The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that the rear door latch was loose. The latch required readjustment in order to connect the latch. The contact also indicated that the plastic piece on the rear seat lever fractured and the bottom latch was used as a temporary option to lift the seat up and down. The front passenger side window also failed to open and close. The motor for the window regulator was replaced but the failure recurred and the window on the passengers side still would not open and close. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

- El Paso , TX, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that the mechanism for the rear door handle was defective. The door handle came off in her hand when she was opening the latch. Ford is not repairing the failure under warranty, although the contact signed up for the most expensive coverage. She feels that this is a safety issue because her three year old child can open the door. The parts have been on back order for two months. The parts for the repair have just arrived at the dealer. The repair will cost between $500 to $1,000. The failure mileage was 52,000.

- Marietta, GA, USA

In Nov, 2007 my 7 year old granddaughter started to exit the back passenger van door. The door opened and she was about half way out the door when it started to close on her. My husband had already got out of the van and was able to stop the door from closing on her. It did not automatically stop and go back on contact. Then in Dec my sister-in-law was also starting to exit the van from the same door and the same thing happened to her. The door opened, hesitated and then started to close on her. On April 6, 2008 my 80+ mother opened the rear passenger van door and started to enter the van. The door started closing on her. Her left foot was already in the van and the door closure caused her to fall backwards onto the pavement. Her left foot was tangled under the passenger seat. Her cousin was already seated on the other side and was able to get the door stopped before it hurt her leg any worse. She had landed on her lower back and was sore, stiff and unable to sit comfortably for about a week. I made an appt with the local Ford dealer to see if they could find a problem. The first time I took it in, they could not duplicate the problem. I told them it was intermittent, most of the time it worked. When I picked the van up I had the service manager walk out with me, and I showed him how we opened the door from the outside and the door opened and immediately started to close. The service group was testing it by using the buttons on the remote. They tested the van again and found codes of B2589, B2592 and B2594 in the computer for the sliding doors. They then found the latch and sensor assembly were sticking and shorted out. They told us they found the codes in both doors, even though we hadn't had any problems with the sliding door on the drivers side. The only way to "fix" the problem was to replace both sides rear sliding door cables and latch assemblies. This is for a 2004 Freestar van with only 10,072 miles! it cost us $736.41 to have this fixed.

- Sheldon, MO, USA

2004 Ford Freestar with no rear door sensors. Consumer believes that the rear sliding door should have sensors on the rear of the door. The consumer's son walked towards the rear of the vehicle. Her son grabbed the back edge of the door, which ultimately closed on his fingers. The consumer's son suffered bruised and swollen fingers.

- Oak Park, MI, USA

Consumer complained about an automatic sliding door problem. Consumer contacted the dealership, who inspected the vehicle, and told consumer that the sensors for the door were operating properly. However, the passenger injured her shoulder and lower arm because the automatic sliding door did not retract when hitting an object.

- Mechanicsville, VA, USA

The 2004 Ford Freestar minivan has two safety issues. Unfortunately, the first affected a family member. I E-mailed Ford quite some time ago and there has been no follow-up response. The passenger door lock automatically locks (retracts) once the vehicle begins motion and sucked in a family members skin on the middle of the lower arm as the right passenger's arm rested on the right door that was made for the purpose of serving as an armrest. Instantly my mother's arm was bruised and she is not a large person...this was not an issue of extra body mass. Simply put, her skin was sucked into the lock pull when it automatically retracted. In addition, if a passenger rests his/her arm on this armrest-designed door with fingers between the rest and the window where there is a well of space, and the driver happens to put down the passenger window, the passenger's fingers can be sucked down with the window.

- Norwalk, CT, USA

The automatic sliding sensor failed. As a result, a six year old child was caught between the doors. The child sustained bruises on both knees.

- Herculaneum, MO, USA