2006 ford freestar safety?????

[terrys]

I purchased my 2006 Ford Freestar back in May 2006, I had the vehicle for 3 days and The vehicles advance traction light came on and the vehicles brakes activated on there own so I took the van back and the dealership said there was nothing wrong so I took the van back and a couple days later it happened again so I took it back again to the dealership this time they kept the vehicle and did some tests and found nothing again so I took the van back for a third time well it happened again this time I was driving to work on a very busy road in London Ont. and I almost got rear ended 5 times because it would work then not work so i took it back again and this time they found some codes it all has to do with some censor in the steering column getting to much light so they painted it black and said it was fine so I went with my kids and my sister to pick up the van again after 2 or 3 weeks and on my way home on the highway it happened again and this time a large truck was behind us and had to Swerve around us so he didn't slam into the back of us and now my whole family is afraid to drive in the van. so I took the van back again and told them i am not interested in keeping this vehicle it is unsafe so the dealership took the van and said they would see what they could do so they got in contact with a person from ford named john Cranston and we meet with him and he told us there is a problem and ford is looking into making a new part to fix the problem so we had 2 choices trade for a new van of the same make and model year and take our chances that this would happen again or they will give us a loaner vehicle till they build the new part and give us 4 months worth of payments back considering we have been paying for the van and we have not been driving it and also a 1 year maintenance package and if it happened again after the fix he would cancel our contract and we would not have to buy the van so we accepted the last one and asked for it in righting and he said ok a week later we still never received anything in righting and he will not give us anything in righting. so a couple months pass by and the loaner van they put us in did the exact same thing so we told the rental place and they gave us a new van and the next day we get a call saying that our van is fixed this is now October thanksgiving weekend 5 months later. so we take the van back and 2 weeks later it happens again so we have had enough we contacted John Cranston of ford and told him we don't want this van anymore he told us to give him a couple of days and let him take the van to his engineers in Oakville and let them look at it so we said ok but we are not taking the van back well 2 weeks pass he gets someone by the name of Anna to call us and tell us the van is fine and its 110% safe and if we didn't take the van back and give him the rental vehicle he would call the police and report the rental stolen and he was done dealing with us there is nothing wrong with the van so we took the van back and on my way to work after they dropped the van off i had no brakes. so i took it back to a dealership and they looked at it and the service manager at the dealership gave us his personal van which is the same as ours but a 2007 he warned us that it has the same problem as ours does with the advance traction control system. so a couple days later we get the van back and it seemed to be working fine well a week later i was leaving the store pulling on to the road and the advance traction control light starts flashing and my van loses all power and I almost get T-boned by a bus. but ford is still saying there is nothing wrong with this vehicle. We have been in contact with a lawyer but not sure how far we can go considering it could cost us thousands of dollars and could go on for years in court. all we want is for Ford to take back the vehicle as we don't feel we should have to purchase a vehicle that is unsafe. If you have any other questions or comments or suggestions on what we can do post message back or email me please and thank you

[George]

Unfortunaly you are faced with a company that does not stand behind their products. Yiu are being bullied. So, you need to push back. Here are a few ideas:
1. Call the local newspaper in town & tell them your story. If successful, let your delaership & Ford know what you are doing.
2. Call the main news papers in your area ( Province?) and tell them what is going on. Again, if successful, let your delaership & Ford know what you are doing.
3. Document all your dealings as much as possible: dealer visits, discussions with the fellow from Ford, etc. This you can use with the folks you are conracting to get help. Know that, if you take a notebook and write down from memoriy times, dates, locations, people you spoke to and contents of discussions, that often, this is accepted as a document of what occurred.
4. See a laywer so you now your legal rights and boundaries
5. Now get tough:
-Park your van at the dealership with a giant sign on the van that says: I bought a lemon! And they will not fix it!
-in USA most localities have news people that have "shame on you" type of shows/sements in the news: find them and ask for their help
-go to other dealers and park your van with the big "LEMON" sign on it

I think you get the idea. It is time to get nasty and push back. Let them know that you will not take it sitting down. Fight back! Often, the big bullies (like Ford) will not like the negative publicity and give you what you want to shut you up.

Lastly, next time, research a vehicle befoe leasing or buying. Ford, unfortunately, is infamous for the poor quality, poor reliability, not supporting their products and so on. Good luck.

[freestar lemon]

I am having the exact same safety issues I have sustained back injuries as a result of this problem and i will fight ford very hard please note my van is a 2007. I have contacted a lawyer who said if we can get a few people together we can go after FORD with a class action. I already know of 1 other person please respond if you are still interested in fighting

[sprngz]

my dealer's service manager told me point blank there are NO issues with anyone else as far as Ford is concerned with problems I have been having; my '06 Freestar is in the dealer again for the 5th time - the trac control engages on its own during good conditions WHILE DRIVING, scares me half to death!! I call my dashboard the "light d'jour" panel because you just never know which light will be on or blinking on any given day (tire pressure or trac lights or anti lock brake, or all of them!!)
Now I see numerous complaints on same thing at this website and others, should I just start my action with Ford now or wait or ??
What is everyone else doing?

[phantom_smack]

How many miles on your Freestar?What condition are the tires?Do you have any of the diagnostic information,codes etc..

[sprngz]

My 2006 freestar has just about 18,000 miles, tires are great......I guess I'm the typical soccer mom type driver which now I'm a frightened one at that. What is your thoughts?

[freestar lemon]

If anyone needs to contact me about this traction control problem that FORD is DENYING you can email me at freestarlemon@yahoo.ca Please note that after they fixed my car for sure this time and i got it back by force on May 9 on May 30 it did it again, i left the car where i was emptied and called them to deal with it.

[GraybeardAv]

I have an '02 Cargo, and interested in getting a late Windstar or Freestar with the extra cost upgrades. Are these brake problems only with Advance Trac? I assume that's an optional extra, and the system that uses differential braking for traction control, as an adjunct to ABS.

Are these problems only with the '06-7 models? Although right now I'm in Illinois, I live in SoCalif, so don't need traction control, and would avoid it if it's a source of trouble.

Thanks,

GB

[GraybeardAv]

I just checked my '02 Winstar Wiring Diagram Manual, and there is only ABS, no electronic traction control. If I had one of the affected Freestars, I would pull the fuse. The list of fuses should be in the owner's manual. If you don't have an owner's manual, look on ebay.

GB