2006 Ford 500 problems & reliability
68 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2006 Ford 500. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
2 complaints report injuries (2 injured).
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Speed Control → | 24 | 35% |
| Power Train → | 20 | 29% |
| Engine → | 17 | 25% |
| Electrical System → | 14 | 21% |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 7 | 10% |
| Exterior Lighting | 6 | 9% |
| Unknown OR Other | 6 | 9% |
| Air Bags | 3 | 4% |
| Service Brakes | 3 | 4% |
| Structure | 2 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 100,000 miles (middle 50% between 77,176 and 137,752 miles), based on 64 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“It has check engine light on, momentary engine idle, rpm surge when stopped or during low speed driving, such as turning into a parking or backing out of a parking spot. Pulling in or backing out of the garage. Stoping at a stop light, lunges forward: came close to causing property damage by running into another…”
Vehicle Speed Control · filed Jun 7, 2018
“Hi. The recall ford had on the throttle body issues back in 2013 when I got mine fixed. Now 40 thousands miles later the car almost lunge into traffic at a red light 2 times. Well the car is having the same problem as before I got the throttle body fixed. I called ford in cabot and they wanted over 200.00 hundred…”
Engine · filed May 21, 2018
“While starting my car ( parked ) with the front passenger window down smoke began to appear from behind the passenger rear view window. I saw a flame ( fire ) appear from behind the passenger rear view mirror. When I turned off the vehicle the flame went out. After the fire none of the windows will work and the…”
Electrical System · filed Feb 10, 2018
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
1 manufacturer communication (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2006 Ford 500.
Ford: see document search button for owner letter. Momentary engine idle rpm surge may be intermittent and may occur, due to deposits buildup in throttle body, at low speeds, while parking or entering driveway and check…
CSP-12N03 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 29, 2012
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
No NHTSA recall campaigns name the 2006 Ford 500 in our current data. Recalls may apply only to certain VIN ranges — always confirm with a VIN check.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2006 Ford 500?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 100,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.