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Comments
Personally, I like the firm (stiff) ride and am use to it with my other cars. It will likely soften as the suspension and bushings wear in.
I believe the Freestar (minivan) will be canceled not the Freestyle. People confusing between Freestar and FreeStyle.
>>Once and for all, Ford has not "cancelled" the Freestyle. To suggest otherwise is irresponsible.<<
Perhaps people continue to believe this to be true because many reputable automobile magazines have made statements to that effect. From what I have read and believe to be true the Freestyle will be discontinued in 2007 under the Ford name and moved to the Mercury division with a new name.
The Freestyle name will transfer to a whole new vehicle possibly built on the Volvo D3 and/or Mazda CD3 platforms.
I'm sure that if Freestyle sales took off and went through the roof they would preserve it. As of yet Freestyle sales have been slow.
I am not an expert though. This is just the information I have picked up from reading different sources.
Check out http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102793">link title
Hi I am a new Freestyle owner. The SUV or car ??? no matters, have 1500 miles right now. I noted when I I turned all the way to the right a strange noise, as if the wheel is touching the plastic liners coming up. I turned to the left and received the same noise but in a minor grade. Turn the transmission gear to reverse and turned the wheel guide to the right and that worse the situation with a little vibration in the wheel guide. Tomorrow I will visit my dealer, but I will like to have some “forum expertise” opinions just in case I needed with my dealer. Could I try to change it for a new vehicle? It’s a no more than 1500 miles /less than a month car.
Printable View (51 KB)
TSB
05-22-2 NOISE FROM FRONT WHILE TURNING STEERING WHEEL
Publication Date: October 20, 2005
FORD: 2005 Five Hundred
MERCURY: 2005 Montego
ISSUE:
Some 2005 Five Hundred/Montego vehicles built 5/17/2004 to 5/17/2005 may exhibit a noise coming from the front of the vehicle while turning the steering wheel at speeds lower than 10 MPH (16 Km/h). The noise may be coming from the upper strut mount. This condition is not related to noise when hitting bumps, noise at full lock turns or noise in turns when the steering wheel is not being turned.
ACTION:
Verify concern. Replace the upper strut mount/bearing and/or spring if required. Refer to the following Service Procedure.
Did you not test drive the car before purchase?
I have heard nothing from you folks about this problem. Are you just living with it? This is very annoying to me. The regional Ford representative responded by saying the his personal car has this same "feature". The dealer has strongly suggested that I just live with it.
Please let me know if I'm alone in the woods!
I haven't had this issue. Not with mp3 files, nor with burned audio-CD's, nor with normal CD's from the store.
I have the 6-disc changer.
Which radio do you have? Single-CD, or 6-disc changer?
If it's sunny out, wear polarized sunglasses (or at least wear sunglasses...I see way too many traffic jams on the highway because people refuse to wear sunglasses)
Remove shiny attributes from dash surface. (i.e. don't use glossy protectant)
Focus on the road ahead instead of the inside surface of the windshield. (that's right, stop staring at the glass and looking for problems, and watch the road)
Seems to work everytime.
:-)
We returned the car to the dealer and because, as they explained, the title had gone to the state they could not trade the car for a nonleaking one. The sales manager then stated that he could not repair it and sell it to someone else in good conscious. They gave me a loaner and told me that the Customer Service Manager would investigate the issues. 5 days later he called and told me that he could not find the source of the leak so they wanted their loaner back and told me to pick mine up. We refused saying that the damage has been done and it is not repairable. I returned his car and pulled our belongings out of the Freestyle. The next day I called the Customer Service Hotline in Dearborn and the CSR was very pleasant. She asked what we wanted to do and I stated that we only wanted a comparably equipped vehicle that did not leak. She said that the request would need to go around the office for signatures and we would hear from the dealer in 2 - 5 days. The next day the dealer called and said that the Area Customer Service Rep helped them and found two areas on the body (in the rear) which were leaking. We could opt for repair, trade the vehicle in which would, as he explained, result in a big loss (no kidding), or have Ford buy the car back. You can guess which one I have opted for...I filed the papers (with pictures) with the BBB this afternoon to bring the issue to arbitration.
This is really a perfect example of poor customer service on the part of the dealer and Ford. I certainly will never buy another car from the dealer (purchased a 'new 97 Cobra and a new '99 F-150 4x4 from this dealer). The jury is still out on Ford but it doesn't look good.
I will inform the group as this unfolds. :lemon:
Ford acknowledged they know about the problem and don't know what to do..Meanwhile I'm stuck with problem
Buy a dark colored dash mat with a flat finish to it.
Just musing. :confuse:
I've certainly never considered it a safety hazard, that's for sure.
It could also be that some of the vehicles have been "armor-all"-d, making the glare more noticeable. I suspect that some dealers do this.
To me, the reflections I get in the side mirrors are more annoying . . but I think that's been "enhanced" by the tinting I had done on the windows.
1. Always trust your gut - if it doesn't feel right, it isn't. I should have cancelled the deal when I first saw the car.
2. When looking for transfer inventory, CHECK the build date before buying. Ours was 1/05. We purchased 7/05. I think 3 month lag is more realstic.
3. REALLY inspect a new vehicle before accepting.
4. NEVER buy a vehicle from Country Ford in Levittown, NY!
Good luck. I hope you win! It will be a victory for all of us who've gotten horrible service.
:mad:
The vehicle recently over heated on the first long drive I took with the vehicle.
Per the dealership the headgasket had a pin hole or ? and coolant is now leaking into the cyl. requiring a rebuild or a new engine. Has anyone had this problem or coolant lights check engine light problems?
Car is now in the shop and ford dealership says no rental car!
Any ideas or suggestions GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks
Bob
It's certainly not Ford's policy. The statement you signed was no doubt something your dealer dreamed up. You should have politely declined to sign it. Nevertheless, an easy mistake to make. We have so much paperwork thrown at us when purchasing a car, most of us will sign anything just to get out of there!
Every now and then a single "beep" comes from the dash. Today it did it twice. Both times when braking and coming to a stop for a traffic signal at the bottom of a slight grade. It's done it several times over the past months and today I looked to see if anything was amiss with the info center. Nothing. Just the single beep.
Another weird thing that has happened on several occasions is that the speedometer needle has dropped below its "zero" position. (In the old days there'd be a pin stop but this meter has none.) It has dropped so low as to almost come in contact with the reset button housing. And it always happens when the motor was just shut off and the key was in the off position. If this gauge works like a voltmeter movement, you'd think you just saw a negative voltage spike. I haven't mentioned this to the service department yet but will at the next oil change. It's done it several times although not recently.
And the most distressing "intermittent" thing happened this morning. Last night I backed the car out of the garage, washed it, and put it back in the garage so this could have been caused by some fouled plugs from those really short run times. But when I started it this morning, it made such a racket from missing and SERIOUS knocking that I thought the engine would come apart. I shut it down, checked the oil, just in case, and then started it. It continued to miss on just a single cylinder, or so it seemed, and then began to run normally. It ran flawlessly all day today. Just a little early in it's young engine life to start that kind of stuff 'cause it sure puts a little nagging doubt in your mind regarding engine reliability.
And, lastly, I apologize for the post with no verbage. Hit the enter key after typing in the title and off the post went. Don't know why.
we had a taurus it happened to a couple of times. didn't seem to have any long term effect. we had the car for 78k.
ours had a ratteling noise from the dash board. there was something loose in the radio area. was fixed and now it is fine.
got the car back from this service yesterday and i noticed that it accelerates much better and smoother now. also, at 70mph it revs only 1700 now. before the service it always rev'ed around 2500 at that speed. i did not ask yet but i guess that the CVT was re-programmed (a multipoint inspection is mentioned on the service delivery sheet). very nice and it was all for free
last week i saw the first other Freestyle on the road here in Houston!
Carsten
BTW...I'm at 19K miles and the only thing I've done is 3 oil changes.
Carsten
However, my check engine light came on also and I assumed bad tank of gas--problem went away when I put through tank of shell no ethanol gas and has never happened again--I wonder if alot of the gas now has too much ethanol or had water--In MN they are putting 15% ethanol in the gas now. Anyway the problem never recurred and it's been a few thousand miles.Give it a try.
Anyone had similar problem?
I just had a somewhat similar occurrence with my 2005 SE today. I had just filled the tank, then drove about 10 miles before climbing a relatively steep hill (probably about as steep a hill as I have taken the car on in the 11,000 miles I've owned it). The hill is about 1/4 mile long, and about half way up, the fuel gauge needle dropped to zero and the little gas-pump light came on. Once I got on level ground and drove about another quarter mile, the needle popped back to full. The check-engine light never came on.
I thought everything was fine and that this might have had something weird to do with the fact that the tank was full to the brim AND the car was going up a very steep hill and something happened to the fuel tank float, but then about 10 minutes later, after having not driven up or down any steep hills, the fuel gauge again dropped to zero AND this time the check engine light came on. About a half-mile later, the fuel gauge popped back up to normal, but the check engine light stayed on. I had no more weird fuel-gauge incidents all the rest of the way home (about 5 more miles).
Once I got home, I checked the owner's manual, and one of the things that can cause the check-engine light to come on is if the car runs out of gas. Now, the car didn't run out of gas, but the fuel gauge dropping to zero might make the computer think it did.
Is this the only "sensor" the computer has to tell it the car ran out? That seems like second-hand information, if you know what I mean. Plus, if this is what caused the check-engine light to go on, why didn't it go on the FIRST time the fuel gauge dropped to zero?
Anyway, the manual says that, if it was just running out of fuel that caused the light to go on, then three "cycles" of running the engine (cold start to full warm up) should clear the code and make the light go off. I didn't want wait that long, so I disconnected the battery for a few minutes hoping that that might clear the code. When I reattached the battery and started the car, the C-E light did not come on, and it did not come on during an errand later in the day of about 10 miles. The fuel gauge also did not act up, and everthing was completely normal on the trip.
So it seems that the problem really was probably just a false ran-out-of-gas code, but what I would really like to know is, why should the fuel gauge have trouble simply because I drove the car up a steep hill. After all, it wasn't THAT steep a hill. I'm hoping that this was the last of this problem, and, no, I haven't yet driven the car up this same hill again. A part of me is a bit afraid to!