2006 Ford Freestar recalls and problems

The 2006 Ford Freestar has 2 recalls and 356 owner complaints on file with NHTSA; the most reported problem area is power train.

2006 Ford Freestar
Photo: 2006 Ford Freestar by U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
How the 2006 compares
Fewest complaintsMost complaints

Low complaint count among 4 Freestar model years — 3rd most.

2recalls
356complaints
3crashes
4fires
1injuries
95,000median miles

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA, not verified and not adjusted for sales. Ranking compares this model's own years only.

Does your car have an open recall?
Recalls apply to specific vehicles. Only a VIN lookup on NHTSA's official site shows whether yours is affected and still unrepaired.
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2 recalls

Seats

Mar 7, 2013 · NHTSA campaign 13V081000 · 196,667 vehicles

Problem: Ford is recalling certain model year 2004-2007 Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles manufactured from March 24, 2003, through November 7, 2006, equipped with a third row seat and originally sold in, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The third row stowable seat can experience corrosion and structural degradation at the seat anchor mechanism mounted to the rear wheel wells. As a result of the corrosion, the third row seat may not fully latch into its seating position.

Risk: In the event that the vehicle is crashed into from the rear, an unlatched seat may increase the risk of personal injury.

Remedy & notes

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will install new third row seat latch striker mounting brackets, free of charge. The recall began on March 28, 2013. Owners may contact Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332.

Ford's recall campaign number is 13S01.Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Structure

Mar 9, 2006 · NHTSA campaign 06V069000 · 12,728 vehicles

Problem: On certain vans equipped with the power liftgate option, the power liftgate motor automatically disengages after the liftgate is powered open.

Original NHTSA wording

ON CERTAIN VANS EQUIPPED WITH THE POWER LIFTGATE OPTION, THE POWER LIFTGATE MOTOR AUTOMATICALLY DISENGAGES AFTER THE LIFTGATE IS POWERED OPEN.

Risk: In the event of a liftgate strut malfunction, the liftgate can fall freely with no prior warning. Anyone standing beneath the liftgate May be injured if the liftgate falls.

Original NHTSA wording

IN THE EVENT OF A LIFTGATE STRUT MALFUNCTION, THE LIFTGATE CAN FALL FREELY WITH NO PRIOR WARNING. ANYONE STANDING BENEATH THE LIFTGATE MAY BE INJURED IF THE LIFTGATE FALLS.

Remedy & notes

Dealers will reprogram the power liftgate module to reduce the likelihood that the liftgate could fall free of charge. The recall began on March 15, 2006. Owners May contact Ford at 1-800-392-3673.

Ford recall no. 06S42.customers May also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov.

Recall text as published by NHTSA and the manufacturer.

What owners complain about

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA; one complaint can name several areas. Not verified by NHTSA.

Complaints by year filed

2005: 1 complaints20052006: 9 complaints2007: 2 complaints20072008: 7 complaints2009: 17 complaints20092010: 18 complaints2011: 27 complaints20112012: 62 complaints622013: 57 complaints20132014: 37 complaints2015: 34 complaints20152016: 27 complaints2017: 18 complaints20172018: 14 complaints2019: 5 complaints20192020: 7 complaints2021: 6 complaints20212022: 2 complaints2023: 2 complaints20232024: 1 complaints2025: 2 complaints20252026: 1 complaints20261

NHTSA investigations

Stabilus Rear Liftgate Struts Failing

EQ12010 · opened Sep 28, 2012 · closed Dec 31, 2012
Summary

Please see the attached closing resume summary.It has been attached to this document as a PDF.

Corrosion of Third-Row Seat Attachment

EA12003 · opened Apr 23, 2012 · closed May 2, 2013 · led to recall 13V081000
Summary

Ford is conducting a safety recall to repair the third-row seat's latch mechanisms in approximately 196,667 model year (MY) 2004 through 2007 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles (see NHTSA recall 13V-081 for more details).The recall covers vehicles originally sold, or currently registered, in the salt belt states or high corrosion areas of the United States: Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.Approximately 100,000 remaining MY 2004-2007 Freestar and Monterey vehicles--those vehicles that were not originally sold, or are not currently registered, in salt belt states--are not included in the recall action. Although these vehicles are the same as the ones described above, they experience significantly lower failure rates because of reduced road salt exposure.ODI is currently aware of only one complaint on vehicle outside of the recall scope.ODI will monitor complaints and take further action if warranted by the circumstances.For owners of vehicles that are outside of the recall scope but exhibit the defect condition, owners (and affected Ford dealers) can contact Ford to request the recall repair.This Engineering Analysis is closed.See attached report and associated recall file for additional information.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http:/…

Engine Stalling

PE10033 · opened Aug 23, 2010 · closed Jul 15, 2011
Summary

The subject vehicles suffered from a design issue whereby water could run down onto the cowling under the hood and located in the area of the windshield wipers and then drip onto a computer module, the Powertrain Control Module (PCM), which could be manifested in a variety of symptoms depending on which part of the circuit board became wet or which of the connector pins shorted out.In addition to causing an engine to stall, which may or may not then restart, the water intrusion could also cause the transmission to shift poorly, the vehicle to have erratic power, a malfunction indicator light to come on, or result in an inability to start the vehicle, an inability to shift the vehicle into either forward or reverse. Also the problem could cause a higher than normal idle RPM in Park, or for the radio to malfunction, or the interior lights to stay on.During this investigation ODI was concerned with the effect of the engine stalling or a drastic and sudden loss of power either of which may create a safety risk.In reviewing the actual number of these types of incidents, collectively referred to here as engine stalls, the number was found to be below what would be considered a defect trend.For example, the number of engine stalls identified in Ford's warranty claims for the model year (MY) 2004 subject vehicles, the MY with the most failures, was 200 out of population of 125,865, for a failure rate of 0.16%.The one crash recorded by a complainant to NHTSA, VOQ 10311522, alleged tha…

2006 vs. other Ford Freestar years

Owner complaints by model year; the darker bar is the 2006. Click a bar to switch year.

Questions

Does the 2006 Ford Freestar have recalls?

Yes — NHTSA lists 2 recall campaigns covering the 2006 Ford Freestar, the latest from Mar 7, 2013 (seats). A recall applies to specific vehicles: enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether yours is affected and still open.

What are the most common problems with the 2006 Ford Freestar?

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA most often mention power train (254), electrical system (40), engine (39). Complaints are consumer reports and are not verified by NHTSA.