Body Problems of Ford Freestar - part 2

Severe rust issues plague the frame, jack points, and rear frame (spare tire storage area). The spare tire wheel looks as if it has never had paint on it there is so much rust. We just purchased the vehicle a few days ago and are currently working with the Ford dealer to hopefully get the problem corrected. We did not realize the severe rust issues prior to purchase.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Freestar 🔎.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that there was a gaping hole in the rear wheel well, causing the third road striker and latch to fracture. The failure prevented the third row seat from locking into place. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired under NHTSA campaign number: 13v081000 (seats) however, the technician notified the owner that the water damage caused mold and corrosion to form in the quarter panel, seat belts, left third road seat and the carpet. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance since the additional repairs were not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage was 88,000.

As stated with other 2004 Ford Freestars, rear rust on driverside rear, rear seat will not lock because the safety lock is rusted away, not safe to any passenger to sit there.

The contact owns a 2004 Freestar. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, a loud grinding sound was heard coming from the rear tires. The contact also stated that the wheel mount and wheel well were rusted. In addition, the third row latch failed and the seats were unable to stay folded. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics. The technician stated that the wheel well and latches needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any further assistance due to the vehicle not being included in any recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage and current mileage was 140,000.

2004 Ford Freestar ses I changed the rear brakes on 1/20/2013 noticed the left rear wheel was rusting out. Today 2/24/2013 went to install a car sear & noticed the bench seat in the back was rocking slightly. The anchor point on the left rear is rusted out and moving. Upon inspection I noticed that I can see down to the ground where the anchor point has rusted out. I have had to replace numerous parts on this van over the last two years. To date I have replaced: 3 ignition coils, (this is the main problem whenever heavy rain or snow has happened and I start to throw misfire codes), 3 camshaft position sensors, 2 driver side window controls & motors, (the window doesn't want to work half the time so we leave it cracked open with the rain guards), an egr valve, and a clockspring. I have never had so many problems with this vehicle in such a short amount of time.

The left rear 3rd row seat anchor plate, mounted normally to the left rear inner wheelhouse as an integrated part of the wheelhouse, has rusted around the plate edges and the entire plate is separating from the wheelhouse assembly. Currently it is rusted thru on the left , right, and bottom edges of the mounting plate, remaining attached only along its top edge. This is letting road moisture into the interior regions of the van, soiling carpet and jute, causing odor and possible mold development. The 3rd row seat can no longer be safely attached.

Back seat wouldn't latch. Found rotten wheel well due to rust and corrosion and latch fell out along with a piece of the wheel well. Now, there is a hole where the latch was and the rear seat is unsafe due to the fact that there is no latch to hold it in place. I have three kids so now their life is in jeopardy and the van isn't even 10 years old. We've had so many issues with this van. Also, the computer had to be replaced due to water damage. We were told chevy had the same problem of water coming right down onto the computer and they designed a part for it, but not Ford.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated there was a clicking sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. Upon inspection from the driver rear side next to the wheel well was a huge square bolt that was corroded. This bolt was a bracket that snaps and held the rear seat in place and it was broken off. The seat was unable to latch and hold in place. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 100,000. Mw.

I own 2004 Ford Freestar. While attempting to latch the third row rear seat, the latch failed due to severe corrosion on the floor panel ,side panel and attachments which holds the third seat latch bracket the third row seat latch bracket slides out and extrudes to rear driver side wheel which is very dangerous and can burst the rear driver side tire while running car. I am entering this complaint in relation to other complaints that have been filed. There is a defect investigation taking place (ea12003 and pe11039) for this issue already. I attempted to put my 3rd row seat back up and lock it into place. On the drive side I noticed that it would not lock into place. After further review, I know noticed that the whole latch had broken off because of rusted panel. The whole plate rusted thru .

On christmas eve 2012 we drove to our parents house we heard something rubbing against the rear driver side tire. When we investigated what was going on we found the 3rd row seat latch had almost detached but was rubbing against the tire it eventually fell off as we tried to get it to reconnect. We received a recall letter in April but was unaware of the potential danger that driving like this for 3 months had caused . At repair shop vehicle would not pass insp due to rotted wheel well and springs also rotted we called local dealer for appt on recall. To my dismay a couple of things that are very concerning to me occurred I received a call later that day from the dealer stating that they where having problems with Ford company itself the latch had fallen off and they had the parts to replace it but they could not attach it to the rear well because it was rotted and not only that they also told us the springs could fall out and collapse the rear suspension if it was driven again when they told the Ford representative this they said just weld a metal piece over the well wheel and just attach it on their dealer declined because this would still be a dangerous situation to drive because of the rear springs if driven could drop the whole rear suspension while driving Ford rep said not our problem you need to complete the recall and the customer has to pay for the springs to be repaired . This is totally unacceptable to me it obvious that the latch situation and corrosion has caused this whole problem to have them try to have the dealer put in effect a bandage on the situation and let my family risk there life driving this van is corrupt to the core. The dealer was able to get the area Ford rep to come out and look at the vehicle in the next couple of days. But I cannot emphasis more what they tried to do today was without question unethical .

The contact owns a 2006 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the vehicle made a rubbing noise. The contact inspected the vehicle and found that the rear driver side wheel well had become separated and was rubbing against the tire. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileage was 110,000.

See all problems of the 2006 Ford Freestar 🔎.

During sts tire servicing, mechanic showed me a large section of structural steel hanging from the rear driver side wheel well and a michelin tire that contained abrasive ripping caused by the section of steel that had been dangling and rubbing against the tire. The large section of steel contained an anchor at the center which was manufactured to hold the third row row in place. This steel plate with the anchor for holding the third row seat in place is no longer attached to the vehicle due to a manufacturing defect which allowed the welds holding it in place to fail creating dangers unsecured seating, hole exposing passengers to exterior of vehicle and moving parts, opening for rodents or other dangers to enter vehicle, knowledge of prior may cause fear and panic of driver or passengers which may cause accident or mental anguise. I brought the vehicle to smith Ford dealership in washington, n. J. Requesting an inspection and warranty repair of the above stated structural steel. Smith Ford inspected the vehicle and said that the manufacturing defect would not be repaired by Ford and that Ford does not accept financial responsibility even though the problem was the result of a manufacturing defect. Reported this to Ford headquarters on November 30, 2012 and was informed that the dealership was correct in stating that Ford will not repair this serious problem. My wife is increasingly having terrifying visions of mice jumping on her while driving, having snakes crawling into the car, rain snow mud etc entering vehicle, or having the children put their hands or other things into the hole in the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that water penetrated through the windshield and the engine covering. The engine covering clips failed to sustain and the water penetrate the power control module, causing the engine to stall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 40,000.

See all problems of the 2005 Ford Freestar 🔎.

The 3rd row rear seat on my 2004 Freestar does not latch into seated position properly. Upon further inspection, I realized that the driver's side support ring which the 3rd row seat latches into was pushed back into the trim. I looked underneath the driver's side rear wheel well and noticed that a steel plate which the support ring is mounted has completely rusted through the body of the vehicle. Also, when it is not latched it has a tendency to interfere with the rear driver's side tire. While there is a small amount of metal holding the mounting plate in place, it requires two people to latch the seat in order to keep the metal plate from scoring the sidewall of my tire. The passenger's side mounting plate continues to be secure, yet there is a noticeable amount of rust on that side as well. If someone stows the 3rd row seat and tries to flip it back into seating position without knowing that the support ring is loose, they could end up scoring the sidewall on the rear tire and causing a complete failure. Further, the proper function of the seat belt in the third row seat could be compromised during an accident; the seat could pitch forward or flip back because it is not solidly secured to the van's structure.

The left rear seat anchor has detached from the body due to excessive rust in the rear quarter panel by the left rear wheel well. The third seat is no longer usable and there is a hole through the body that lets air and water into the passenger compartment. The right side wheel well area shows rust as well but the seat anchor has not yet detached from the quarter panel. Two Ford dealers have said they are not aware of this problem occurring and do not know if it can be fixed. My concern is safety while driving the vehicle, noise and water entering the passenger compartment, and the loss of use of the third seat. This vehicle is too young and useful to be scrapped.

Our son was in the rear seat and complained that as we turned corners, his seat moved. He said it felts as if it were not latched. Upon investigation, we found the seat did not latch on the drivers side. We tried without success to relatch it and found the latch anchor was loose. Being dark and 30 miles from home, we drove on. We then heard loud noise coming from that wheel well and began to smell "burning rubber". Having no other option, we pulled to the side of the dark highway and saw a piece of metal hanging out of the van, onto the tire. We pulled it the rest of the way out and found that it was the seat latch anchor. The area seems to be completely rusted. . . From the inside. The metal did not look rusted from the outside. We now have a hole in the side of the van (in the wheel well) and a van which is incapable of hauling our family of five. Even using it as a four-passenger van, we have concerns about exhaust entering the interior of the van. (mileage noted is approximate).

Severe rust in the driver side rear wheel well caused the third row seat to detach from the vehicle. The third row seat is now unsafe and cannot be used. The seat can no longer be securely latched in place. This vehicle was garage kept and only has 72,938 miles on it.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while attempting to enter the vehicle through the right side door, the door failed to stop when contact was in the middle of doorway. The vehicle had power sliding doors which are supposed to stop if person was on the way. Also, the contact mentioned that the left side door failed too. The vehicle was taken to dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure and suggested that the automatic doors should be disconnected. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The failure mileage was 108,900 and the current mileage was 109,500.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while parked the contact pulled the rear seats up and noticed the stud which holds the back seat in place was loose. The contact pushed the stud and it fractured. Also, the wheel weld was corroded on the rear driver and passenger side. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to determine how to remedy the failure. The vehicle was later taken to an independent mechanic who welded new metal pieces to the wheel wells on the rear driver and passenger side. There was an investigation under NHTSA action number: ea12003 (seats:mid/rear assembly structure structure:body) that may be related to the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000. Pmb.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph smoke emitted into the vehicle. The contact was able to maneuver to the shoulder when she noticed that flames were coming from under the vehicle right before it was completely engulf in flames. The police and fire department were contacted. The dealer was contacted who stated that the failure might had been cause by the torque converter and offered no assistance. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who filed a report and did not offer any further assistance. The failure and current mileage was 86,000. Pmb.

Left rear seat anchor was loose, so we looked. A large hole had rusted out of the inner fender causing the anchor to completely detach from the body. We took it in to get checked out and they agreed it had completely rusted through and the right side is also rusting out, although not the point of completely rusting through, yet. We are just thankful this was noticed when we were parked and not driving 65 mph causing an accident.

Drivers side rear passenger seat bracket failure. The bracket is mounted through the weel well. The weld around the bracket had severe rusting, no where similar to other parts of the car. The plate holding the bracket rusted through completely dropping the seat. The plate and bracket began rubbing against the tire. If I had not stopped and found the problem and secured the bracket, the tire could have blown causing an accident. Accident was prevented, but serious body failure occurred. This needs to be addressed. As is this seat should no longer be used until it can be fixed, there is no cost effective fix.

The third row seat was loose when locked in the upright position. When I looked underneath from the driver side rear tire I noticed the metal plate was loose. I put down the third row seat and looked through the plastic to see that all around the metal plate rotted away. Since the third row seat was not locked in place when I touched the bracket on the metal plate, the entire plate fell out onto the rear tire. The metal all around the plate inside the rear quarter panel is rotted and there is nothing to weld the plate back to. There is also a large opening into the vehicle because that plate is no longer there. My seven seat van can only hold four people safely.

On 08/13/2012 tried to engage the third row folding seat to the full upright position. The drivers side latch for the third row seat would not engage. After further inspection I found the seat anchor to be loose. After I looked at the outside of the wheel well the plate that the anchor mounts to was completely corroded all the way around and the plate and anchor is detached from the vehicle and falling into the wheel well. There is now a big hole from the outside of the wheel well directly into the interior of the rear of the vehicle. The interior of the vehicle becomes soaked when driven in the rain. Safety issue as our kids ride in the third row seat and there is no way to latch the seat safely now.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that whenever she engaged the brake pedal, it felt hot to the touch. The contact stated that after inspecting the vehicle she noticed that there was a piece of metal rubbing against the tire. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnose that the rear wheel well needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The failure mileage was 84,000. Pmb.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that the rear quarter panel on the driver side had excessive rust build up and as a result, the panel rubs on the tire while driving. The contact decided to remove part of the quarter panel in order to stop the tire from rubbing. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the quarter panel needed to be replaced with new metal. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The failure mileage was 83,000.

We had the 3rd row seat folded down for cargo space. Upon pulling the seat back up, the left side of the seat wouldn't latch and the seat moved when someone was sitting on it. When my husband tried to secure the latch by folding the seat back down and then back up again - the entire left side latch and plate it's attached to fell into the wheel well. He had to reach up over the left rear wheel to remove the part and saw that there is now a hole in the wheel well that goes right into the van - you can literally see in the van! the latch unit: the plate it's bolted to and the metal section of the wheel well that the plate is welded to were completely rusted out. We can no longer use the back seat due to safety reasons. We are having a hard time finding someone to repair it. One person said we'd have to replace the entire wheel well. We read on line that Ford has responded that there are no replacement "parts" for this issue because it wasn't manufactured to be replaced. Now we have a van we can't get fixed, we can't use the 3rd row seats (we haul the neighbor's 2 kids in addition to our 2 kids to and from school), and gets wet on the inside when it's raining because of the open hole in the wheel well.

The rear left metal u-shaped post that is used to secure the front of the rear bench seat and is attached through the body by a metal plate in the rear wheel well fell out of the vehicle as the vehicle was moving at a speed of 10 miles per hour. The rear seat was folded into the floor at the time of the incident. The post and the attached plate fell out into the wheel well and then fell to the roadway. Upon inspection, the edge of the metal plate, and much of the surrounding wheel well had rusted away causing the incident. The incident resulted in a large hole in the wheel well that goes clear though to the interior of the van. We brought the van to a local Ford dealer for repair. They acknowledged seeing this issue recently in the same make, model, and year of van. They said they were unable to make a repair. They suggested taking the issue to a body shop. Two local body shops were unable to make the repair. As it stands, the rear bench seat is unusable as it can't be secured in the upright position, and there is a hole near the exhaust system that makes the van unsafe to drive. It is frustrating that the same issue has been seen by Ford, yet no suitable repair or solution has been provided.

Third row seat no longer latches securely, caused by corrosion from left rear wheel well area ruining body latching holding seat in place.

The anchor plate that houses the latch for the third row seats rusted out and completely detached from the vehicle. The plate is housed in the rear left tire hub. There is subsequently no way to use the third row seats and a large hole in the wall of the vehicle that is open to the outside. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that the rear wheel wells were completely rusted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired and the contact was informed that the dealer would not touch the vehicle to avoid the liability. The rust had damaged the lugs for the seat belt anchors. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 120,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Freestar. The contact stated that the vehicle was used as a taxi and a customer complained that the rear seats were loose. The contact then noticed that the rear seats were out of place and the rear driver’s side wheel well was rusted. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or repair shop for repair. The manufacturer was notified and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure and current mileages were 269,359.

Inability to latch the rear seat, entire driver side anchor plate completely detached from the vehicle,.

The driver side wheel well is rusting out and the front mount of the third row seat is detaching from the body.

I had my vehicle to the Ford dealership on a recall for the third row latch/corrosion issue. While in the process of doing the repair, the service dept. Found massive undercarriage corrosion, in which other parts of my car were disintegrating & falling apart, such as the starter and the engine mounts, as well as parts of my exhaust system. While my car was on the premises there were also two other Freestars with similar amounts of massive corrosion on the body of the vehicle, particularly all of the doors. My vehicle is only 9 years old and has been taken care of with regular maintenance and should not look 20 years old with the corrosion that it has accumulated. I also have a large, visible crack in my wheel well in the rear passenger area caused by corrosion and my vehicle may not pass inspection. I have been in touch with Ford motor CO. And they seemed only casually interested, but did give me a case file # cas-270-2675-s3d5h6. They report that there is currently no recall on any of the peripheral corrosion problems and could not guarantee that there would be a recall on this. The supervisor at the dealership expressed to me that he has seen at least 6-8 other Freestars with the same corrosion in the same places. My car is rotting from the inside. . . Presently when it rains, my front passenger door accumulates water inside, which eventually drains itself out through the corrosion underneath that panel. Please help me to force a recall on this issue so that I can get my car repaired in an appropriate manner and feel safe in driving without worrying that my vehicle will disintegrate underneath me from this massive corrosion problem.