10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 70,253 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
The vehicles cvt transmission failed and needed to be replaced.
- Washington, MI, USA
The vehicle is experiencing a surge in the engine performance at a low speed and also when shifting into drive, neutral, reverse & park. The surge of the engine causes the vehicle to lunge forward or rearward (depending on what gear is selected) and when put in neutral or park a sharp increase in engine RPM's is experienced to the extent that the engine stalls. This problem is a constant occurrence, not intermittent or every once in a while.
- Washington, MI, USA
Car unexpectedly lunges when sitting at idle position on hot days with A/C working hard. Does so in drive or reverse. Most concerned while sitting in car pool line at elementary school on hot days. Kids walk in front of car frequently and this lunging can be rather dramatic at times. Occurs quite frequently when it's hot and A/C is running. There is no known fix and Ford does not acknowledge the problem or a fix.
- Mckinney, TX, USA
Vehicle accelerated while in line at the drive through and was lurching forward. Then engine light came on. Took vehicle to Ford they informed I needed a new throttle body.
- Springfield, MO, USA
The vehicle will slightly accelarate (or lunge) when idling and foot is not on the accelerator. Seems to happen when vehicle is first started and/or at very low speeds. This has happened multiple times while vehicle is drive or reverse.
- Woodbury, MN, USA
This is the second time I had to tow this car to the dealership due to transmission issues. I have already spent $6,000 on the transmission and then it lunges while backing up and I have to take it in to the dealership again. It is very scary to drive this car when it does this. They have the nerve to tell me it is the air filter!!!!! how can the air filter cause the wrench light and engine safe mode to come on!!! they know that it is the transmission and they don't want to fix it so they are giving me the run around. There is no way I should have to replace the transmission twice on a 2005 vehicle. I am scared to death to drive it cause I never know when it will leave me stranded or just lunged into something or someone. Please investigate this before someone gets hurt.
- Conroe, TX, USA
Sudden acceleration in vehicle: After driving 200 miles I was pulling into a parking space when I had a sudden acceleration in the vehicle. I had my foot firmly on the brake with no contact on the accelerator. The turn was a 180 degree turn into the parking space. (90 into driveway then continuous 90 degree turn into space.) had to increase angle of turn to avoid hitting parked car. Immediately after the acceleration the vehicle stalled. There was no difficulty restarting the vehicle. The radio was off, air conditioning on (approximately 90 degrees outside, sunny high humidity.) three adult passengers in vehicle at time. Speed approximately 10 miles an hour. First time I noticed this in the vehicle. Three hours later as I was decelerating while approaching a light I also had a sudden surge lasted maybe two seconds. Had foot on brake at the time. Was able to continue slowing despite surge in engine and attempts by car to increase speed. Car did not stall this time. Speed about 25 mph. Have driven about 300 miles since and have not experienced the problem. Vehicle front wheel drive with cvt transmission.
- Delaware, OH, USA
When parking the vehicle or reversing out of a parking spot the engine will "rev" and the vehicle will lunge forward as if I had pushed the accelerator but my foot was applying pressure to the brake. This has occurred since I bought the vehicle in 2005 at approximately 11,000 miles but the latest incident happened yesterday, July 4, 2011. Up until recently I could not reproduce it on a regular basis so I did not take it to the dealership. After reading an article on reuters website that this is being investigated by NHTSA I decided to report it here. As the article states, it appears more often when I have the air conditioning on high. I spoke to the service department at the Ford dealership in flat rock Michigan and they said they were unaware of this problem and that there is probably nothing they can do to correct it. To date, this has caused no injuries or accidents but it is only because I take extra precautions (e.g. turn off the air conditioning or be prepared to apply extra pressure to the brake when parking) to ensure the car does not lunge forward and hit anything.
- Grosse Ile, MI, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly surged forward without warning, when she noticed that the transmission light illuminated. The dealer advised the contact to have the transmission replaced. The manufacturer was aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The current mileage was 67,000. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000. Updated 08/31/11 updated 09/01/11
- Mifflintown, PA, USA
I own a 2005 Ford Freestyle sel with just over 77,000 miles. I have had numerous problems with my vehicle lunging at low speeds (driving forward and reverse) and one time where it lunged, stalled and entered into safe mode while backing up. The air conditioning was on during the incidents. I use the brakes to stop it from lunging but that is because I expect it to happen. To someone who is unaware of the problem might not react the same as I do. It is quite possible that had I not been aware of the problem and reacted properly that I could of hit a pedestrian or another vehicle. To get my vehicle out of safe mode I cycled my key a couple of times with the last time actually taking the key out of the ignition and the vehicle returned to normal driving.
- Deridder, LA, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle would lung forward when shifting gears and then stall. The dealer diagnosed and replaced a filter in the vehicle but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 72,000 and current mileage was 95,000. The VIN was unavailable.
- Livingston, LA, USA
I own a 2005 Ford Freestyle with 74K miles. A few months ago I noticed that while shifting from P to D or R with the foot on brake pedal the car would lunge forward/backward with enough force that it would move a foot or two. This has happened a few times but intermittently. The last time the wrench light also came on but disappeared after I restated the car. The problem started about 6 months ago with 65K. Luckily all times I either caught the lunging on time and increased the brake pedal pressure or I was lucky that no car was in front/back. One time my friend saw the lunging while waiting for me to finish parking and was very concerned about the possibility of me hitting someone accidentally. I haven't taken it to the mechanic yet thinking that it's just an electronic mishap that would disappear upon restarting the car, but I just found out that many Freestyle owners are having similar problems!
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
Stopped after driving a long distance (6 hours) on a major highway to purchase a cup of coffee and after pulling into the parking spot my car lunged forward while stopped. My foot was directly on the brake and I pushed even harder on the brake and my daughter checked my foot location as well. I was firmly on the brake and no where near the gas pedal and I shifted into neutral and pushed harder on the brake and the car stopped. Probably would have jumped the curb had I not been able to stop it. In the shop at my Ford dealer now and they are telling me that I need the throttle body replaced. No money from Ford is available for this nor from my extended warrently and now I must make a decision whether to take my car back without doing the repair that I cannot affort to do now. I believe this should be a covered safety expense as the price is over 500.00+ and I am paying for another repair that was done while under warrently for the shift issue that needed a new shifter bezel. This was done at 32,000 miles and had never been totally fixed but now needs to be replaced once again at $300 estimated cost. Hope that Ford will help all of us out asd this is a dangerous issue with the lunging forward.
- Lancaster, PA, USA
My 2005 Ford Freestyle would lurch forward or backward if my foot was not firmly on the brake when idling or shifting into gear. This is especially problematic when the ac is on..
- Virginia Beach, VA, USA
The car surges while idling and when place in drive-the car shuts off and restarts in safe mode and the transmission wrench comes on--you can shut the car off and wait a few seconds and restart and the wrench goes away--this has happened 2 times in the last 2 weeks--first noticed the problem 5/21/11. The car has over 90,000 miles on.
- Jacksonville, FL, USA
At random times when the car is idling or at low speeds with no contact with the gas pedal, the engine surges. This occurs in forward or reverse, with or without the brake being applied. At times, the surging is severe and requires a lot of pressure on the brake to hold the car in place. Last year, it seemed to occur more often with the ac on. The compressor died, so we had it replaced, but that did not fix the issue. We have not crashed into anything but have come very close. It is troubling since it occurs at low speeds, meaning we're in close proximity to cars, people, and buildings when the engine surges.
- San Antonio, TX, USA
2005 Ford Freestyle lunges unexpectedly while placed in gear or moving at slow speeds.
- Eagan, MN, USA
Our Ford Freestyle had its A/C repaired and since then has been surging at low idle or while backing out of parking spaces. On May 21, 2011 it was the hottest day since the A/C was repaired and the surging was worse. It did it three consecutive times and then the car died. I got it started and 'limped' home. Took it to the dealer as they seem to be the only ones who know anything about the type of transmission on this. I did some research and now see where the ntsb is investigating this same issue.
- Alexander, NC, USA
Only had one event before the failure of the transmission, while backing into the driveway at a low speed the vehicle lunged backward nearly running into my garage, one week later my transmission went out and had to be replaced at a cost to me of $5,000 dollars. The dealer that sold me the vehicle told me that there was a service bulletin on the problem but no recall.
- Carleton, MI, USA
- Novi, MI, USA