We purchased the 2007 Ford Freestyle only one month ago from a dealer in blair Nebraska who certified that there were no problems with the vehicle purchased. We have not owned this vehicle for more than a month. While driving today with the family (children included) down the freeway the vehicle stopped accelerating in the center of heavy traffic. Lucky no accident was caused! the vehicle started lurching and then would not go over 25 mph. We are understanding that there are several complaints about this vehicle performing the same way with many others in class action and forums.

- Cibolo, TX, USA

The car stalls out and I get the wrench on my dashboard. The car will restart after a few minutes and runs fine at that point. This apparently means that there is a powertrain fault detected. When the diagnostics were ran they pulled the code U0401 and the dealer told me that there were alot of Freestyles and Mercury's with this code and that it would be $280 to diagnose the problem.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

The car started leaking transmission fluid. I took it to the repair shop and the torque converter was bad. There have been alot of complaints about the transmission in this car and there is not a recall at this time.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

Throttle body issues (possibly transmission as well) cause intermittent surging, unexpected acceleration patterns, stalling or all three. This is especially pronounced with A/C running. The first time it occured I was backing out of a parking space in a crowded mall parking lot. The sudden surge as I was backing out at idle (not depressing the accelerator at all) nearly caused me to hit a pedestrian. Dealer "could not replicate" the issue but suggested a thorough cleaning of throttle body. Have driven approximately 40,000 miles since first incident and cleaning does help for a short while but the surging returns without warning. Clearly a dangerous issue, an accident waiting to happen and I've learned (online) this is common in these vehicles.

- Midland, GA, USA

Unexpected power surges when vehicle is stopped. This is extremely dangerous, and we have had a few near misses. While the brake is applied, the vehicle will lurch forward. It does this often, and seems like it does it more in hot weather. We took the car to the dealer before the warranty ran out and they said they could not duplicate the power surge, so they couldn't fix it. I could tell they had heard of this before, but did not want to address it.

- Jeffersonville, IN, USA

My car would surge forwarded with out me pressing the accelerator. I took it in and they could find nothing because it didn't do it constantly eventually the car stopped and would start and they said I needed a throttle body. My warranty was up at 50,000 mi and I had 52,000 I had to pay $1000 out of pocket for a problem they couldn't detect earlier. Now my transmission has gone bad I have the cvt transmission and the internal shaft has gone bad again my warranty was up at 60,000 miles and I have 64,000 I have spoken to one of the mechanics at a Ford dealer and he said they have been this complaint from a lot of people with the 2005-2007 Ford free styles they think it may be a problem with the transmissions but they refuse to do a recall. So now I am out of pocket $4000.

- Chicago, IL, USA

The 2007 Ford Freestyle will sometimes lurch forward or backwards from a stop. In all cases the car was initially at a stop with my foot on the brake and when I took my foot off the brake, but before placing my foot on the accelerator, the car lurched forward if in drive or backwards if in reverse. The car usually lurched about five feet before I was able to stop it. Sometimes the lurching was followed by the vehicle stalling and in the worst case the vehicle stalled, the check engine light and the service required light both turned on and I was unable to re-start the vehicle for several minutes. The lurching seems to be more of a problem on hot days.

- Wildwood, MO, USA

The first time the problem occured was soon after I purchased my car. I took my foot off the brake when the car was in park, and the car lunged forward. Since that time, this has happened numerous times. The car has also lunged backwards when I put the car in reverse and took my foot off the brake. At times, this has caused the car to die. It seems to be worse when the air conditioning is on.

- Marion, AR, USA

For the past year, when the car is at idle, but not in park, with foot off accelerator, the car will suddenly, and without driver action, surge or lurch forward. Or if in reverse, it will surge backward. If foot is firmly on brake, the lurch will not cause movement of tires, just body of car as the brakes restrain movement. But if it occurs in the instant the driver is moving the foot from accelerator to brake, or without the brake being firmly depressed beyond what is needed to restrain movement while at idle, the surge can be 2-5 feet before the driver is able to apply the brake and cease the movement. We have almost hit a pedestrian coming out of a fast food restaurant crossing in front of car as we were going through drive-through. We were at a stop to receive food with foot on brake enough to stop forward movement while at idle but not enough to stop when surge occurred. We have almost hit numerous cars while trying to park, especially during parallel parking attempts. The condition comes and goes. At times when it is "acting up" the car also loses its ability to properly accelerate in response to demand for gas and speed. Push on accelerator but the car will not respond except at only a very slow rate, taking many seconds to reach a top speed of 25-30 mph. This has caused safety issues when it occurs while pulling out in front of on-coming traffic, even though doing so at what should be a safe distance. My wife is now refusing to drive the car when the condition is occurring due to her fear of it acting on its own. It started in the 80,000 mile range. Our car now has about 102,000 miles.

- Saline, MI, USA

At a slow speed in either forward or reverse when I put my foot on the brake the engine speeds up and the car lunges forward or backwards and I have to hit the brake hard to stop it. This has happened several times and seems to be happening more often now. A couple of times the engine seeded up while the car was in park I see where Ford brushes the problem off as being minor.I think this is a dangerous thing and should be corrected. If it happens while you are parallel parking it can cause an accident. Also when backing out of a parking space you could get into an accident. With over 200 complaints I think something should be done before someone is seriously injured from this defect by Ford.

- Geneva, NY, USA

At first occurrence, I was pulling into a parking space. As I took my foot off the gas and placed it on the brake my car lurched forward unexpectedly. This unexpected lurching has increased in frequency and happens both in drive and reverse. There have also been incidents when the car is in park and it revs, as if I am pushing on the gas pedal. It will rev like that and idle down a few times and then the engine will stall.

- Jefferson City, MO, USA

My Ford Freestyle has 87,000 miles. Until recently, it has been a terrific car. However, it now has had intermittent problems that (according to the code) are linked to the throttle body. The transmission and engine lights come on. The accelerator doesn't work, and then it lunges unexpectedly. After researching online, I found hundreds of others are having this issue.

- Waukesha, WI, USA

I recently bought a used, well maintained 2007 Ford Freestyle last fall. Although the vehicle ran fine last fall, over this summer with the air conditioner being used, the Ford will unexpected lunge forward when idling or at a stoplight when the airconditioner kicks on, which is dangerous. It almost caused a crash when pulling into my garage this summer. You must firmly have your foot on the brake at all times, this is very different than any other vehicle I have ever driven, and is dangerous.

- Olmsted Falls, OH, USA

I purchased a 2007 Ford Freestyle last year and with only 68000 miles it is now unsafe to drive. The last couple months my car started lunging forward when I would press on brake with the car in either reverse or drive. At first I thought it was my doing somehow but now I know differently. It happen one time while my husband was driving, we were going on vacation, we had stopped at a gas station to get a drink when the wrench light came on and the car stalled and lost power and die in the middle of the street. My husband and I decided not to take the car for we were not surewhat was happening and could not afford to be stranded somewhere and break down. It really starts acting up when it is really hot out or if it is parked and is idling for a little it with the ac running. After it has idled for a little bit you put the car in either drive or reverse and it will lunge forward. One time I almost hit a person walking in front of my car at a drive-in restaurant. My husband and I are now too scared to drive it. I thought it would be a great car for my family but now just want out of it for the safety of my family..

- San Angelo, TX, USA

I have a 2007 Ford Freestyle which the Ford dealership that I purchased it from new has completed all the up keep on it as part of the deal of tires for life which is good since the Ford eats the tires and brakes but this problem started when I would pressing on the brakes and it would lunge forward but it would only do it every now again but it took a while before my husband witnessed it himself. Then one very hot day my air condition just stopped working. I stopped at the gas station and let it idle while inside and when I came out and put it in reverse it lunged then just quit all together and a wrench light came on the panel. After calling my husband I tried to start it back up and it started but it had no power when I attempted to pull out from the gas station at a very busy intersection at the mall with me pushing the petal to the floor it died again. After restarting it the wrench light was off but the gas mileage went from 23 to 15 with little to no power but when I would let off the petal it would lunge forward as if I pushed on the gas petal and would take off and go faster. I had 5 children in the car and my husband out of town. I had to drive it home and I think that was the longest trip ever. I was scared of hitting someone or being hit when it would not accelerate when I would push on the gas from a red light. I had it towed to the Ford dealership yesterday and today I got the quote for $1200 to fix the problem. Which is said to be for a new throttle body, stark plugs, and intake gaskets. When they completed the last oil change about a month ago everything was fine so it seemed. I have 5 children and now I have no vehicle that I can trust to take them to their practices. I am very concerned about this and may trade it in because after doing some research today and finding out that alot of others are having the same problems and general safety concerns and that after having the throttle body replace it is not fixing the problem long term.

- Proctorville, OH, USA

On Monday July 25, 2001 the transmission in our 2007 Ford Freestyle would not change gears. When we would try to accelerate the engine would rev to very high RPM's because the transmission was not operating properly. We pulled over and had the vehicle towed to the nearest Ford dealership. We are now being told the the entire transmission needs to be replaced, a repair they are saying will cost a minimum of $5800.

- Lynchburg, VA, USA

Vehicle lunges forward at slow speed I.e. parking lot. Also occurs while backing and sometimes shuts off. Very dangerous if someone happens to be around vehicle when this happens.

- Partlow, VA, USA

I own a 2007 Ford Freestyle. After the second year of owning this vehicle I had problems with the accelerator. It would accelerate when slowing down to a stop sign/light/or parking and also when I would go in reverse. At times it would shut down completely. I went in for service at Ford and they couldn't figure it out the problem since it didn't occur all the time. Lately the problem got worse I went in for service and they finally figured out it was the throttle. I have an extended warranty which covered the $800 + bill although I believe this should have been a recall. I was very fortunately I didn't get into an accident over this problem.

- Bonita Springs, FL, USA

My 2007 Ford Freestyle keeps lunging and my trans stopped shifting.

- Harper Woods, MI, USA

My 2007 Ford Freestyle lurches forward/backward and cuts off when being moved from a parked position. However, on Friday in rush hour traffic my vehicle cut off completely in the middle of the highway and I went in to oncoming traffic lanes. Thankfully my four children were not in the car and the light for oncoming traffic was red at the time and I was not hit. I was told by the Ford dealership that it was due to the defective electronic throttle body which I have now had replaced.

- Sedley, VA, USA