for the last two years with the fail safe engine mode. This is just the latest occurrence. It seems to be getting worse.

- Ridley Park, PA, USA

problem #136

Jun 252012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 103,000 miles
1.) while putting car in reverse, with foot on brake the car lunges backward with significant force & speed. 2.) while sitting with 'drive' engaged & foot on brake car will lunge in the same manner. If A/C or heat is on it is significantly worse & more dangerous!! this happens very unexpectedly & surges/lunges quite a distance before vehicle is able to be stopped. Sometimes the vehicle will completely shut itself off with some type of a fail safe error displayed. This problem occurs multiple times daily on a daily basis! I am scared to death to back out of any parking space with the fear of hitting a pedestrian! as well as this issue, while driving at any speed, the vehicle acts like it will stall. Meaning that you may be driving anywhere from 20-60mph & it hesitates - not only when accelerating, but when at a consistent speed as well. This too increases with heating & cooling on. All incidents could cause great harm!

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #135

Jul 062012

Freestyle

  • 84,340 miles
On a hot day (98 degrees) when driving with the air conditioning on in my 2005 Ford Freestyle it surged ahead in the mall parking lot and I almost hit someone walking in front of the car. This vehicle has acted like this on hot days when the A/C is on and running in the past. You have to be very careful and aware that this will happen, if someone was to borrow my car I would be afraid that they would run someone over. It happens in both forward and reverse and usually only at slow speeds/idle speed. Its dangerous in parking lots when you are both pulling into the parking spots you have to brake quickly or you'll speed up and hit a parked car in front of you, then backing out of the spot it does the same thing. This is a serious problem and needs to be taken care of. One time last year on a long drive through philadelphia this happened and the car stalled and locked up at a green light. We just want to know how to fix it.

- Akron, OH, USA

problem #134

Jul 032012

Freestyle

  • 130,000 miles
Car will lurch forward and rev only when the ac is on. Mostly when the car has been sitting at a light or waiting for my wife to come out of a store. If the car is in park and the ac is sitting on for a while and you put it into reverse, when you take your foot off of the brake it will lurch backwards and sometimes stall out. It is very scary and only a matter of time before someone gets hurt from it.

- West Bend, WI, USA

problem #133

May 162012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • miles
Pulling out of a parking space after idling for approximately 10 or so minutes the vehicle was placed into reverse and the vehicle lurched back about 10 feet almost striking two cars and a person. The lurching has occurred on multiple occasions also when this happens the vehicle goes into failsafe mode. It has also lurched going in drive as well.

- Middletown, PA, USA

problem #132

Apr 062010

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 60,000 miles
My 2005 Ford Freestyle seems to have issues at the initial start position. In the "park" position the car will rev without compressing the gas petal, it then lunges forward as you are attempting to put the car in either forward or reverse. It shudders and shakes, causing the engine to shut down completely and operate is the "safe" mode. The check engine light usually comes on. The vehicle had been seen on 3 different occasions ranging from April of 2010 to July 2010, each time the symptoms became worse, at one point while waiting at a red light just before entering the on-ramp to the highway, it stuttered, revved high and lunged into oncoming traffic, embarrassed, I continued to proceed forward to the on-ramp when the car suddenly shut down completely causing the 4 vehicles behind me to break hard, again almost causing another accident, I drove it directly to the dealer. The dealer did work on the vehicle and thought to have solved the issue. The issues started to occur in the winter and early spring before the usage of the A/C and became progressively worse as the summer months approached and the A/C full was in usage. It has been a almost 2 years since I have needed to report anything to the dealer. The fix did appear to lessen the intensity of the issue, but did not fix it entirely. It has continued to act up, but is back to the same intensity as the summer of 2010. The engine surged 3 times in an hour period last week and shut the engine down twice. When I called the dealer to report it, they told me that it would be considered a new issue since it has been almost 2 years since they had worked on the car for the same issue. They may have cleaned the throttle body in 2010, which reduced the surging intensity, but it did not solve the problem. Is Ford waiting for a major accident, fire or death to occur before this problem is resolved or replaced?!

- Warwick, RI, USA

problem #131

Jun 052012

Freestyle

  • 114,345 miles
When I put car in reverse, drive, or when car is sitting idle there is a sudden abrupt throttle in the transmission gas. The acceleration is so abrupt that it causes the car to move with force without having to press the gas. There were a few incidences where I almost rammed the objects in front and behind me, from the sudden throttles/acceleration. Ive noticed that if im sitting behind the wheel at a traffic light and I have my foot on the break and if I move the steering wheel the car will accelerate on its own. Please look into this issue. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Farminton Hills , MI, USA

problem #130

Jun 182012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 87,229 miles
On 6/18/12 as I was slowly backing out of my garage I heard the car revved up a bit and the car suddenly lunged backwards for a couple of seconds. It's a good thing I had my foot on the brake pedal so the car didn't just speed backwards all the way. On 6/20/12 as I was pulling out of the grocery complex, turning right into the main road the car suddenly revved up and started lunging forward. It's a good thing I had my foot on the pedal again. Also it's a good thing there was enough distance between my car and the one in front. Otherwise I would have hit that car because the lunge was pretty significant. I brought it to Ford upland, ca for the throttle body service. I gave them a copy of the Ford tsb 09-24-12 but in inspecting the vehicle afterwards, I do not see any evidence that the throttle body was removed and then cleaned thoroughly. The tsb specifically states to remove the TB and clean it properly. I am guessing that they just opened up the other end and sprayed TB cleaning compound and that's it. Now I am weary that the lunging might happen again. I am hoping through the NHTSA this vehicle can be recalled and Ford to assume all costs of replacing the defective TB and any other connected problems to lunging. This is my only vehicle and I use this to drive my family which includes a 1 year old baby.

- Glendora, CA, USA

problem #129

Apr 022012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • miles
I was at a stop light and my car lunched on its own and on many different occassions it lunches even when reversing or parking. One time I almost hit a vehicle because this occurred. This is very dangerous and I want to find out if this will be fixed by Ford or is this an expense I will have to deal with.

- Dallas, TX, USA

problem #128

May 092007

Freestyle

  • 49,000 miles
Started car and was leaving restaurant parking space. Engine revved up several hundred RPM and car was lurching forward as I tried to hold it back with the brake pedal. People were walking in front of car heading toward restaurant. Car was lurching forward toward them and it was difficult to keep car from moving forward. The RPM's would go high enough to make the front tires spin a little bit on the paved parking lot. I killed the ignition to make car stop. The people thought I had been trying to assault them with the car because I didn't want to wait on them to walk across the parking lot in front of me. Mechanic checked car out and couldn't find anything. This happens pretty frequently. It is worse when air conditioner is on and is most common when in parking lots or driveway when not even using the accelerator.

- Waverly Hall, GA, USA

problem #127

Jun 182012

Freestyle

  • 125,000 miles
The car will lunge almost uncontrollably when stopped at any length of time with air conditioning on. This will make the car stall out and cause the wrench light to come on rendering the car to operate in safety mode.

- Dayton, OH, USA

problem #126

Dec 302010

Freestyle

  • 130,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the transmission failed. The contact was driving at a steady pace when the transmission began to fail. The vehicle also stalled and was unable to be restarted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection where they informed the contact that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The failure mileage was 130,000.

- Homewood, IL, USA

problem #125

May 062012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 62,000 miles
Sudden engine revving driving on interstate. Loss of power to transmission. Instrument panel wrench light came on. After resting restarted and acted like nothing happened. Drove to dealership evaluation showed an event. Assuming it's ok to drive. Weeks later at a stop light hesitation and jerking was occurring. This continues, worse if ac was on. Nothing ever revealed on instrument panel indicating failure. Back to Ford based on codes it was going to need a $900+ part. During this process it was revealed a new transmission was required or a rebuilt. 4-7K. We no longer trust this car for our safety. It was always maintained at dealership. We loved this car.

- Sturgis, SD, USA

problem #124

May 172012

Freestyle 6-cyl

  • 73,000 miles
My car makes a funny high pitched noise while driving. Also in park to drive, it will lunge forward. I was told that it is a intake bearing that has come loose in my transmission. The noise gets louder as you continue to accelerate. It will only make the noise when it is in motion. I bought this vehicle used in 2010 with around 58,000 miles.

- West Alllis, WI, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »