2004 Ford Freestar problems
NHTSA has received 1,600 complaints about the 2004 Ford Freestar, and 35% of them involve transmission. Next are drivetrain & axles (20%) and electrical system (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,600 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Transmission 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 25 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 29 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 87,000 miles 1,413 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 63 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 65 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 157 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 281 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 314 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 199 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 130 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 97 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 58 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 22 |
| 200k+ miles | 27 |
What the data shows
Of the 1,413 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 87,000 miles. For transmission specifically, the median reported mileage is about 79,000 miles (495 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 25 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 29 injuries reported; 1 death reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 85% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 4 model years of the Ford Freestar with enough data (540 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
A car jack, part number 3f2z17080ab, that comes standard with 2004 ford freestar minivans, bent while supporting the van causing the vehicle to fall, crush and kill the owner that was under the vehicle doing repairs in the right front wheel well. Updated 05/26/11 updated 09/08/11 updated 1/5/12...updated 10/03/12 updated 10/4/2012
No prior transmission trouble; no warning of problem on the date of incident. Driving at highway speed on the approach to a narrow four-lane highway bridge. The vehicle's engine RPM suddenly raced while the forward momentum lagged; the engine continued to run fine, but the transmission no longer provided any forward power. The vehicle slowed rapidly due to the upward grade of the bridge, and there was no shoulder to pull off onto, with traffic bearing down at 60+ MPH.
My family including 3 small children were in the van travelling home and my husband was in a minor (30 MPH) head on collision with only damage to the left front end. A few minutes following the collision the engine of the vehicle caught on fire, within ten minutes the entire front half of the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. Everybody we have talked to has said there is no reason the vehicle should have caught on fire due to the collision.
12/03/09 transmission went out on 101 freeway 5:30 pm rush hour traffic in l.a. City was towed to aamco repair shop repair coast $1,700 to $2,000 less then 85k miles on ford van 2004 freestar.
This has been on an on going problem for several years now (this is the 4th time ford serviced the vehicle). After a rain storm my freestar does not start or will start & stall. Today, after raining all night, I was driving my 3 kids to school apx 0800hrs, as I was turning onto rochelle ave from chestnut st in rochelle park, nj the vehicle stalled in the middle of the intersection with loss of all power including the brakes which caused me to roll into on coming traffic.