Problems · NHTSA complaints

2006 Ford Five Hundred problems

Owners filed 364 complaints about the 2006 Ford Five Hundred with NHTSA between Jan 2006 and Aug 2022. The most-cited component is vehicle speed control (118).

Complaints
364
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
20
Reported by owners
Fires
6
Reported by owners
Injuries
5
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Vehicle speed control118
  2. Power train104
  3. Electrical system51
  4. Engine36
  5. Service brakes, hydraulic31
  6. Engine and engine cooling23
  7. Fuel system, gasoline19
  8. Structure17
  9. Exterior lighting14
  10. Fuel/propulsion system14
  11. Equipment10
  12. Electronic stability control (esc)8
  13. Steering7
  14. Service brakes7

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Oct 28, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
200619
200713
200812
200921
201044
201183
201272
201324
201424
20157
20166
20174
201810
201912
20206
20214
20223

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Vehicle speed control

118 reports9 crashes
“I WAS ON MY WAY HOME COMING DOWN FARROW RD. AND MY CAR STALLED OUT, SO I SLOWLY PULLED IN THE MEDIAN TURN CAR OFF AND BACK ON. WHEN I GOT READY TO PULL OUT OF THE MEDIAN THE CAR WOULDN'T GO NO FASTER THAN 5 MILES AND HOUR. SO I HAD MY FRIEND HELP ME PULL IT OUT OF THE ROAD AND TAKE ME HOME AND TOW MY CAR TO THE HOUSE. WHEN I GOT IT HOME THERE WASN'T ANY ACCELERATION, RPMS WONT MOVE AT ALL, CAR HAS POWER AND CRANKS BUT WHEN I PUT IT IN DRIVE IT WON'T GO ANYWHERE. IT STALLS AND CUTS OFF, EVEN IN NEUTRAL NO ACCELERATION. EVERYTHING LIGHTS UP AND CUTS ON BUT NO ACCELERATION. FROM MY PHOTOS BELOW YOU WILL SEE I HAVE REPLACED ALTERNATOR, THROTTLEBODY, THE RED AND BLACK WIRING ON THE BACK OF THE INTAKE I'VE CHECKED ALL MY HOSES THERE WAS NO SPLITS NO CUTS NO VACUUM LEAK AND EVERY TIME I GET A READING ON IT IT GIVES ME A DIFFERENT CODE PLEASE READ AND REPLY IF THIS IS A RECALL I NEED MY CAR FIXED IMMEDIATELY”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 18, 2021Power train, Electrical system, Vehicle speed controlODI 11388625

Power train

104 reports4 crashes
“The contact owns a 2006 Ford Five Hundred. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the transmission was slipping. The contact restarted the vehicle and the transmission worked as designed for a while. While traveling up a hill or at a stop light, the vehicle would drift backwards. The contact had to let the vehicle drift to shift into gear. At times the vehicle failed to shift. The engine and wrench warning lights were illuminated. The contact was concerned about driving the vehicle. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 19, 2021Power train, EngineODI 11441008

Electrical system

51 reports5 fires
“The contact owns a 2006 Ford Five Hundred. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the instrument cluster lights turned became inoperable. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact stated that the instrument cluster lights illuminated after 5 minutes. The contact was able to continue driving. However, the failure reoccurred on four different occasions. The vehicle was taken to a local Pep Boys who was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 24, 2022Electrical systemODI 11481067

Engine

36 reports2 crashes1 fire
“GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT AND RIGHT MIRROR WAS FULLY BROKEN. RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY WAS ALSO SMASHED IN. LEFT BRAKE LIGHTS STOPPED WORKING AND ENGINE MAKES WEIRD SOUNDS.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 13, 2020Steering, Structure, EngineCrash reportedODI 11354790

Service brakes, hydraulic

31 reports2 crashes
“THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER CHECKS NORMAL ON MOST START-UPS, BUT UNPREDICTABLY ALL SYSTEMS LIGHT UP SHOWING FAILURE OF ABS, AIR BAGS, TRACTION CONTROL, ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, SEE A MECHANIC, CRUISE CONTROL AND SPEEDOMETER QUITS WORKING. THE WARNING LIGHTS MAY STAY LIT FOR 2 TO 200 MILES. AND NO SPEEDOMETER. AUTO ZONE AND MY MECHANIC ARE BAFFLED AND FRUSTRATED AFTER CHECKING BATTERY CHARGING CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS AND GROUNDS. ITS OBVIOUSLY NOT SAFE DRIVING WITHOUT KNOWING YOUR SPEED OR IF THERE IS A MAJOR HAZARD LOOMING-----LIKE FIRE. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 16, 2011Service brakes, hydraulic, Electrical system, Vehicle speed controlODI 10430388

Engine and engine cooling

23 reports1 crash
“SINCE 2009 MY FORD 500 HAS HAD ISSUES WITH NO A/C AND SURGING. THEY COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON (FORD) AND EVENTUALLY FOUND IT TO SUPPOSEDLY BE THE THROTTLE BODY ASSEMBLY. AFTER THAT WAS "FIXED" THE CAR DID NOT SURGE BUT THE A/C WOULD NOT WORK WHEN THE CAR WAS IDLE IN WARM WEATHER. I'VE TAKEN THE CAR BACK AT LEAST A DOZEN + TIMES WITH THIS ISSUE. NOW THE CAR IS BEGINNING TO SURGE AGAIN TOO... IT HAPPENED TWICE, NOT ALWAYS BUT IT HAPPENS... IT IS QUITE SCARY WHEN THERE IS A CAR IN FRONT OF ME AND I AM AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT OR SIGN AND THE CAR SURGES FORWARD - I HAVE CALLED FORD MOTOR CO NUMEROUS TIMES AND TAKEN IT TO MY FORD DEALER. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 14, 2014Engine and engine cooling, Power trainODI 10610536
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 28, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.