This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owned a 2004 Ford Focus. The contact heard a car horn sound while being away from the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact noticed flames underneath the vehicle. The fire department was contacted and extinguished the flames. An investigator diagnosed that the failure originated from the cruise control switch. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a salvage yard where it was deemed destroyed. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 09V399000 (vehicle speed control), but the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 155,000.
Upon entering an intersection and having to stop at a stop sign, I pressed the cruise control off button and applied the brake. Instead of slowing down, the vehicle increased speed, and traveled into the intersection. I attempted to turn out of the way of oncoming traffic but struck a passing SUV. End result was my car was totaled and the SUV suffered heavy damage. I contacted Ford in dearborn, mi but they were no help. The consumer stated the cruise control would not deactivate when the brakes were applied or when the off button was pressed. Updated 10/10/07.
The consumer stated that while driving, the cruise control activated by itself and caused the vehicle to accelerate. The acceleration was rapid in nature. The contact was not attempting to use the cruise control at that time, she was approaching a stop sign. The vehicle has not been to dealer or a mechanic for a diagnosis of the problem. The consumer also stated the windshield lining was coming apart, one of the rotors were warped. Updated 11/29/05.
In minneapolis 4/23/04 the car stalled in stop and go freeway traffic and took a few minutes on the freeway to re-start-mileage then-approx 2317 R/O open date R/O close date 9/21/04 10/05/04 the first 4 dates are transmission related. Initially the car would pop out of 2nd gear while slowing or turning a corner 2/03/05 2/10/05 bearings replaced 2/12/05 2/15/05 cruise inoperable 3/15/05 3/23/05 transmission replaced. 3/25/05 3/30/05 this is a throttle body replacement all of these repairs were done under warranty. In a further page I do not know what "oem" means so haven't answered that question.
- Superior, WI, USA
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- Lake Oriion, MI, USA