Ford Freestyle Lots of Problems

rong5

You guys are scaring me to death. I have an opportunity to buy an '06 for a great price. Carfax shows no alarms and the engine seems to be running wonderfully. Super clean inside and it would fit my family (2nd car) very well. Great price w/ mileage in the low 90's.
Would you recommend this or not?
//Ron

happygalaz

I decided to repair my car. I love it and have had no issues until a month ago. I maintain it well, but do a lot of mountain driving. I got a new throttle body with labor at the dealership $806 (intermittent bog, loss of power with no warning) and the instrument cluster $716 (dash instrument panel indicators drop to zero intermittently). I have had four brake jobs and three sets of tires, a new fuel filter and that is it. The AC and transmission are wonderful. I have the two whell drive. It now has 106K and am taking it to the Utah mountains again for elk hunting and trout fishing next week, (a 1500K round trip) with confidence. It is a great car, comfortqable, convenient with all the plug in places, cargo and three rows of set setup, and holds my bicycle, camping gear, have slept in it and traveled all over the US, Mexico and Canada in it. Again, I love it. Even the CD payer still works well. Mine is a 2005. I have never changed the AC or transmission fluids as I was reeatedly advised not to break into those systems unless I experience problems. I have none so will wait for that. It is 114 degrees outside here today in AZ and I can assure you if the AC didn't work well I would not be in that car for five minutes. If I could find one with under 80K on it I would buy it in a heartbeat. Mine was never a lemon ever and believe me I have had two so feel blessed with this one. Good luck.

hotbite

If you want an '06 at a great price, I'll sell you mine!

Seriously, though, DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with mine. I cannot sell it in good conscience knowing what a danger it is. If you love your family, do not put them in this car!

sacs

I have a 2006 Freestyle and my instrument cluster went out in late July and remained in active for about 16 hours. The next morning I went out and it all worked. I took it to the Ford dealer along with the indications I had, i.e. no rpm, no speed, no gauges and the fact that the backup lights remained on no matter what gear it was in. They replaced the instrument cluster. Today that cluster had been in there a little over a month and when I started it up all the same indications are back along with the car running rough. Since the cluster is under warranty that is the good news but I'm afraid of what the real problem is. I've owned the car about a year and have had 3 electrical problems with it.

bobw3

Of course you'll get a mostly negative response from the folks here, but remember there are thousands of Freestyles out there with zero problem, so just because you're reading about a dozen folks here with problems, don't let that be the deciding factor.

What happens is that people with problems will search online and find these forums for answers to their problems and then post. For the thousands of people without any problems, they're not going online to forums like this to post how great their car is.

As an example, the Honda Odyssey Edmunds Transmission Problems forum has almost 2000 posts.

stevedebi

"Seriously, though, DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with mine. I cannot sell it in good conscience knowing what a danger it is. If you love your family, do not put them in this car! "

If you really have that much distrust in the vehicle, trade it in to a dealer and get a different car.

ascdriver

I agree with prev. post & would emphasize the DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR part!!! By continuing to drive it you will become part of the problem. I have a Freestyle 2007 with "ditto" all the same defects. The "lunging" is bad enough but it is the acceleration problems & power loss we all are having when we approach intersections or making any turns that becomes the perfect setup for accidents with injury or death. I'm >upset with Ford right now but I do know I won't be able to blame them if I keep driving my Freestyle & cause an accident. I would like to know statistics or investigations done on accidents involving Freestyles. The defect with our Freestyles would probably look like driver's error and dismissed.

drew62

I have an 06 Freestyle and have not had any problems related to the throttle body... I currently have the traction control light on and getting it looked at this week... but I love this car! many have had some problems which I cross my fingers on. My car has 114,000 on...

creed26566

I traded mine in and had to go back to the ford dealer to cancel the Warranty. My salesman at the Ford dealership said to me "I am so glad you sold that car". What does this tell you! And then he had the nerve to say "Bring your new Honda to us we can do the service on it" I was like u have to be kidding me.

happygalaz

I just put another 3k on mine after the repairs and now have 108K on it and am so gratefuol that I did not trade it in. I went through the mountains in AZ and Utah for trout fishing and elk hunting for two weeks, used the car hard, most of the time up and down from 6 to 9.5K feet, greasy mud, traction control and lots of low gear use. Cold at night and hot in the day. I LOVE this car!

dunhillcondado

Back in 2007, we bought my mother a off rental 2006 Freestyle. Knock wood, we have had no irregular issues with it. She now has just shy of 52k.

catlvr53

My 2007 Freestyle lunged horribly and sometimes stalled. The dealer never found anything. Then it got better Then it got worse. Finally, after taking it again and them finding nothing, about 6 mos later it came to a dead stop and wouldn't start,. Not the starter or anything but another dealer (in MD) found the "ineritia switch" was bad. Now it is fine- no more lunging. so you might check that.. I also was afraid I was going to kill someone, seriously, with the lunging forward.

hotbite

How long has it been fixed? The lunging comes and goes with my car. If you have long-term success with it, then I'll check into it. Also, if you don't mind my asking, how much did it cost to repair?

freedave2

just bought 06 freestyle 46000 milesvery noisy engine and sounds like it is straining to keep up,took it in for check they said its normal. type of transmission,cvt? has anyone driven at 60mph with rear windows open,could lose your hearing

bruneau1

It is normal for a cvt vehicle to produce more roar in accelerating because it holds the rpms much longer. We like ours very much because it is always doing the right thing without shift shock. However, "normal" noise is relative, so I don't know about yours. And keep your rear windows shut or cracked only a little, otherwise the buffeting is intolerable. If you have other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck.

danperryy

I have a 2006 Freestyle. Yes I have had throttle body problems, just replaced mine - 20 minutes and $350 from ebay. We have 130,000 miles on ours and it is one of the VERY best cars I have ever owned! If some of you that feel guilty about selling yours, call me and I will take if off you hands if it has low miles and assuming it is otherwise good shape. I wish they still made them. I look all the time for a replacement with low miles. We regularly get over 27 MPG highway, and never below 20 MPG city and it holds 7 passengers comfortably. It has PLENTY of power, you try to catch us on the way between Austin and Louisiana!!! What a great car!!!

tujazzi

i have a 2006 freestyle and i was experiencing the lunging problem. for me it was the throttle body. i got a friend of mine to get a can of throttle body cleaner and he help me clean it with out evening removing it. so a job that ford was going to charge me almost a thousand buck to replace it. i got done with a $5 can of throttle body cleaner and $20 bucks for me friend assisting me. after that i had no more problems with lunging and it has been fine ever since.

bora180

Excact same thing happening to me right now.wtf do u do. I have to fix the car.I only have 108000km. Ford should be responsible. Sudbury . Ontario.

bora180

Did u call ford canada.

animebrandy

Okay, it all started 2 years ago: my reverse sensors stopped working, then my external temperature sensor was 15 degrees off. Now, it says 127 degrees outside, so my heater wont kick in when its 15 degrees out unless my defroster is on AND my rear defroster is too. Thats the only way to get heat in my car!!! Now I replaced the starter, it needed to be. It starts rough and then stalls out if you dont floor it and feather the gas until the idle stabilizes. I just got the throttle body cleaned and a computer hookup said everything was fine, but it still starts crappy. I was getting ready to leave the garage; started it and it sounded like an ooga horn, TWICE then started right up on the third through 7th tries. I am at wits end with all these mysteries!!! Any in-put??

lef3664

I have a 2005 freestyle with 96,000 miles. Has been great however the noise made when the back windows are open and traveling fast can make you lose your mind.

stevedebi

"I have a 2005 freestyle with 96,000 miles. Has been great however the noise made when the back windows are open and traveling fast can make you lose your mind. "

That is normal for any station wagon or SUV. The noise is caused by the air buffeting back against the back windows.

mikefedor49

have 2005 fs tranny just went shop says he does many and there is an issue he also had one he was doing for a ford dealer for about 4400 but dealer was charging customer 6600 where do i go to talk to a lawyer or if there is a class action suit started i bought this car used from dealer one owner had for three months now i have to spend 4000 i dont have

freestyle6

Mine is also messing up and I believe the tranny is the problem. Your story sounds like mine.. Ill check with the service dept tomorrow to get more information. I am considering arbitration as well.

carlay

They are Volvo throw away tranny's, Ford has know about the problem and they say there is a pump in them that you can rebuild which works most of the time but they knew the tranny's were on the low end when they obtained them that is why each year they made the warranty longer

meyersd

These are NOT Volvo transmissions. They are are a product of a joint venture between ZF transmissions and Ford. The transmissions were built in the US, and the car was assembled in Chicago. The 2005 models had a problem with the input shaft in the transmission, a problem caused by an American supplier. The problems were later fixed by changing the supplier. Most people having transmission problems are usually experiencing this problem. Since This transmissionis no longer produced, parts are scarce. Ford will not fix the transmission because they don't have the parts to repair it. The best they can do is put in a remanufactured one that has been checked out as good. The main reason they stopped making the trans wasn't because of failures, but because it became too expensive to mass produce for only 3 models (Freestyle, 500, Montego). The failure rate of the CVT is no higher than a standard geared transmission.

alamedamom

My Freestyle does exactly the same thing and has been for 2 years now. This is a problem in 2005's with faulty soldering on a wire in the instrument cluster. It is covered under the warranty, but of course if like me, the warranty expired before the problems begin, you will be looking at $750 for a new cluster and labor.

delicole

I have a 2005 Ford Freestyle and had the tranny replaced and cost upwards 3500, 2 years ago and still having problems in that they have to order a whole tranny no parts available. Then the motor mount broke and someone is saying there's a problem again. Like the car jumps when starting to drive. Its just one thing after another.

katycat

Word of advise get rid of it......Bought car with 62k trans went out at 68k under extended warranty, which consisted of a used trans because they were in such demand due to input bearing issue. Car has 132000 (just off extended warranty) now have replaced 3 wheel bearings, tie rod ends, cat converter and the trans is out again will cost up ward of $5000.00 to repair and owe more than car is worth. Ford and the extended warranty carrier wanted nothing to do with this. Car has been sitting for the last year and can't afford the payments may have to let it go back and destroy my credit.......THANKS FORD.......JOB NUMBER......NONE!!!!

freestyler2

This just started happening to my 2007 Ford Freestyle. The car is lunging when I put it into drive and/or reverse, and today I had doubts that I would even be able to drive it down the road. The dealership is being cagey. Calling Ford was no help at all, although the person I talked to was pleasant enough. I take some solace in the fact that NHTSA PE11018 is still open, but I certainly don't have an extra $7,000 to sink into a transmission that may or may not fix the problem.

carlag219

I have been reading about the problems other consumers are having with the transmission problem. My question is twofold: Did the transmission make a noise before it went out? and How long was it before total failure? :confuse: My Freestyle has both the problems reported on TSB 07-1-8 Transmission Shifter Binding and TSB 06-11-4 CVT Noise Diagnosis. I also have the surging in both Drive and Reverse. The Ford place locally said there was nothing they could do as far as helping with repairs. I think it is sad that Ford knows this transmission has problems and will not repair them at no cost. I took the advice of another poster and filed at the NHTSA and on the surging lawsuit.

brupirl

We have a 2007 Ford Freestyle and recently had transmission problems. It seems to accelerate, and/or stay in the wrong gear. It has a feeling of "drag" or power drain especially when the air conditioner is on. We have pre-paid maintenance, but they don't care and keep ignoring our pleas. If there is to be a class action or any recall, please keep us informed.

2007fsowner

My 2007 Freestyle was having the same problem, and was found to have an easy and inexpensive fix. The throttle body had a carbon buildup. The technician just had to clean it - less than $100. Mine was repaired at Davis Ford in Fulton, MS. Hope this helps!

freedave2

angjackson29

My FreeStyle (2007) was doing same thing I have spoke with at least 10 other owners with same problem. It was the throddle body, Ford would not back their part 750 dollar repair on a car with less than 60k. Ford said this was not part of drive tran. We were told not to drive it for safety reasons. Ford claims to be making the best make us cars but won't back them.