Owners have filed 899 complaints on the Ford Five Hundred, covering 2005–2007. The system named most often is Power Train (227 reports). Worst years by volume: 2005, 2006, 2007; cleanest: 2007, 2006, 2005. 46 reports describe a crash, 15 a fire. On average the car was 5.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Five Hundred
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 899 Five Hundred complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 227 Read
The contact owns a 2007 ford five hundred. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated abnormally. The contact stated that the vehicle would also jerk abnormally when in drive. The dealer was notified of the failure however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The…
I have a 06' ford five hundred that I purchased certified used in 07'. Within a few months I started experiencing surging problems especially when the a/c was running. The dealer replaced the instrument cluster in 08' but did not fix the problem. On each return to the dealership they could not fix the problem. On my…
I'm not sure if this is a power train or other problem, car lurches dangerously at low speeds, and when changing gear into and out of reverse. I hit a post parking in august of 2010 due to this, and it's been getting gradually worse. Took it to the dealer who replaced a broken upper motor mount that was connected to…
Vehicle Speed Control 148 Read
The contact owns a 2007 ford five hundred. The contact stated that while in reverse the vehicle lunged backward and crashed into a mailbox. The failure recurred constantly when the vehicle was placed in drive or reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnose that there was a failure with the tps sensor…
While backing up car surged and caused rear bumper damage. Throttle body cleaned twice since purchase and surge issue reappears. Surge occurs at low RPM's
The contact owns a 2007 ford five hundred. The contact stated that while shifting from neutral to drive, the vehicle accelerated independently and crashed into a pole. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis but the contact was not given a diagnosis as to why the failure occurred. The manufacturer was…
Electrical System 120 Read
The contact owns a 2007 ford five hundred. The contact stated that the side mirror on the front passenger side door caught fire. The dealer stated that there was a short in the wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 82,172
I had this car repaired twice at a professional mechanic shop that cost me thousands of dollars. Every time, the car comes to stop or dies on me. I replaced the fuel filter one time that is underneath the car. Now the car is sitting in my garage because of the fuel pump not functioning and does not make that sound…
The contact stated while driving 60 mph there was a smelled of smoke. The smell may have been coming from the air conditioner. The vehicle was parked for 8 to 9 hours. When the contact return to the vehicle, it was filled with smoke. The fire department extinguished the fire and determined the fire was of an…
Engine And Engine Cooling 72 Read
I had just driven to my brother's house in wv. My wife and I got out of the car and went inside. About 15 minutes later my brother saw smoke in the window and saw that my car was on fire. We all went outside and while they called the fire department I tried to put the fire out with a hose. I could only knock it down…
I purchased a ford 500 07 in march of 2010. Prior to the 60,000 mile warranty ending, I took the car back twice for a surging problem going from drive/reverse. The first time the shop could not find a problem. The second time the service mgr. And daughter did a test drive. Right off the bat the car surged. He called…
I own a 2006 ford five hundred. This past week I had an issue with my car lunging forward while stopped at traffic lights and also while backing up. My husband was parking the vehicle at a restaurant and while the brake was engaged the car lunged forward and hit the curb. Luckily the vehicle came to a stop once it hit…
Service Brakes 59 Read
Traveling south on I-26 across the tn/nc border through sam's gap on a snowy day LED me to drive very slow and come to a stop at the truck information area at the top of the hill. When I saw a large transfer truck pull out onto the road and proceed down the hill I felt it was safe to follow. This truck was moving a…
The contact owns a 2006 ford five hundred. The contact was driving in reverse at an unknown speed. As the contact applied the brakes, the vehicle would not respond and hit a shopping cart, which in turn the cart hit another vehicle. A police report was filed but no injuries were reported. The failure was not…
2007 ford five hundred with 35750 miles dealer states the car needs rear brakes and rear rotors. The rear brakes pads are shot and the rotors are grooved. Dealer states this is not covered under warranty under the ford campaign of 07n10. Dealer states this campaign issue existed only with ford five hundred…
Fuel System 55 Read
Purchased a new ford five hundred in 2007. Have kept up with all regular maintenance. After putting about 20,000 miles on the vehicle, I started having a problem with sudden acceleration. I would come to a stop at an intersection, mailbox, or drive-thru and let my foot off the brakes and the car would "jump" --…
Was stopped at a drive-thru window and when I went to pull up to receive my food, the car lurched ahead of the window. I put the car in reverse to pick up my food and it lurched so fast backward that I had no control of it, even with my foot on the brake. This caused a crash into the front of another car. I have never…
The contact owns a 2007 ford five hundred. The contact smelled gas while driving 50 mph. Once the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed gas leaking from the bottom of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a ford dealer and the failure was diagnosed as a puncture in the fuel line. The dealer was replacing the fuel…
Structure 38 Read
For several months car has been lunging forward without my foot on the gas. A couple weeks ago while pulling into my driving way it lunged and the car ran into my concrete steps causing 3,500 worth of damage. This is very dangerous and could have been one of my daughters. I really hope you take this seriously because…
Unintended acceleration from stop when brake released. From sept 2006 until present. Approx $3000 each time. Hit garage wall. (approx 5 collisions with wall) still does it. Finally found out when & why
Six months after we purchased our new ford 500 from a local dealer we had mice in the car. They ate a hole in the rear seat and got into our winter survival gear including a down sleeping bag. The dealer was very cooperative and tracked how the mice got in. It was through the air release vents in the trunk. The mice…
Engine 20 Read
The contact owns a 2006 ford five hundred. While driving approximately 40 mph, the contact detected a burning odor inside the vehicle. The vehicle was merged to the side of the road. The contact opened the hood and noticed that the top of the manifold ignited into flames and the motor mount was dry rotted. The contact…
When I test drove this vehicle the RPM fluctuated and jerking as if it was a manual opposed to automatic as increasing speeds. There was a recall letter mailed to me a few years later and ford dealership claimed the issue was resolved. Within a few days it began again. I have owned this vehicle 10 years with the same…
The contact owns a 2007 ford five hundred. The contact stated that the dealer advised that oil and freon was leaking from the vehicle and the compressor would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileages were 140,000
Five Hundred years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Air Bags | 12 | 3 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 18 | 6 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 16 | 6 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 283 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.2 |
| Worst single series | 16 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.4 years |
A model average of 3.2 hides a worst series at 16. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Five Hundred?
By complaint volume, 2005, 2006, 2007 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Five Hundred years are the cleanest?
2007, 2006, 2005 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Ford Five Hundred have?
899 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2005–2007. Of those, 46 describe a crash and 15 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.