2006 Ford Five Hundred

PULLED IN DROP OFF A DONATION AT A SECOND HAND STORE. I PUT IT IN PARK AND TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE; OPENED THE TRUNK; AND LOOKED UP STARTLED WHEN A GUY SITTING NEARBY SAID THAT MY CAR WAS SMOKING AND ON FIRE (ABOUT 10 SECONDS SINCE I SWITCHED THE CAR OFF AND GOT OUT). HE WAS ON THE RIGHT, SO I MOVED AROUND THE CAR TO THE RIGHT LOOKING TOWARDS THE ENGINE. AN EMPLOYEE OF THE STORE THAT WAS ON THE BACK, LEFT SIDE OF THE CAR POINTED TOWARDS AND SAID, 'LOOK! YOUR SIDE MIRROR IS ON FIRE!' I THEN SAW THE SMOKE BILLOWING TO THE LEFT (A STRONG AFTERNOON BREEZE WAS BLOWING NORTH). I CAME AROUND AND PEERED IN BEHIND THE ACTUAL 'MIRROR' PART; THE FIRE HAD JUST GONE OUT. LOOKING AT IT, I COULD SEE IT WAS THE SECURITY LIGHT ON THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE MIRROR; IT WAS COMPLETELY MELTED AND FUSED TO THE MIRROR HOUSING- A BUBBLY MESS OF PLASTIC. IT SMELLED OF ACRID, MELTED PLASTIC AND BURNED ELECTRONICS. THE UNDERSIDE OF THE MIRROR HAD CAUGHT FIRE AND STARTED BURNING FOR A BIT BEFORE THE FUSE FINALLY BLEW. I AM SO GLAD MY BABY AND KINDERGARTENER WEREN'T IN THE CAR AT THIS TIME! THEY USUALLY ARE. THE LENGTH OF TIME OF TIME IT TOOK FOR THE FUSE TO FINALLY BLOW IS QUITE ALARMING! IT COULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE RAPID SPREAD OF A FIRE THAT WOULD QUICKLY OVERTAKE THE VEHICLE. WHAT IF I WAS AT A GAS STATION WHEN THIS HAPPENED WHEN THEIR HAPPENED TO BE SOME PETROL-VAPOR PRESENT. MY NEXT STOP WAS TO GET TWO PROPANE TANKS FILLED. THEY HAVE TO BLEED OFF A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF PROPANE EACH TIME WHEN FINISHED FILLING A TANK. IT ISN'T FAR FETCHED THAT THIS ELECTRICAL ISSUE WITH FAILED SAFEGUARDS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN FAR MORE INJURY THAN MY SLIGHTLY BURNED FINGERS. THIS NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENS TO SOMEONE. THIS IS A FANTASTIC CAR! WE LOVE IT. THIS IS PROBABLY AN EASY FIX, BUT IF IT ISN'T FIXED, MUCH WORSE COULD HAPPEN!

WHILE DRIVING, THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER BOTTOMS OUT ON THE SPEEDOMETER, TACH, AND ALL OTHER WARNINGS - BACKUP LIGHTS COME ON AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS GO OUT.. SOMETIMES IT WILL COME BACK ON BY PRETTY QUICKLY, OTHER TIMES IT WILL BE THAT WAY FOR A WEEK OR MORE. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND FROM RESEARCH I'VE DONE IS HAPPENING TO MANY PEOPLE. WHY HAS THERE NOT BEEN A RECALL TO FIX THE PROBLEM? THERE IS A TSB 06-17-9 DATED 9/4/2006 BUT NO REMEDY BY FORD. ALSO AFTER HAVING THE TRANSMISSION FLUID CHANGED AT THE RECOMMENDED MILEAGE THE TRANSMISSION THEN STARTED SLIPPING AND HAD TO EVENTUALLY BE REPLACED.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 FORD FIVE HUNDRED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR DRIVER SIDE TAIL LIGHT FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS PLACED IN REVERSE, THE REVERSE LIGHTS FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. IN ADDITION, THE CONTROL PANEL AND DRIVER SIDE BLINKERS FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE ALTERNATOR FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED; HOWEVER, THE FAILURES RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURES. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 150,000.

CLUSTER CONSTANTLY GIVES OUT, THERE IS A RECALL IN PLACE FOR THE 2005 VERSION WHICH HAS THE SAME ISSUE BUT NOT THE 2006. THE CLUSTER HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE ALREADY, EVERYTHING SUDDENLY STOPS WORKING HAVE RECEIVED NUMEROUS TICKETS AT THIS POINT FOR GOING OVER THE SPEED LIMIT BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE ALL CLUSTER GAUGES STOP WORKING THERE IS NO WAY TO NO HOW FAST YOU ARE GOING. *TR

I HAD BEEN HAVING TROUBLE WITH MY VEHICLE REVVING WHEN DRIVING ON THE HIGH WAY. I RECEIVED A NOTICE FROM FORD THAT AS A PART OF A CUSTOMER PROGRAM IF MY CAR WAS HAVING TROUBLE THEY WOULD CLEAN AND REPROGRAM. IN JANUARY OF 2013, MY LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP CLEANED AND REPROGRAMMED THE THROTTLE BODY. OCTOBER OF 2014 I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AND MY CAR DIED. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY GET THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. LET IT SIT, IT STARTED AND I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE HOME APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES WITH THE CAR DYING A COUPLE MORE TIMES ALONG THE WAY. I TOOK THE CAR TO GET LOOKED AT AND WAS ADVISED THAT MY ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY WAS BAD AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I CONTACTED FORD WHO WAS OF NO ASSISTANCE. I CONTACTED MY LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP WHO SAID SORRY, WE CAN FIX IT BUT IT WILL BE AT MY COST. I CHOSE TO TAKE MY CAR TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO REPLACED THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY. I HAVE MADE MORE THAN ONE ATTEMPT FOR FORD TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE CLEANING DIDN'T REPAIR THE PROBLEM WITH NO SUCCESS. *TR

2010 DRIVING ON HIGHWAY IN VIRGINIA, CAR WAS ACCELERATING ON IT'S OWN, IT WAS LIKE THE CAR WAS IN CONTROL AND NOT THE DRIVER. PULLED OVER AND CAR STALLED, ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. TOOK CAR TO FORD DEALER WAS TOLD THROTTLE CONTROL ASSEMBLY. 52,200 MILES HAD IT REPLACED. CONTACTED FORD OCT 2010. NOVEMBER 2012 FORD ISSUE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM, FINALLY REIMBURSED 2013. JULY 2014, 100,457MILES SAME PROBLEM AGAIN HAD TO AGAIN REPLACE THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM. *TR

DURING NORMAL DRIVING VEHICLE DASH LIGHTS WENT COMPLETELY OUT AND THEN BEGAN TO FLICKER WHILE BOTH GAUGES SPEEDO AND TACH WENT LEFT TO RIGHT ON AND OFF REPEATEDLY CAUSING A LOSS OF POWER ON VEHICLE RENDERING VEHICLE UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND ALMOST CAUSING COLLISION.. BROUGHT TO FORD DEALER REPLACED ALTERNATOR AND PROBLEM STILL EXISTS AFTER 500 DOLLAR EXPENSE. *TR