Skip to content
Air bagsPart report

2006 Ford Five Hundred Air bags Problems

Complaints
7about this part
Share
2%of 364 total for the year
Median mileage
80,000miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 7 complaints about the air bags of the 2006 Ford Five Hundred, 2% of the 364 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 80,000 miles. 4 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“The airbag warning light comes on and then the entire gauge cluster (I am talking about the speedometer, the temperature gauge, the gas gauge, and the tachometer) shuts off completely and comes back on randomly. Ten days after initial incident the airbag warning light came on and then the gauge cluster shut off completely and stayed off. The speedometer is the most important part. I have seen several articles online about the same topic, and the belief is that it is due to faulty soldering on the back of the unit.”

NHTSA complaint #10482684, filed 2012-10, 118,000 miles

“Crashed into telephone pole trying to miss a cat and broke pole in half on mother's day (5/11). None of the six air bags in my 2006 Ford 500 deployed. Spoke to manufacturer they said since I spoke to my insurance company first they could not do anything to help me. The insurance company has nothing to do with the air bags in my vehicle not working. I feel this is a malfunction and Ford should be responsible for this. I bought this car because of the safety features due to having two small children. …”

NHTSA complaint #10229345, filed 2008-05, 57,500 miles

“Traveling south on I-26 across the tn/nc border through sam's gap on a snowy day LED me to drive very slow and come to a stop at the truck information area at the top of the hill. When I saw a large transfer truck pull out onto the road and proceed down the hill I felt it was safe to follow. This truck was moving a lot faster than I was and I was covering the brake and tapping it occasionally down the steep incline, but there was ice on the road and when I tapped the brakes the car began to spin and hit the concrete median on all 4 corners of the vehicle with pretty strong force. …”

NHTSA complaint #10311337, filed 2010-02, 80,000 miles

“The contact stated while traveling 55 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle drove off the road and into an embankment of a creek flipping the vehicle onto its roof. The front airbags failed to deploy although the side curtain air bags deployed and the seat belt was worn. A fence post was damaged in the accident. The contact was taken to the hospital and treated for bumps and bruises to the body and head. A police report was taken. The vehicle was towed to an impound and the manufacturer was notified.”

NHTSA complaint #10170008, filed 2006-10, 26,000 miles

“The contact owns a 2006 Ford Five Hundred. Ever since the vehicle was purchased brand new in 2006, the contact has been experiencing brake failure. In addition, while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle decelerates unexpectedly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer a total of six times and they replaced the throttle and changed the brakes each time. The vehicle failed completely and was towed to her residence. The failure mileage was 23,000 and current mileage was 45,922. Updated 3/3/09 the air bag illuminated when a passenger sat in the seat. The shifter was hard to move. …”

NHTSA complaint #10256315, filed 2009-01, 23,000 miles

Air bags: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
200763%
200672%
2005153%

Other parts of the 2006 Ford Five Hundred

Vehicle speed control
118 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
104 complaints
Electrical system
51 complaints
Brakes
39 complaints
Fuel system
38 complaints
Engine
36 complaints
Engine cooling
23 complaints
Other or unknown
17 complaints
Body and structure
17 complaints
Exterior lighting
14 complaints
Equipment
11 complaints
Electronic stability control
8 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2006 Ford Five Hundred

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 31, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology