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Ford Freestyle under NHTSA investigation for unintended lunging

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into reports that certain Ford Freestyle crossovers are ‘lunging’ without input of the driver – slightly reminiscent of the acceleration problems plaguing Toyota but with far less severe results.

The NHTSA chose to investigate the 2005-2007 Ford Freestyle after receiving 238 complaints that the crossover was lunging forward at very low speeds when in gear without either the brake or accelerator pedal applied. The complainants pointed out that the brakes being applied stopped the car right away, but if you were sitting with the vehicle in Drive or Reverse and did not have your foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle could suddenly lunge until you had time to react and hit the brakes. Also, reports claim that this lunge could be more severe if the vehicle has the air condition running or if the steering wheel is turned to full lock (all the way to one side).

The consumers who filed these complaints about the 2005-2007 Ford Freestyle claimed that their vehicle suddenly rolled forward, as far as ten feet, and in 18 cases, an accident occurred. In one case, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle when it lunged in a driveway but the only injury sustained was a bruised knee. This problem differs from those displayed by Toyota in the fact that the Toyota unintended acceleration issues occurred at higher speeds where these Ford problems hitting the Freestyle are occurring only at low speeds - speeds at which the vehicle is easily controlled and stopped by the brake pedal.

This 2005-2007 Ford Freestyle investigation applies to around 170,000 vehicles and should the NHTSA find some sort of fault with the Freestyle to cause these unintended lunging problems, Ford could be forced to issue a recall to address the issues. The number of additional complaints that come in coupled with the NHTSA findings will help Ford and the Feds decide whether or not a recall is necessary.

TorqueNews.com will bring you more news as it becomes available!

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Ford continues to grow while Lincoln struggles in April 2011

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Comments

Anonymous (not verified)    September 1, 2012 - 3:28PM

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my 2005 freestar is lunging bothin foward and reverse very dangeriously , is ford going to do anything?? also have problems with car going into neutral by itself when in drive? ntsb should get somthing going they know thereis a problem i am going to call 20/20 see if they would investigate this dangerious problem, before someone is injured or killed!!

Rebecca (not verified)    September 3, 2012 - 10:00AM

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Great idea!!!! I have replaced the throttle body, entire air conditioner system, transmission (at under 36,000 miles), and another part which cost over $600.00. I could have bought a new car for what I have paid in repairs!!! Ridiculous!

Gerke (not verified)    September 6, 2012 - 3:19PM

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I have a 2006 & have recently been experiencing the same problems! Just replaces my a/c unit & now since we have moved south & I run my a/c all the time my car has been stalling & lunging forward... I almost rear ended the car in front o me... This is scary & I don't know what to do? Should I take the car in to my mechanic again? Any info would be great!

Rebecca (not verified)    September 9, 2012 - 10:35PM

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The lunging is worse when the a/c is on from my experience and others as well. I would definitely take your car in. I am sure they will replace the throttle body. Seems to be the source of the problem.u

Ray (not verified)    November 4, 2012 - 9:20PM

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I have been experiencing this happening to my car for several months. I have been trying to complete my research from people about the fix on this lunging situation. I have living with the issues til I have additional money to find a fix. Please advise any possible solutions before I hit someone. Thank you.

Anonymous (not verified)    January 16, 2013 - 1:52PM

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Did anyone else get a letter from Ford about fixing the problem, I got a letter & now I can not find it!!! I got mine Dec 14th, go figure I found the envelope but not the letter...

Anonymous (not verified)    January 16, 2013 - 3:51PM

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They recalled my Ford Freestyle for repair of the lunging last month. They are going to fix it....am I the ONLY one?

Anonymous (not verified)    January 16, 2013 - 3:51PM

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They recalled my Ford Freestyle for repair of the lunging last month. They are going to fix it....am I the ONLY one?

Rebecca McLaughlin (not verified)    January 16, 2013 - 5:52PM

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Received the letter from ford stating they will clean the throttle body if you are experiencing a lunging problem or will reimburse you if you have had a repair for this. Mine was cleaned and my car continued to lung so they replaced the throttle body six days later. This was two years ago. I kept my receipts and took them to the service center at Ford where I had the repairs done. It took 3 days and I was reimbursed $836.00 for the repairs!

David (not verified)    January 17, 2013 - 3:41PM

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I got the letter from Ford and already had the repair done to the car. Hopefully this will fix the problem, will find out when it gets warmer out and I am using the AC.

james wiskus (not verified)    May 22, 2014 - 10:33PM

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I hate this Ford freestyle I've got..couldent afford it in the beginning and damn.sure can't afford 6 or 7 grand to fix it..it lunged at first then the tool light came on then the great cvt transmition quit..41000..miles on it..yup forty one thousand miles..

LEILA V GOMES (not verified)    October 23, 2014 - 12:14PM

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I had the same time. I paid $ 600.00 to fix in a mechanic.A/c problem too. I hppe i do not have transmission problem so soon.

Mistie Kidd (not verified)    October 21, 2016 - 8:51AM

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I own a 2006 Ford Freestyle and also have the lunging problem. It is very scary when I'm in line at the school to pick up my child because I'm afraid it will lunge forward and hit a child. It is definitely worse in summer when the a/c is being used. It will also die while driving down the road. Once I pull over and turn the car off and restart it, it runs fine. Now I'm having the issue with it stalling when placed in drive, but runs fine in reverse or idol.

James Collins (not verified)    August 14, 2020 - 4:29PM

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I own a 2007 Ford Freestyle AWD. The lunging is continuing to get worse. Mine does seem to be worse when it is hot and AC is running. Cannot let car idle more than five minutes or so with AC on because the wrench light will come on and engine dies. Can then restart in a few minutes but the lunging continues. Very dangerous at times. Must be quick to hit the brake to prevent injury to a pedestrian or property damage to another vehicle in front .