NHTSA Complaint #10350877 — 2005 FORD FREESTYLE

DURING VEHICLE OPERATION, THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER SUDDENLY AND CATASTROPHICALLY FAILS, APPARENTLY DISABLING SEVERAL CRITICAL SAFETY FEATURES. THE MALFUNCTION AT FIRST OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY, THEN MORE FREQUENTLY, BUT NOW OCCURS CONTINUOUSLY. A LOCAL FORD DEALER HAS REPLACED THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER TWICE WITHOUT RESOLVING THE PROBLEM, INDICATING THAT ORIGINAL FORD EQUIPMENT MAY BE DEFECTIVE. THE SPEEDOMETER AND TACHOMETER NEEDLES SUDDENLY DROP TO ZERO AND FREEZE. THE DIGITAL DISPLAY SHOWS 'ODOMETER DATA ERROR.' ALL WARNING LIGHTS ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER COME ON AT ONCE. WITHOUT THESE INSTRUMENTS, THE DRIVER CAN NO LONGER MONITOR VEHICLE PERFORMANCE, SUCH AS SPEED AND ENGINE TEMPERATURE. THE MALFUNCTION DEFINITELY DISABLES THE AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCKS AND TRACTION CONTROL. IT MAY VERY WELL ALSO DISABLE THE AIR BAG SYSTEM SINCE THE SELF-CHECK DISPLAY ALSO DOES NOT WORK. *TR