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Comments
You, Your Vehicle and the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB)
Steve, Host
I have less than 18,000 mi on my 05 Freestyle and needed to have one back brake replace. Anyone else have this problem?
And two questions:
1) Did you do the work yourself or get a local shop to do it?
2) If your Freestyle has the steering wheel mounted audio controls (as most do).. do they still work?
The satellite receiver is mounted behind the radio, and the antenna wire goes out the left side of the center console near the front seat passenger's left foot and is tucked out of the way under there. I ran it along the front pillar under the weatherstripping until about the rear edge of the front door, and then turned it out into the middle of the roof. So, yes, there is a wire stretched half-way across my roof to the magnetic antenna, but it's been there for most of a year now, and I never notice it. Having the satellite radio capability is great, especially with it integrated into the in-dash head unit.
As you can see, because the JVC unit is not as tall as the factory radio, I picked up a little storage space underneath. In case anyone is interested, I did not have radio controls on the steering wheel, so whether or not they still work wasn't an issue.
I've seen the broken pump. It's like a thick metal disk with a hole in the middle for the rotating shaft. Nobody knows what's wrong with it. They are not allowed to open it. It has to go back to Ford for an autopsy. I asked the mechanic, service advisor and service manager, they all say the "L" does not affect the front pump.
So what's the bad news?
In an effort to reassure me that the car is a good car, the manager says that their Ford rep said that he only saw other 5 (FIVE) FS with transmission problems (not necessarily front pump) in the 12 dealerships he attends to. So there may very well be many others out there, they just don't hurry to edmunds.com to report it.
\What took so long to fix? Well, the mechanic says, the instructions are vague, so I didn't know about all the parts I needed, so I had to learn as I went (!!! Yikes!) and the parts took forever to come. It is by far, the most difficult job I had to do! I told him not say that to any other customer EVER!
More questions for the mechanic? I'm taking "delivery" Friday
I have lost faith in the car, the dealership and Ford. This is the second time the car had to spend more than a day to be repaired and I have had enough. I have never heard of a new car that takes 3 weeks to fix.
I don't think you can declare it a lemon before 30 days pass. And after that there is arbitration involved. The service can say, and will, that the car had only one problem. The time was spent on waiting for the parts. "We apologize!” I think in order to convince the "referee" in the arbitration process, the car has to display the same problem and to be repeatedly repaired by the service.
In my case they shut me up with a free loaner, so they will certainly say that they have provided me with a vehicle, so my life was not hindered.
You may get Ford to give you a monthly payment back, since you did not have the car.
I've lost confidence in my car, too. I'm afraid to take it on long trips (the towing cost me $175 / what am I going to do if it breaks down 4-500 miles away from my dealership?). But in spite having other small problems, too, I can not honestly say that it's a lemon, at least for now.
I'm not sure about other states, but CA lemon law is either three times for the same problem in the first year, OR 30 days out of service for the first year. Total days, not necessarily consecutive days. So if that car has been in the shop for 30 days, lemon laws could apply.
Our Ford Freestyle is still sitting at the dealer. The parts came in twice last week. Both times they arrived damaged. They are now going to see if Ford will authorize a new transmission. This is a joke, they need "authorization" because the dealer does not want to be out any money. Instead they are out a customer and someone how will never recommend them or Ford again.
We are done, the car is going to sit their until we get closure from Ford Motor Company. The car has been at the dealer 25 days in the last 60 days. We are currently contacting the Ford Zone Manager because the Dealer's General Manager decided to take vacation and "deal with us later".
My CVT with the broken front pump was fixed last Wednesday, the 21st. I agreed to let them keep it until Friday to have it thoroughly tested. Also, right before the CVT died the alignment went out of being aligned, so I asked them to do that, too. I remember someone complaining of the need of repeating alignment - more on that later.
So I get my car on Friday right before the closing time (paperwork not done). The tech drove the car 80 miles (on my gas) and obviously it was ready to go.
So I've got my FS and drove it home. I was almost in tears. It felt like the acceleration pedal did something only if pressed to the floor. Under "hard" acceleration there is vibration in the floor and in the steering wheel and noise. The brake pedal stops the car if pressed half way, but after that it travels all the way to the floor (is yours doing this?). Then parking the car, I noticed a loud noise when changing the direction of travel (forward or reveres)
We took it to San Diego for the weekend, thinking that I am going to take it back Monday to have the engine mounts properly tighten. The alignment was straight.
I don't know at which point in the trip the alignment went worse then it was before. I have to keep the steering wheel 10 degrees to the left to drive straight. I think I can see that the front wheels are both pointing to the exterior.
When I saw the weak acceleration I figured - this is going to do wonders to my MPG, and it did! I scored a 23.7 LA to San Diego to Pasadena with some stop and go due to an accident, and otherwise traveling around 80 Mph. I actually saw the MPG raising while going uphill to Pasadena. I've got used to the acceleration, eventually, but I swear it was faster. The engine now revs to 6000 RPM very fast (what’s the redline on this engine?). It did not do that before, and I saw that now it holds its speed while going downhill in D. That, it did not do before, also. So I guess there was something bad with it since I've bought it.
The alignment bothers me the most. If other people have this problem on and on, with my luck with this car I will have it, too. I am afraid that there is a welding some place that it's becoming undone, so the frame is bending.
We'll see.
I think you have a lemon FS on your hands. Take it back and make them fix it or give you another one.
The car was back in service at 8:30 this morning with all the complaints listed in above message.
They had it done by 3:30 and sent a car to pick me up.
They said that the sub-frame needed some tightening, which took care of all problems but the brakes, which they say are fine. They also redid the alignment, which was necessary because of the sub-frame. OK.
So I take my car out and let it have it! True, all power train problems went away, but the alignment is still little off. I went back right away. The "specialist" was called upfront to be confronted by the angry customer. The guy seems a serious person who says that if he missed it 3 times in a raw, he'd like to have the car tomorrow to do a full alignment and check what could cause the problem.
As far as my first impression of the weak acceleration goes, here what I've found in the manual:
"When the battery is disconnected or a new battery is installed, the transmission must relearn its shift strategy. As a result, the transmission may have firm and/or soft shifts. This operation is considered normal and will not affect function or durability of the transmission. Over time, the adaptive learning process will fully update transmission operation.'
As far as the lemon goes, I appreciate the support, but as right now, this FS has only been in service for 29 days. I need one more day, and the problem was the bad CVT which led to poor MPG (I wish I could get the money for wasted gas) and eventually its own death. All other problems were caused by the mechanics, now. What I don’t get is how the test mechanic drove my car for 80 miles and did not hear and hear the problems I saw in 2 miles while I drove the car home.
There is a guy that got his FS to be a lemon (post on Freestyle list), but he says he had a pile of paperwork with service problems. I just have two. Like I said, I need one more day in service, then I can start squeezing it!
We are very disappointed.
I'm sorry some of you are having such troubles, but keep in mind that the vast majority of Freestyle owners are not and love their vehicles so don't lose faith in the vehicle or Ford. I feel most of the problems you are having are due to incompetent mechanics/dealers, not Ford or the vehicle itself. I recommend this vehicle and would buy another in an instant.
- Chad
Freestyle is wonderful vehicle. I wouldn't know what else to buy to fill my car needs. Thank you Ford Europe and Volvo! The ride quality we like so much is due to the chassis developed there. I think the folks here had a bad project management in developing this vehicle. Things were not followed through, including proper training of dealers.
Compared to the Honda dealerships I had to deal with, the two Ford dealers I dealt with look like some amateurs that opened a shop at the corner.
Customer service needs three days to call this other guy with CVT problems? I hope they show up at his door with a box of chocolate and two tickets for a free vacation in Hawaii/
UNION CREATES LAZINESS
The subframe needed to be aligned first. The torque steer is almost absent, now.
I called Ford cust. serv. A nice lady told me to call my service manager, and he'll assist me with obtaining a replacement vehicle.
The service manager started laughing (politely) and asked me to call back and find someone who knows what to do at Ford. He knew my car and understood the situation.
I called Ford again and reached a person that knew the process. He took my complaint, called the service manager and then told me that someone from the market department will contact me in two business days to continue the process.
We'll see. I don't want to go through arbitration, rather I would like Ford to replace the vehicle voluntarily.
We get called earlier in the day that the car is finally ready. Our car has been at the dealer since June 1st. They have order the same transmission part five times, four times it came damaged.
We pick-up the car and drive less than 5 miles and the "check transmission" light comes on. We call the dealer and take it back in. It is now their until at least until Monday. I spoke to the Sale Manager briefly and left a message for the GM. We are asking them to do the right thing a buy back the car.
We car the Ford Customer Relationship Center June 24th and they have done nothing but car the dealer to see what is going on.
We are done, we will will never drive the car again.
Good luck to all.
Steve, Host
After they've finished fixing the transmission they did not tighten up the sub frame. So when I climbed a hill the alignment went out and the frame got bent.
The transmission is starting to act weird again. It does not engine break anymore. One time when I was backing up from a parking spot the engine accelerated by itself. I had my foot on the brake and I stopped it. I looked in the dash and I saw the RPM fluctuating between 900 and 1400 (give or take). Once I shifted to D the "dancing" stopped, but there was almost no acceleration.
There is also a sound coming from the right wheel when I am backing and turning. More then one time the dealer could not verify. I think there is a bad joint that gets some grease when the car is lifted up on the jack and then it is quiet for about 2 weeks.
I called Ford to ask for a buyback and they said someone will call. I am waiting.
Has anyone else had problems with the seats? I'd love to hear about it..
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
Review: 2005 Freestyle SE FWD, 15,000 miles. Purchased 12/31/2004. On July 1st, transmission failed internally with enough force to crack the housing draining all transmission fluid/oil. Freestyle is garage kept, no trailer towing, 90 % highway miles, never loaded. Dealer serviced.
Results: Dealer replaced transmission. My wife picked up the Freestyle this afternoon and immediately drove it about 150 miles to a business meeting. She said she thought she smelled something burning and stopped several times but could not find anything. Hopefully just gasket material or protective oil coating on metal burning off. She said the vehicle seemed OK although she is not totally sure. The dealer-provided 2006 Freestyle rental car handled much better in her opinion. We will decide over the next several weeks whether to keep the Freestyle or get rid of it.
The repairing dealer should take it as a trade in at BB value. They have to stand by their repair as restoring the car to its expected functionality.
We kept pushing and currently we are in the process of having Ford buy back our car.
Good Luck
Here are other problems we've had in 6 weeks: As soon as we took ownership, we noticed something was wrong with the brakes (that we didn't notice when we test-drove). The rear rotors were replaced, but they claimed the brake pads were fine. Now I'm wondering if we still have the original faulty brake pads referred to in the TSB and if they are going to ruin the new rotors. Any opinions?
Also, a couple of weeks ago, the Check Engine light came on and stayed on, and and a result a solenoid was replaced in the emissions system.