2004 Ford Freestar Ltd from North America - Comments

This is a follow up of my original message. The dealer solved the engine stalling and check engine light problem. The gas cap was not on tight enough.

The power sliding door problem was solved by re-programming the computer.

So my impression of Ford is very good! I'm happy with my Freestar now!

To the owner of the freestar. Could you give us reviews at 15k, 30K and every 15 thousand miles. I would like to see how long the reliability last on this vehicle. I am looking to buy one, but I would like to know if it is worth it. Thank You.

The Freestar suffers from many of the design problems that the Windstars had. The design of the Freestar is overly complex. I don't want a computer to control my sliding doors and I hate sliding doors because they are prone to failure. I also wonder why Ford installed a larger, gas-guzzling 4.2 liter engine when the old 3.8 liter engine had plenty of horsepower and better mileage. If you want to buy a new Ford I suggest you look at the FreeStyle crossover vehicle which gets better mileage and has a simpler, cleaner, design that is much less prone to failure.

FYI, I own a 1998 Ford Windstar.

To the last poster. Ford has two engines that are in the freestar. The 4.2 is usually on the higher end model freestar. Usually the SE or Sel models. The rest have the 3.9 litre, which is basically a 3.8 which was bored a little more to make it a 3.9.

There is a possiblity that we are going to be purchasing a 2005 Ford Freestar Sport. This minivan has a 4.2L V6.

After comparing my 2002 Ford Windstar Sport to the "newer" minivan, there isn't much of a difference. The engine size is obvious, but the Freestar has a little more room and various other differences. The all wheel disc brake system (Freestar) is much better then the front disc/rear drum found in the Windstar especially when replacing the pads.

The Freestar we might be purchasing has just over 77, 000 kms. Our Windstar has just over 147, 000 kms (we purchased it at 128, 000+ kms) and we haven't had any problems with it except for regular maintenance.

I will update if we have purchased the Freestar and give updates upon completing the 15, 000 km intervals.

Here is an update from my last post:

After test driving a 2005 Ford Freestar Sport, it has nice ride.

Sadly, the interior is really cheap and corners were cut. The middle row captains chairs are stationary, which means they can't slide forward or backward, they can only fold. The same goes for the 3rd row bench.

My wife and I have 4 children together and we own a 2002 Ford Windstar Sport. This minivan is much more suitable for us then a 2005 Ford Freestar Sport. The geniuses at Ford decided to change the interior to suit who? With stationary seats that only fold, how can a large family use this minivan?

We will keep doing our research.

Did you ever find out what the groaning noise from the front end was? We are having a similar problem. Just got it back from the dealer after supposedly being fixed. Hubs were replaced. It's still making the same noise. Dealer is trying to say the noise is coming from the tires. I don't believe the tires could make this kind of grinding noise.

The grinding noise was solved by the dealer replacing the brake pads with a new type of pads.

I have two freestars both are 04 one is ses and the other is a limited. I love both the only thing I don't understand is why the ses gets about 21mpg and the limited gets 13mpg. otherwise we are a family of 7 and have no complaints with design or any other issues.

Folks.

Could you help on this? I am planning to get a Ford Freestar 2004 LE which has about 75,000 miles on it. The vehicle looks really nice and the seller is quoting me $11,500. Is it worthy?

Oh no. They put the 4.2L v6 in Freestars now?

It's basically the same thing as the 3.8.

They both blow headgaskets. Look at all the unhappy owners of 4.2L v6 Ford F150's on this site.

Ugh. Will ford ever learn from their past mistakes?

I purchased a new '04 Ford Freestar SES October 2004, with the dealer's 50,000 mile service pkg. No major problems until this month, when there was an intermittent high-pitched hum. Then the transmission failed at 63,000 miles.

The dealer's 45,000 mile servicing had been done in about

40 minutes and they had found nothing wrong with any system.

The dealership said-sorry!Mfg. warranty ended at 36,000 miles, but for $3,500 we can put in a Ford rebuilt tranny with a 3 year/75,000 miles Ford warranty. I asked why the mfg. only had a 36,000 miles warranty on my new transmission. I am now asking myself if I can trust Ford the next time I shop for a family car.

I had a rebuilt transmission installed by a great shop specializing only in transmission work (for $2,400), and they said Ford is having problems with these minivan transmissions; does anyone have comments?

The transmission on my 2004 Ford Freestar died at 62,000 miles. I had to put one in at the dealer for $3,300. The "new" transmission has a 75,000 mile warranty whereas the one that came in the van had a 36,000 mile warranty. The mechanic said "sometimes parts fail even when you follow all our maintenance guidelines and I should have bought the extended warranty". How can Ford sell parts that have twice the warranty that the original one had? It tells me that they expected the part to fail. This was the first and last Ford I will ever buy. I have driven other cars/vans for 250,000 miles+ and have never had a transmission or engine fail. This van has had as the Ford mechanic has said before "I have never seen that before" transmission problems and rear brake problems. I would advise people to stay away from Ford vans.

I just purchased a 2004 Freestar Limited. Love it! I had a 1998 windstar purchased it with 75k on it replaced head gasket at 85k. No other problems with it. Except hitting a deer. That was the only reason I got rid of it.

I cannot express what a disappointment we just got with our 2004 Freestar. We also have to replace the transmission on a 3 yr old vehicle with 72,000 miles. We have always been diligent with maintenance and still it will cost us $2800 to replace the transmission on a vehicle that we are still making monthly payments on.

I own a 2004 Ford Freestar Limited V6, 4.2L. At 59,700 my transmission went out and was replaced by the dealer through my extended warranty. 7,000 miles later my second transmission is slipping and the dealer states they can't seem to find the problem. Beautiful van, but a real disappointment with the transmission.

I think I have you all beat! At 29,000 miles, I had to replace my rear brakes, rotors and calipers for $500.00. Now, at 35,500 miles (THANK GOD), my transmission died!!! It is currently in the shop after being towed by roadside assistance, and I am left without a vehicle (because they won't give me a loaner) until my vehicle is fixed. I agree also that my side sliding door is out of alignment and also, I have the grinding noise problem in the front end. I will probably never buy another Ford again.