Periodic surging and sense of losing power while trying to get from 1000 to 2000 RPM. Has happened multiple times over the past month, at least 8 times, sometimes while idling, sometimes while accelerating with most recent needing to tromp on the gas to get it to get into the next gear . . . it responds by doing nothing at all or jolting hard to get into the next gear. If no response, it then either goes into Fail Safe mode and shuts off or engine roars while no gas is actually getting to the engine to allow the car to speed up.

Was driving in the Costco parking lot, braked while waiting for a car to back up when my Freestyle suddenly lunged forward causing me to slam down hard on the brakes. If it had been for a person walking in front, I would have hit them. Then the "Check Engine" light and the wrench light came on the dashboard panel.

Later, when driving home, I floored the gas but was only going about 30 miles per hour. Mechanic said it might be something to do with the computer? Not sure if that's what he said because in reading through the complaints there is something called a commuter module. Maybe that's what my mechanic said and I misheard him.

Initially, I thought it might be fuel line related until I talked with my mechanic and read some of the problems online.

Turned on the car with my foot on the brake. If the car is in reverse or drive it will lunge forward causing me to slam on the brakes. When I do this, the car will either die completely or it will go drive in snail mode, and the wrench light on the dash will come on. I can have it floored and the car will only go 5 mph. If I do get speed and take my foot off the gas, the car will lug down jerking the car in the process. Oh yeah, don't let me turn the air on or turn the wheel slightly then it really start lunging. I will never ever-ever-ever buy another Ford product. This is the worst vehicle I have ever purchased. This is a very serious issue and they still wont recall the car to fix the issue. I know that Ford is aware of this safety issue after more that a couple of year of complaints. You still need to investigate the problem for how many years now? I will never buy another Ford Product. .

I have a 2005 Ford Freestyle that has now started to lunge forward on its own ,while I have the brake applied. Today it almost caused me to jump into cross traffic and scared me to death. I no longer trust driving this car nor transporting my Grandchildren,or my family anywhere. I am a senior citizen, as is my husband. This problem , we called a Ford Dealer and they said they have never heard of this problem, well now they have and they should notify FORD of this!!!!! I will not let this go, and heaven forbid someone dies because of this!!!!!! TICKED OFF IN MONTANA!!!! And remember Ford, it snows here and gets icy, if this happens in the winter, Lord only knows what will happen!!!!

My Wife bought this Freestyle USED in Tucson at the (Big) Ford Dealer in 2006. She immediately had to get it towed and buy new tires, and the vehicle has lurched somewhat since the day she bought it. Further, the windshield wiper fluid reservoir has leaked since day 1. Too bad I wasn't there when she got it. At any rate, everyone who drives it complains about the LURCHING, i guess I am use to it and blow it off as a torque issue...for what little I know. About a year ago, all the gauges will suddenly blank out so will the dash lights. Then they will all come back on, if not simply pulling over and shutting everything down and then starting again seems to do the trick. it seems we never use it to drive real far so when something happens, we are only minutes away from home/or destination. So, dash gauges zeroing out then on....dashlights out...then on, engine WRENCH light will come on, then it will turn off once we do a restart and it lurches frequently.

I can not believe FORD charges 100.00 bucks for a diagnoses when you bring the vehicle in to them to get worked on! What a RIP OFF! LOL....nothing like HOSING ones own customers. At any rate, i fired GM in 1993 for a paint job they wouldn't fix on a 3 year old Van, we are looking for new vehicles and I'm afraid Ford my be placed into the BIN with GM. There is now way a vehicle should have these kinds of SAFETY related problems. My Wife bought it used for 17k! Then immediately headed up here to NV so working with the Dealer in Tucson was a little difficult to say the least it was the Jim.....forgot the name of the dealer there in Tucson but it is the biggest one in Tucson.

2005 Ford Freestyle SE: Constant problems starting car, wouldn't start when it did start smelly smoke came out of the tail pipe. Took 5 days for the repair shop to find out out the problem was. They replaced a leaky gasket , and an O ring thinking that was the problem. Once that was fixed car wouldn' t run correctly. Kept slipping gears. After a bunch of diagnostic test they said it was the Throttle body. They went on the Ford web site and say that it was a known problem. The part was $600. Plus labor and a rental car for 5 days cost over $1500.

Why ford did not recall this known problem is pretty pathetic.

Car suddenly lurched forward while I was STOPPED, with the brake on, in the school car rider line. About 20 incidents in the past year of the car subtly surging/accelerating while in reverse, usually when backing out of a parking space, only stopping when brakes pushed VERY hard. About 2 incidents of the engine revving (w/o acceleration) while cruising at 45-55 mph; but went away quickly. No stalling or having to go into Fail Safe mode, but after researching this issue on the internet I suspect it will happen soon.

All of these incidents have happened over the past year but I'm pretty sure they started earlier; they have definitely increased this summer (2010). The problem was just so occasional and subtle that I wasn't sure whether it was really happening or I was imagining it (cars don't drive themselves, right?). Plus it's difficult to tell the car is accelerating when you're already braking. However this last incident (sudden lunging FORWARD) was definitely not my imagination.

I will take it to the Ford dealer and suspect it will be diagnosed as needing a new Throttle Body (like everyone else), which is an expensive fix plus a long wait because the part appears to be on national backorder. I will also report it to Ford Customer Care and file an online complaint w/ the NHTSA. Hope this report helps to fuel a recall of what I believe is a big safety issue. I am scared to drive my own car now. What if it lunges into a busy highway when I'm at a stop sign??

Freestyle is jerking and trying to take off when first putting in drive or reverse. Then when trying to take off, it has very little acceleration. Car currently has 79,000 miles, but this same thing occurred when car had less than 36,000 miles. We were on vacation and had problem fixed by a dealer in Gulf Shores, Alabama (under warranty). If this part needs to be replaced every 30-40K miles, it should be recalled! I asked Ford about a recall and, of course, they said we don't see this problem too often. Maybe they should read some complaint forums!

The Throttle Position Sensor has died on our ride. Ford cannot locate the part because the manufacturer of part is bankrupt. This is very frustrating, but understandable. It is now the middle of October and we have not been able to drive this car since June! Ford needs to rename their "customer cares" department to "customer ignore" department. The customer ignore person assigned to our case has not returned one of our 10 phone calls since August 20. We are trying to get Ford to provide us a car to use until the part becomes available and we can get the problem fixed, but they are not the least bit interested in helping us out with a loaner car. We were told there is a waiting list of 1,500 for this part and we are somewhere on the list. If there are that many Freestyle's across the country not roadworthy, should there be some sort of a recall to fix this problem?

If and when this problem gets repaired, the FOR SALE sign goes on the car and we will NEVER purchase a Ford again!

By the way, a nice 2005 Ford Freestyle is for sale in Colorado! Photos available.