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I too have a 2004 Freestar I bought it used with only 21,000 on it from Capital Ford in Raleigh NC on Feb 20,06 and just this past Fri night driving on a straight rd with absolutley no warning the transmission just went. It was as if someone threw me in neutral and it wouldn't move. We spent $150 for towing back to Ford and found out that the warranty had expired of course and they gave me two options..either replace the whole transmission for $3400 or just the tourque converter for I believe $1200. I have 7 kids and needed my car back and opted for the $1200. The whole bill came to $1500. The problem I'm having with Ford is that they don't stand behind their products. I only owned the car for 1yr and 9mos. This is a factory defect and it should've been replaced with no charge. I pd $18,000 and even tried trading it in only to find out that the book value now was only $8800. The salesman wouldn't even consider helping me being that I still owed $15.000. Cars today are not cheap and as soon as you drive it off the lot..the value goes way down so they get you in repairs because they know you're stuck. We Americans are so stupid for allowing this to happen to us. Don't waste your time with Customer Relations because they only laugh at you...they hear this all day long from people it means nothing. I will report it to Better Business and Clark Howard is also good..but I also tell everyone I know and see...DON'T BUY A FORD! They do need to be accountable.
I know its been a while since your post. what was the outcome with Ford? We too have just had the same exact problem and, of course, Ford is distancing themselves from the problem. The Customer Relations Center is absolutely dispicable in the way they treat people. The last person I spoke to, Deon, if that is even his real name, was extremely arrogant and basically laughed at me. We had already been turned down for any assistance from Ford when we saw that another family who experienced the same exact problem a week after we did, (11/22/07), received over $3000.00 in assistance with just 1 phone call to the Customer Relations Center. I demanded to know why this customer received assistance and we didn't and they refused to say why or to divuldge the criteria that is used when deciding who gets assistance and who doesn't. We are not going down without a fight, however; and are looking for others who are willing to join a class action. we will not rest until we get our money back and Ford issues a recall on these death traps on wheels. We have already lodged a complaint with NHTSA and the local Attorney General's Office and are filing suit locally. We urge everyone who is experiencing or has experienced the same problem with their Freestar transmission to report it to NHTSA so that they will conduct a serious investigation and force a recall of these vehicles. This vehicle was marketed as a safe family vehicle and is anything but safe. We'll see how that goes. :mad: :mad: :mad: :lemon: :lemon:
My van is still sitting and It won't move and I owe 3 more years on this van
There was no warning, no trouble codes. I have 52000 miles on my van, and its out of warrenty. I cannot afford the $3500 for a trans. Its currently sitting in my driveway, while im making payments on this piece of Ford crap.
I too had the braking troubles others talk about too. I had to replace the rotors twice. the wheel tire pressure system keeps going off. this van is just the biggest piece of junk I ever bought.
I have a engine code too, it says egr system. Im just so mad at this thing. all at 50000 miles , no wonder Ford is losing sales.
I did file a complaint with NHSTA. :lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon:
Fast forward to last night, when I was driving along and I felt a "tug" in the engine. It happened a few times over the same trip while driving at consistent speed. I recall it was the same sensation I felt in the minutes before the van died the last time.
It's at the dealer now getting looked at (we have another trip planned after Christmas and I don't want it to die on me again), but first glance the mechanic didn't think I should be worried about anything.
How come I feel like I'm being screwed?
These problems can't be limited to just the Freestars since the AX4N transmission is used on most Ford V-6 FWD applications from 1996-2006. The scary part is this version of the transmission is the most reliable of that transmission family which originated in the early 80s.
It would be interesting to know if other Ford models (ie Taurus and Sable) that use this transmission are seeing similar problems. Maybe they use a different torque converter than the Freestars and are okay, I don't know. Then again, maybe this is only limited to certain model years.
Monterey 2005 with 49k.
Transmission dropped into neutral.
I am now gathering info and would like to thank you all for posting your similar transmission problems.
I am also getting the run around from Tasca Ford dealership. The dealership people are all acting as if this is the first time a Monterey transmission needed repairs. I even followed the maintenance schedule. Which included transmission fluid change. The fluid used in the replacement automatically gave a 150,000 mile warranty. I am now finding out that if the fluid company feels it is a defect the fluid companies warranty may not be applied. I now begin the struggle to actually get the transmission opened to see what is wrong. Only I can not get the transmission fluid people to open the transmission. I have to pay $650 to the dealership to open the transmission.
My transmission gave no warning signs prior to breaking. No slippage, clunking or rough shifting at all. It simple dropped out of gear into neutral on a main road at 40 mph.
As I read this website I began to actually see the dangers that transmission failure could actually represent in different traffic areas.
Thank you.
I was told that I needed a new transmission and had to pay $3300 for it. I also had to pay an insurance deductible of $1500 for the accident repairs. My Ford dealership claims no responsibility for the transmission failure. I have already written a letter to Ford complaining about this problem and I will file a complaint with NHTSA.
I am a single mother and can not afford the $4800 that this is setting me back. I wish I would never have bought this van. It has been in the shop once or twice a year since I bought it. I had to have the heater replaced (under warranty) about two weeks after I bought it and then I had some kind of brake thing where I had to replace all the brakes and some other parts (not under warranty), and now this.
I just talked to the Virginia Attorney General's Office and they are sending me the form to get this thing going. The guy in the AG's office was very familiar with Ford's horrible customer service record. He had not heard of this particular problem yet but he is getting ready to look into it.
I called back to Tysons Ford and all of the sudden the really nice guy "Adam" has an incredible attitude. I asked him how I knew the problem was the torque converter since I know nothing about cars and transmissions. Basically he told me how great the extended warranty was and that the reason nothing would be paid for was that I screwed up by not getting the transmission flushed at 30,000 miles. He said he has never run across this problem before with any Ford transmission. How does a class action suit get started? I can tell that I am going to need power in numbers to get this situation corrected. Anyone with any knowledge on where to go next please let me know. I do not intend to pay these crooks a penny.
They also have a place to check off on your complaint if you would be interested in a class action lawsuit. Although they are located in Washington DC they seem to be less polically driven than NHTSA.
I am going to talk to a couple of friends tomorrow (attorneys) regarding who to speak to about getting our own class action lawsuit going.
Hell hath no fury like a stay-at-home mom with extra time on her hands whose sole means of transportation is being screwed with.
Thanks to all of you for all your invaluable input. I have learned more about transmissions and Ford in the past 48 hours than I ever thought I would need to know. Now let's all just keep it going!
PS I think the fury of a father of 6 who's wife and 5 of 6, (1, 4, 6, 12, and 15 years old), of my children were on board when ours failed in the middle of an intersection may run at least a close second to yours. I bought this van based on Ford's marketing that it was safe for my family. I will never trust Ford again and had been a Ford loyalist for 23 years! I guess that loyalty doesn't mean much to Ford. I think I see a Sienna in my driveway just as soon as I can unload this Freestar.