Inspection of rear brake noise showed pads worn and rotors damaged after just 8000 miles on new ford freestyle 2005 ltd awd. Pads and rotors were replaced by dealer under warranty. At 19000 miles rear pads are again completely worn with one pad scraping rotor.
2005 Ford Freestyle brakes complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 105, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Just got a repair bill for my 2005 ford freestyle to replace rear rotors and pads - car has only 22,000 miles and is not being driven in any unusual manner. Previous ford products were ford windstar and f150 both requiring brake service around 90,000 miles. Premature wear of rear freestyle brakes is referenced all over the internet. There appears to be a design flaw with car that does not meet customer expectations. Dealer service manager claimed > that ford designed brakes to minimize front nose dive during braking. > what could be the reason for this? Why did all my other ford products not > need this? Does it have something to do with safety crash ratings? > I feel this is a totally unacceptable design since I will need to change > brake pads on an annual basis. Ford customer care just said this was normal and had no alternative rationale. It would seem that ford should at least provide some reasonable rationale for the premature wear.
In september our 2005 ford freestyle went in for a routine state inspection. It had 19892 miles on it at the time. We were told the rear brake pads were completely worn and the rotors were warped. Both needed to be replaced to pass inspection. Assuming they were under warranty, the garage called the local ford dealership and they were informed the brakes are only warranted to 1 year, 18000 miles. I wanted a second opinion. The second dealership said the warranty on brakes are 1 year, 12000 miles. Since we were not covered by the warranty we had to pay $385 to have the repairs done to pass inspection.
Defective brake design on 2005 ford freestyle. Premature wear. Ford/dealer only agreed to replace rear pads and machine rear rotors without doing anything to correct design flaw, and they required I pay a part of the cost of the repair. Ford/dealer refused to do anything to correct the related problem involving front brakes.
At 15,000 miles scheduled maintenance dealer found out that brakes were worn to the metal and that brakes and rotors needed replacement. Dealer stated that car must have been driven with emergency brake on for this to happen, which was not the case. Dealer could not find faulty part for it to be covered under warranty. Had to replace rear brakes and rotors and costs not cover under warranty. Sent a letter to ford. They called to say nothing could be done. Sent me back to dealership. One week later the brakes were burning. Dealership this time replaced pads with updated pads with no costs.
Premature brake wear and grinding noise from rear wheel area.
I purchased a ford freestyle new, had braking problems from start, 1st time in to dealer said no problem, 2nd time replaced front pads, 3rd time rear pads and cut rotors, I had an issue with cutting rotors on vehicle w/7000 mi. 20,000 miles later, rear brakes are shot, rotors need replacing, ford service manager says "normal wear and tear, this vehicle is designed to wear out brakes quickly. " "also told me he won't listen to me, I don't tell him what to do" when I said if this vehicle is made to go through brakes quickly it is a design flaw, and ford should stand behind their products.
Tl* - the contact stated that on january 9, 2007 she was driving at 30 MPH on a rural road. The road conditions were icy and slushy. The contact was driving down hill, when the contact applied the brakes and the vehicle would not stop. There were no warning lights. The contact veered off the to avoid hitting anyone, there were no injuries. The contact believes the brakes did not engage. The contact continued on her trip and was able to stop the vehicle, but she had to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor. She did hear a grinding noise in the rear of the vehicle. Later in the day the vehicle fish tailed and she does not recall if she applied the brakes but, remembers slowing the vehicle down. The contact took the vehicle to a repair shop and purchased 4 new tires. The contact was told she needed rear brakes and rear rotors, the vehicle had 30,000 miles at the time of the failure. She has not replaced the brakes & rotors. *nm updated 03/07/07.
The right rear brake caliper has locked up and is not working, I have an '05 ford freestlye sel 2wd. It has burnt through 2 brake pads already.
I own a 2005 ford freestyle ... I took the car in for a tune up and was told that my rear brakes (pads and rotors) need to be changed (90% worn). The dealer told me that my front brakes were only 40% worn. How could this be? The dealer told me that it looks like normal wear and tear! Don't we expect the front brakes to wear out faster than the rear? Is there a problem here? Ford customer relations offers only words but no action.
Rear end noise started about 13000 miles ( sounding like a plane engine when you hit 40 MPH). Dealer said tires were worn replaced all four tires plus alignment-dealer paid for two. Noise continued. Dealer then replace ball joints and rear brakes at 14000. Noise is gone.
Rear brakes and rotors needed to be replaced at 31515 miles. There are numerous complaints on the internet regarding this issue.
I took my ford freestyle to be serviced at 20k miles. I was told that my rear brakes were bad and needed to be replaced and that the rotors needed to be serviced due to the bad brakes. I have never heard of rear brakes going bad at 20k miles however the service manager at ford had indicated that this seems to be a common problem. He also indicated that I will most likely need to replace my rear brakes every year. This seens completley ridiculous to me. I replaced the brakes and serviced the rotors but I feel the need for replacement of rear brakes yearly must be some sort of factory defect in the design of the brakes.
I bought a new 2005 ford freestyle in july, 2005. At tire rotation, inspection, the rear brake pads were found to be badly worn and in need of replacement at around 16,000 miles.(december 2006) the dealer service rep. Said that it would not be covered under warranty. I am a retired truck driver, and I am trained to use my brakes probably 1/3 as much as the average driver. I am ready to turn this over to my attorney, or a class -action suit.
I needed to replace the brake pads and have the rotors turned on my 2005 freestyle at 18,000 miles.
Took 2005 ford freestyle in for oil change and courtesy check. Upon inspection, it was noticed that the front tires had significant interior wear, and that the right rear brake was rubbing metal to metal. Vehicle only had 24554 miles on it. Took to local ford dealership, rear brakes and right rotor replaced, and two tires replaced.
Rear brakes replaced at 15,000 miles and then again at 32,000 we had to replace rear brakes and rotors. Factory paid for first replacement at 15,000.
I have a 2005 ford freestyle at 22,299 miles had to have rear brakes place on my car. Now at 36,450 12-26-2006 have the same rear brakes replace and head for a class action law suit against ford & ford dealer ship if they don't do something to correct this problem at there cost. A car does not wear brakes that fast with even a person with normal brake usage. If any person would like to be included in suite email at [email protected]. I have it. I have heard the same explanations dealership put up. I am engineer out of auto industry and know when car is miss designed, hope no one get killed.
2005 freestyle with 28,000 miles was brought in for a recall and oil change. We were informed that the rear brake pads needed to be replaced, though the rotors were okay. The front brakes had greater than 50% of the pad material left. The representative went through a few unsatisfactory explanations (obviously had no clue what he was talking about) including the car "uses its rear brakes to do most of the stopping," some freestyles "just do this," we are not driving it correctly, and finally, the 500 series cars use their rear brake pads much quicker than their fronts. (this is descriptive, not an explanation!) we paid the costs of the rotor resurfacing and the new pads. I was told the pad wear was even and the calipers are working properly. Obviously someone messed up their sums in designing the brake system, since this front wheel drive, front engined, softly sprung car should use its front brakes much more than the rears to generate its stopping power. If the rears are wearing out pads twice as fast as the fronts, they are not "quite right." perhaps bigger rear brakes and a proportioning valve adjustment are what is needed, but ford has missed the boat here and it will cost us, of course.
Rear brakes on right side failed at 7,800 miles. We had a near accident due to lack of adequate brake assistance. Disk and pads were damaged. Dealer stated that brakes warranty was overdue (12 mo.) and we had to paid for repairs on third party shop.
At about 26,000 miles began hearing metal sounds from rear brakes when stopping the car. Brought the car into a dealer and they stated that rotors and pads were shot, and they needed to be replaced. After several internet searches, I believe this is a defect in manufacture design.
Noticed rear brake noise on right rear. At 17,529 miles, ford dealer checked and claimed rear brake pads and rotors need replacing at cost of approx. $400. Dealer claims no warranted items relating to rear brakes are covered. Have been driving new ford vehicles since 1980 and have never experienced this problem at such low mileage before.
I took my 2005 ford freestyle with less than 15000 miles in for an oil change and tire rotation to a local ford dealer and was advised the rear brakes and rotors were completely worn and needed replacement at a cost of over $300.00 and the problem was not in warranty. I decided to have the work done but I complained to the manager and after much discussion he adjusted the bill (the manager said another customer had the exact problem with an 05 freestyle the same week). My question is have there been any other reports of the rear brakes going on 2005 freestyles? There very well could be a defect in the brakes. The old parts are not available although I did ask to see them but during the heat of my protest I forgot about the parts and left when the work was finished.
Premature rear brake wear on 2005 ford freestyle. The brakes wore out by 20000 miles, while the front brake are still in good condition. Problem was found during a routine oil change.
Noise from rear reported to dealer at 19,000 miles. Dealer stated that brakes were wore to the metal and that brakes and rotors needed replaced. Dealer stated that car must have been driven with emergency brake on for this to happen, which it was not. Took to another dealer for second opinion, was told the same thing. Dealer could not find faulty part for it to be considered warranty work. Had to replace rear brakes and rotors.
A routine oil change and tire rotation at 16,410 miles revealed that the rear brakes of the vehicle were severely worn. The repair technician stated the brake pads were dangerously thin. Subsequently, repair of the brakes by the dealer of purchase entailed new pads and resurfacing of the rotors. Premature wear and possible brake failure is of concern. I have asked both the dealer and manufacturer (ford) for assurances that premature wear will not reoccur and none was provided. Furthermore they provided no remedy.
Rear brakes failed at 31,000 miles. Dealership said the brakes and rotors were down to the metal and would have to be replaced. Front brakes were fine. Was told that they checked the calipers to see if there was a problem and would possibly be covered under warranty. They were not. After checking to see if anyone else has had problems, found numerous other owners that have had the same problem.
Purchased brand new 2005 ford freestyle . Within the first few days rear brakes were heard dragging and brake dust was all over rear wheel. Returned to dealer who sprayed the brakes with brake cleaner and said "no problem found." drove car for 20k miles as is, returned it to dealer with brake complaints. Dealer said no problem found. Took car back to dealer at 33k miles, dealer said pads were metal to metal and rotors damaged. Dealer would not honor warranty. Looking around there are at least 20 other people in forum on edmunds.com reporting same issues. My underlying concern is premature brake failure due to faulty design of the electrical brake balancing system in the 2005 ford freestyle.
Dt*: the contact stated a noise was heard while depressing the brake pedal coupled with rough stops. The vehicle was driven to the dealer who determined the rotors and pads needed to be replaced. 08/04/06. Updated.
Rear brake pads failed after 21264 miles front pads were fine ford dealership and customer service stated while they do not know why this happened but would repair the brakes. They stated they had not seen it before and could find nothing wrong. This afternoon a visitor with a freestyle stated that after 22,000 miles they had to have a rear brake job which was scheduled for monday. A quick visual inspection of the automobile showed a similar failure to what we had experienced. Since most braking is supposed to be the front brakes this could be an indication of a serious flaw in the 2005 freestyle brake system.
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