I purchased a 2005 Ford 500 4-door sedan 2-1/2 years ago from a Ford dealership. It was described as a "program" car. I soon noticed that the dashboard display lights would not light up during daylight hours, even though the rheostat was set on maximum brilliance. I proved this by driving into a dark parking garage and saw that the said lights turned on at maximum. I asked the service manager about this and he said Ford had wired the lights through the solar switch via the electronic control unit and could not be changed. This is a dangerous distraction when driving in daylight hours and to see the information O the dashboard the running lights must be turned off. In my opinion this defect needs to be remedied with a recall. Thank you.

- Hewitt, TX, USA

Started driving my 2005 Ford Five hundred sel front wheel drive as I normally do, except the instrument cluster and lights started flickering, my A/C turned off and check engine light came on. After stopping on the side of the road everything returned to normal. About 40 minutes later a similar situation occurred, only this time just the instrument panel failed. My cruise control still worked but my tach, speed, battery and power gauge all dropped to zero, however the lights remained on. I am writing today because I saw online that other owners of the same make and model are having identical problems. This is a major safety issue and could cause an accident, especially if the lights cut off at random. I'm surprised there hasn't been a recall issued or an accident yet as a result of this.

- Melbourne, FL, USA

The consumer's 2005 Ford 500 provided insufficient lighting in the dash. This problem affected the consumers view of the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge and the oil unit(s).

- Canton, OH, USA