Owners have filed 2,936 complaints on the Ford Freestyle, covering 2005–2007. The system named most often is Vehicle Speed Control (936 reports). Worst years by volume: 2005, 2006, 2007; cleanest: 2007, 2006, 2005. 90 reports describe a crash, 12 a fire. On average the car was 5.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford Freestyle
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 2,936 Freestyle complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Vehicle Speed Control 936 Read
My wife & I were visiting a friends house with my wife driving. She put the van into reverse to leave with her foot on the brake. It suddenly took off at a high rate of speed & would not stop even with both. Feet on the brake. We shot out the driveway at high speed & continued down the roadway until my wife lost…
The contact owns a 2007 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle independently surged while in idle. The failure caused the contact to crash into another vehicle. There were no injuries reported. The contact took her vehicle to dealer to be diagnosed. The dealer cleaned the throttle body under NHTSA action…
The contact owns a 2007 ford freestyle. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle surged forward and crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The contact mentioned that the passenger seated in the rear seat sustained injuries to the shoulders, but did not require medical attention. A…
Power Train 861 Read
The contact owns a 2007 ford freestyle. When starting the vehicle and shifting into reverse or drive at 2 mph, the vehicle would lunge forward or backwards as the brake pedal was depressed. In addition, the check engine and the wrench warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The…
After starting the car in my driveway, I heard a loud 'helicopter sound' under the hood (to which I have come to find out was the transmission (cvt)). When I put the car into reverse, it violently raced forward, hitting the brick wall of my house. I have pushed it a few feet back and have not restarted the car for…
The engine surges when idling as well as lurches forward (while in drive thru lane) and it lurches in reverse. It is a major concern when parking and backing out of said location. It has already caused me to hit a concrete pillar in the parking garage!
Engine And Engine Cooling 262 Read
Several times my vehicle surges forward when moving at slow speeds or braking. This has happened while driving forward and reverse. More noticeable when the a/c is on. Even when my foot is on the brake . I can hear the engine revving when this is happening - even though my foot is on the brake.it also loses power on…
While pulling in to park, with foot off the gas pedal and applying brake to stop, my vehicle rpms surged. I had to sharply apply additional brake, however my vehicle struck a bollard. Today's episode is another in a long string of sudden RPM surge events dating back to when the vehicle was newly purchased. I have had…
When I am driving my car with the air conditioner running, the transmission will surge when the car is at a stop, causing the car to lunge forward. Last summer I brought the car to the dealer to have them look into it and they said it is just due to the cvt transmission and the way it is tuned. They told me it was…
Fuel System 195 Read
I have a 2006 ford freestyle that lunges when you put it in gear. It does it all the time. Its worse when the air cond. Is on. I had an accident in a parking lot. I have quit driving the car till I can afford to take in to a dealer. From what I've read this is a common problem with freestyles
My 2006 ford freestyle has had a surging problem at low speeds since we bought it with 15000 miles on it in 2006. Even with your foot on the brake and not on the accelerator the care accelerates on its own in forward and reverse. We took the car to the ford dealer in tucson and they fixed the problem by replacing the…
I was parked with the car in park. I went to put the car in the garage. I had to turn it around first. I put car in drive and drove forward a little. Stopped put in reverse, drove backwards a little then put back in drive and just as I was stopping car lurched forward, hitting my deep freezer. The car has acted like…
Electrical System 131 Read
We went out to the garage to get in the car to leave. I opened the back of the car to put a bag in. My daughter went to the passenger side to get in and the mirror was smoking. We went to get a fire extinguisher but it burned out on its own. There was smoke and flames coming from behind the mirror glass. I unplugged…
The contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. While the vehicle was parked, the contact discovered smoke coming from the passenger side mirror without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who removed the fuse on the passenger side mirror. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the…
At the beginning of february, my kids wanted to watch a dvd in the car while I was cleaning the driveway. I put the keys in the ignition (I did not start the engine) for the dvd to work, put on the dvd and start cleaning the driveway. Few minutes later I have seen a big smoke coming from the outside passenger side…
Service Brakes 124 Read
I have three complaints regarding my vehicle. I purchased a 2006 freestyle in june of 2006. In october 2006 my son and I were involved in an accident. There was extensive front end damage resulting in over $10,000 in repairs. The car jumped over two ravines, both times severely impacting the ground. Almost the entire…
Was driving to work car picked up speed to where the brakes would not stop then the car just went off
While driving in heavy traffic with snow and slushy streets, the traffic ahead of me stopped. I applied the brakes and the ABS activated for about 1 second and then I had no brakes at all. No matter how hard I pushed the brake pedal, there was no ABS activity and no brakes. Fortunately I was only going about 5 mph. I…
Engine 61 Read
My car is cutting off when I drive it. It also races when I shift the gears. And when I turn the AC and shift the gears the car accelerates. My car has not been driven since may 2012. I've had it checked out by a car dealership repair shop and they couldn't find out what the problem is
I drove into a parking space, set for park. The car just shot forward and hit a wall. The engine riffed loud, for a few second. Could not redo the brakes. The wall was onle about 8 to 10 feet from me.the car was not in motion, because I just put it in park. It happen in a parkiong lot at cbs pharmacy. 1588 trancas…
My 2007 ford freestyle has had idling problems since about 80,000 miles. It currently has 94,000 and the dealership would only clean the throttle body despite numerous complaints on this type of vehicle. I have also had replaced several brake pads/ calipers/ tires as they seem to ware very easily. I've replace my…
Structure 61 Read
I was backing out of angle parking space. As I backed I bumped concrete pole. As I put car in drive to go forward the accelerator stuck wide open. I had no control of speed. I sped forward approximately 20 feet and crashed into the back of a parked pick-up. Police were called. I was only bruised and sore. I did see a…
Car stalls daily three times while driving, dealer cleaned the throttle body still stalls, another dealer cleaned the maf and changed the spark plugs and change cvt transmission fluid, still stalling. Need a new throttle body it is a common defect with ford and very dangerous some one will get killed because of it. My…
The contact owns a 2007 ford freestyle. The contact entered the vehicle and noticed it was damp. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic, who discovered that water had leaked inside of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified of the incident. The approximate failure…
Freestyle 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 | 24 | 1 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 37 | 8 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 29 | 3 |
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 | 386 |
| Average complaints per series | 7.6 |
| Worst single series | 32 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.3 years |
A model average of 7.6 hides a worst series at 32. 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 Freestyle?
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 Freestyle 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 Freestyle have?
2,936 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2005–2007. Of those, 90 describe a crash and 12 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.