NHTSA Complaint #10116352 — 2005 FORD FREESTYLE

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A NEW 2005 FORD FREESTYLE. WE HAVE FOUND THIS TO BE A VERY OOD AUTOMOBILE EXCEPT FOR ONE NOTABLE DEFECT. THIS DEFECT IS DESCRIBED BELOW.*AK THE AUTOMOBILE'S SPECIFICATIONS INDICATE THAT IS HAS A 19 GALLON FUEL TANK. THE FUEL GAUGE AND INSTRUMENTATION PANEL COMPUTER ALL CALCULATE FUEL USAGE BASED UPON A 16 GALLON FUEL TANK. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE FUEL GAUGE INDICATES 1/2 FULL, THE FUEL USED IS APPROXIMATELY 7.5 TO 8 GALLONS. THE FUEL GAUGE WILL BE AT EMPTY (AND LOW FUEL LIGHT COME ON) AT 15.5 TO 16 GALLONS OF FUEL USED. AFTER NUMEROUS PHONE CALLS, A LOCAL FORD SALES MANAGER INDICATES THAT THE FORD FREESTYLE HAS A 3 GALLON RESERVE IN THE TANK. ALL CARS I'VE OWNED HAVE A 0.5 TO 1 GALLON FUEL RESERVE BUT NEVER ANYTHING AS LARGE AS 3 GALLONS. THE OWNERS MANUAL ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE ON PAGE 260 AS FOLLOWS: "THE ADVERTISED CAPACITY IS THE AMOUNT OF THE INDICATED CAPACITY AND THE EMPTY RESERVE COMBINED. INDICATED CAPACITY IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN A FULL TANK AND A TANK WHEN THE FUEL GAUGE INDICATES EMPTY. EMPTY RESERVE IS THE SMALL AMOUNT OF FUEL REMAINING IN THE FUEL TANK AFTER THE FUEL GAUGE INDICATES EMPTY" IS 3 GALLONS A SMALL AMOUNT OF FUEL? THIS AMOUNT OF FUEL PROVIDES ALMOST 60-72 MILES OF ADDITIONAL DRIVING RANGE BASED UPON THE PROJECTED FUEL CONSUMPTION. 3 GALLONS IS ALMOST 16% OF THE TOTAL FUEL CAPACITY!!! THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THIS MUST BE CONSIDERED FALSE ADVERTISING AT A MINIMUM. NUMEROUS WEBSITES (EDMUNDS.COM, ETC.) WILL PUBLISH DRIVING RANGE OF THIS CAR BASED UPON A 19 GALLON FUEL TANK. BASED UPON THE FUEL GAUGE, COMPUTER AND LOW FUEL INDICATORS, THE DRIVING RANGE WOULD BE REDUCED BY ~16%. WE BELIEVE THIS IS A DESIGN DEFECT. DEALERS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEIR IS NO TECHNICAL PROBLEM. WE HOPE THAT YOU CAN MAKE FORD MOTOR COMPANY AWARE OF THIS CONDITION AND INDICATE THAT A THEY SHOULD FIX THE PROBLEM VIA A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN.