Upon starting the car and putting it in either reverse or forward, the engine would race and either lunge forward or backward. While driving, the engine would sputter and stall. This was more prevalent when the air conditioning was turned on. On starting the car, I had to place my foot with a lot of pressure on the brake pedal to ensure that the car did not lunge. This was a very dangerous problem as I have two small children in the car and they could be hurt if the car stalled in heavy traffic and was struck. The dealer said that this was not under warranty and that they understood the problem but Ford has not issued a recall on the part. It was rather expensive to replace this part. I am urging the government to issue a recall on this part before someone gets seriously hurt or killed. The part in question is the throttle body.

- Campbell, CA, USA

On 9/12/11 my 2006 Ford Freestyle experienced several failures. Driving through a parking lot and my wrench and emission lights came on. Took to mechanic and he diagnosed complete failure of transmission, and that my power steering was whining as any turns were made. Contacted Ford motor and the dealership and was told that while not uncommon, there was nothing they could do. My car has essentially died at 160,000 miles as the cost of repairs are greater than the value of the car.

- Washougal, WA, USA

My 2006 Ford Freestyle lurches and surges. When put into gear my Freestyle will lurch violently and while driving it will surge power. While sitting and in gear power surges and lurches forward forcing the driver to press the brake hard to keep the car from jumping forward. While cruising power will surge without input from the driver.

- Fayetteville, NC, USA

I experienced an unexpected movement of the vehicle when I wasn't pushing the accelerator either moving forward or backwards. An increase in the rpms is evident in both but worse in reverse. When stopping at the light and gear is in "D", after a full stop, the engine increases the rpms. When you release the brakes to start moving again, the car abruptly moves without pushing the accelerator. In reverse, with brakes lightly applied, the engine increases the rpms more dramatically than in forward. It is even worse if you turn the steering wheel, in my case, to the left. You have to apply firmly the brakes to stop the car from moving without control but the rpms still running high. One of the times, even when applying firmly the brakes, the car still moved up to the point that it shut down the engine. That happened in a parking lot and almost hit another car. That's when I decided to take it to the dealer. This is very dangerous. We park the car inside our garage and it became unsafe to pull in and out as space is tight and you could hit the walls or my other car or the kids. You do not know when it will happen and how severe the sudden increase in speed will be. The dealer said it was the electronic throttle body that failed and changed it. I have a 2006 Freestyle SE.

- Watkinsville, GA, USA

I own a 2006 Ford Freestyle and I have had many problems with it. The most prevalent and frustrating issues are ones I've seen many complaints about. The car lunging forward or backward (happens more when A/C has been on), high rpms with pedal to floor and the car going nowhere (wrench light comes on). The first time the RPM issue happened I was on my way up to lancaster, ca driving up a very steep hill. I had my 2 year old son with me and the car would barely go. I was able to put on my hazards and get off the freeway and made it to a park-and-ride. After I shut the car off for awhile and started it again it was fine. This has happened quite a few times since then; the most recent was last month (July 2011). Also, mostly when getting on the freeway and having to accelerate into traffic, the car will rev at a very high RPM and not go down unless I pull over/get off freeway and try the acceleration a little slower. If the rpms stay high it sometimes causes the wrench light to come on and problem with the pedal to the floor and car going nowhere comes into play. I have not been able to have any work done on the car to try to aleve the problems due to financial issues. I know that a lot of other people have had these same problems and I just hope that something can be done before someone seriously gets hurt.

- Whittier, CA, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle "lurches" at low speeds or when sitting still; into reverse or forward gears; especially when it is hottest out. Example: Sitting in line to pick up our children (carpool lane) at the school; vehicle in park. Once you move the transmission into drive, while holding down the brake pedal, the engine will rev (run higher) and the vehicle will try to move, therby causing it to 'lurch' or jump foward. It is not a consistent thing, however it does seem to happen the most when the engine and transmission are hot. Also happens when switching from park to reverse. Often, it will cause the 'wrench' icon on the dashboard to turn on. Placing the vehicle in park then turning it off; and turning it back on seems to correct the issue, temporarily. However, it does haappen 3 to 4 times a week.

- Raleigh, NC, USA

Vehicle surges forward in low idle or when stopped. Will happen also in reverse. Seems worse on hot days or with A/C running. Service "wrench" light will come on and car will almost stop running and has stopped on some occasions.

- Gadsden, AL, USA

We own a 2006 Ford Freestyle. In 2008, at 36,730 miles we had the throttle body replaced because the vehicle lurched & the wrench light came on. Problem fixed. However, 2011 @ 88,356 we had the car in again because it lurched and engine & wrench light would come on again, and it would lose power. If we turned the key off and back on, it would temporarily go away. They replaced an electronic sensor in the transmission. This was at a Ford dealer. They had to call their mechanic help line & work on it several days to figure out the problem. Apparently, that was not the problem, because it had to go back in two weeks later for the same issue. They claimed the new part was faulty and they replaced the sensor again. Fast forward 2.5 months. We are in June @ 92,744. Vehicle was again lurching, wrench & check engine light would come on and had a loss of power. This all seemed to happen when the engine was under strain/load: Ac on high, turning the wheel. It would happen in reverse or drive. I had a foot on/over the brake - so lurching never caused any incidents. This time, I took it to my mechanic. He didn't believe me - because as I said - if you turned the car off, it would all go away until the next random time it happened. So, after 2 days I picked the vehicle up from him. It happened again 2 days later. I took it to autozone and had them plug it in to get the codes out of it - before I turned it off. I took the vehicle and the codes to my mechanic. He had the car for a couple days and was able to get it to behave as I described to him. He replaced the throttle body and it seemed to fix it. We took it on a road trip for 6,000 miles and there was no problem. It is now just over 100,000 miles and the warranty has now expired. Until now - warranty has covered the bulk of the cost. About 2 weeks ago, there was one instance of surging but no other symptoms or lights. Not sure what I plan to do from here except perhaps wait until it is recalled?

- Dallas, TX, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle lunging started about 2 months ago. It happens often, thought it was just when I ran the air conditioner but it is happening all the time now. It will happen when the car is going forward and in reverse and sometimes it will die on me. I've already heard of this problem being responsible for 1 injury and I'm afraid it could continue to happen to other Freestyle owners including myself. I should not have to pay for this problem. Ford needs to own up to the fact that this is their fault and recall all Freestyles made within 2006-2007. As I am researching this problem with the Freestyle I am becoming aware that Ford has known about this issue for some time now and have not done anything about it. If this is how they are going to make vehicles and treat their customers then I can assure you that most of their costumers will choose to go elsewhere with their business, including myself! they need to recall this model and fix it!!!! I am at 65,000 mile's and this is unacceptable to me and every other owner out there.!!! please do something about this mess.

- Columbus, OH, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle lurches when coming to a stop or departing from a stop. To prevent the car from involuntarily moving, heavy brake pressure is required. These events started in April 2011 when vehicle had approximately 97,000 miles on it (26 July 2011 odometer reading 99,150 miles). Symptoms occur every time the vehicle is put into reverse; less frequent when in forward gears.

- Biloxi, MS, USA

The car has been having a highly irregular idle and has been lurching/surging forward at low speeds when shifting into gear (both forward and reverse). This started occurring about a month ago and has been fairly consistent since that time.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle while sitting still at idle, in gear, suddenly surging causing unintentional vehicle movement.

- Kearney, MO, USA

Car lurches (in drive or reverse) when at low speeds. This issue is much more pronounced while air conditioning is on. Engine revs from 1,000 RPM to 2,500 RPM. On occasion the "fail-safe" will engage and the engine will shutdown completely when brakes are applied to stop the car from lurching. The only unusual light that comes on is "throttle system" light.

- Glen Ellyn, IL, USA

Early July 2010 car would surge after started when placed into drive or reverse. July 17,2010 about 95 degrees ambient. Driving 55 mph car started to lose power and stall. Restarted and it went into limp mode with check engine light and occasional surges. I found a Ford dealer about 5 miles away. Diagnosis was a bad mass air flow sensor. Replaced and we were on our way again. Early June 2011 it was surging after starting when placed in drive or reverse. June 11,2011. Car stalled and went into limp mode again with check engine light on. Bought a new mass air flow sensor, installed it myself and cleared the code. July 5,2011 while driving to baltimore at 65 mph and 100 degree ambient, car stalled, restarted and it went into limp mode with check engine light on. I found a parking lot with shade and let it idle for about 20 minutes. Shut it off and restarted. Check engine light was off and it ran fine to baltimore. This appears to be an issue with the mass air flow circuit. NHTSA cannot ignore this flaw.

- Dillsburg, PA, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle over the past year my car has been accelerating and stalling for no reason. I have had to brake suddenly many times when pulling into a parking space and or backing up. Its really scary. Last week it accelerated so fast and I slammed on my brakes so hard that it quit, I started it, it quit and when I started it again, my engine light was on. I just spent over $1600 dollars to have the problem corrected at the local Ford dealership. I bought this car new and gave over $34,000 dollars for it and it has had many issues. I just paid it off in December and now I'm still spending so much money to keep it going. I am a teacher and can not afford this but I can't afford to trade it in and have car payments all over again. Please, isn't there anything you can do to help me?

- Bradyville, TN, USA

I drive a 2006 Ford Freestyle. I would like to report that when the car has been running and it is a hot day when placed in reverse it will accelerate on it's own and then the motor will die causing the check engine light to come one. Typically if I turn it off and wait a few minutes it will come back on light free, but there has been two occasions when it has not. The first I took it for a diagnostics where I was told to take it to Ford that it seemed to be a transmission issue, Ford told me that they were not sure but they cleared out the sensor to give it a good wash if it happened again. It has happened again only this time the engine dying to acceleration ration has increased and a good car wash has not helped the issue. I am becoming very concerned before the acceleration was only in reverse now it is occurring in drive as well and happening more frequently. I have plans to take it to my local Ford dealership however I do not have high hopes for answers as they were not all that helpful the first time.

- Harrodsburg, KY, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle is experiencing sporadic lunging (engine racing) when shifting from park to reverse or park to drive. Has happened more frequently in the last month. 65500 miles on odometer.

- Jackson, MS, USA

Our 2006 Ford Freestyle sel lunges when idling, when backing out of parking spot, putting car into drive or reverse, etc. It happens frequently. The car will, on occasion, then idle rough, the "wrench" or "check engine" lights come on. Approximately twice in the last eight months it then looses power and doesn't accelerate. Sometimes, turning off the car will re-set the system and it seems to run better. It concerns me for many reasons.

- Mason City, IA, USA

On Saturday, July 2, 2011 we had been driving the car for about 40 minutes to our destination when the vehicle started acting up at a stop. I was idling at a stop with my foot on the brake when the vehicle suddenly increased rpms to 3 ' 4K. I had to turn the car off to get it to stop. The indicator light that looks like a wrench and an engine came on during this time. I had a difficult time starting the vehicle shortly after tuning it off. The temperature on that day was right at 100 degrees and I had the air conditioner running while driving and at the stop when this occured.

- O'fallon, MO, USA

2006 Ford Freestyle surges when foot on the brake, when backing up, and sometimes while driving. Wrench light comes on or service engine light or both. Also car revved while driving and could not go over 40mph without the engine revving to over 5,000 RPM. This is not safe and has been reported numerous times.

- Evergreen Park, IL, USA