Ford Five Hundred Problems by Model Year
NHTSA recorded 1,073 consumer complaints across the 3 model years of the Ford Five Hundred (2005–2007) that have at least 5 complaints. 2005 has the most, with 510. Across all years, the part named most often is transmission and drivetrain (299 mentions). Pick a model year below to see its parts, mileage, recalls and service bulletins.
Best and worst Five Hundred years →
All Five Hundred model years
Years with fewer than 5 complaints are not listed. The score compares years of the same model, allowing for the era and for how long each year has collected complaints: 50 is a typical year, lower means fewer complaints. It is not adjusted for sales volume.
| Year | Complaints | Median mi | Recalls | TSBs | Score (50 = typical) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 199 | 65,000 | 1 | 9 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 2006 | 364 | 70,067 | 0 | 25 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
| 2005 | 510 | 72,000 | 2 | 50 | Not compared (before 2008) | Falling |
Parts named most often, all years
Counts add up complaint mentions across the listed years. A complaint can name several parts.
- Transmission and drivetrain299 24%
- Vehicle speed control292 24%
- Electrical system168 14%
- Fuel system117 9.5%
- Engine115 9.4%
- Engine cooling91 7.4%
- Brakes86 7.0%
- Body and structure58 4.7%
Example complaints
One per model year, chosen for length and detail. Personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
2007: “I had this car repaired twice at a professional mechanic shop that cost me thousands of dollars. Every time, the car comes to stop or dies on me. I replaced the fuel filter one time that is underneath the car. Now the car is sitting in my garage because of the fuel pump not functioning and does not make that sound anymore when you turn the key on.”
NHTSA complaint #11338439, filed 2020-07, 220 miles2006: “I own a 06 Ford fivehundred and at only 100,000 miles I began experiencing really hard downshifting and sometimes complete slip from gear slamming back into gear after rolling freely for a while happens when car reaches normal running temp was told whole transmission needs to be replaced seems like almost everyone with this vehicle regardless of the year has this same problem”
NHTSA complaint #11269306, filed 2019-10, 100,000 miles2005: “Takata recall my car has a fuel leak problem and fuel tank is damage to weld defect cide: p04442. Also previous own installed a aftermarket remote car starter. Now my car has trouble starting ever after I replaced the starter. Problem might be the (ecu) engine control unit now working properly.”
NHTSA complaint #11229975, filed 2019-07, 172,940 milesOther Ford models
38,897 complaintsFord Explorer
34,624 complaintsFord Escape
27,530 complaintsFord Fusion
22,441 complaintsFord Focus
22,107 complaintsFord Taurus
18,162 complaintsFord Windstar
14,152 complaintsFord Edge
14,106 complaints
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate. Methodology