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 car will sometimes stay at high rpms even when pressure is released on the accelerator pedal. This happened to me in 2018 when I first got the car and has happened recently in December 2020. In the first episode, I depressed the brake and the car did not slow down until I shifted to neutral. In the second, my wife had to throw it into park. The car was in motion on a city street in both instances going straight
My high beam light indicator is on but the low beams are on. When I push the switch to turn my high beams on they turn on but the light indicator turns off and when switch my high beams on my speedometer starts kinda working, otherwise it doesn't work at all.
The throttle cable housing does not stay in it's seat where it is mounted by the throttle body causing over acceleration when using moderate acceleration, very hard braking is necsesary to stop and putting the transmission in neutral causes major over reving of the engine.
I was entering onto the freeway, and when I accelerated to reach 60mph, the vehicle continued to accelerate without my foot on the pedal, and had to use my brakes continuously to keep from crashing into other cars until I could get it safely pulled over to the emergency lane, and forcing the stop with all I had. The whole car was shaking. Quite scary. Had it towed to the dealership, and the diagnosis was that the cruise cable broke and got caught on the accelerator cable which caused sudden and unintended acceleration. While researching this issue, found others who experienced the same thing. Why there isn't a recall on this, I will never know. If there are numerous complaints of malfunctions resulting in possible crash, don't you think the manufacturer would put the consumer first, investigate it, and make it right? I will never buy another Ford.
- Portland, OR, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving at low speeds, the vehicle accelerated independently without warning. The failure occurred intermittently. In addition, when the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact was able to avoid a crash by shifting the gear into neutral. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 132,000.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle accelerated without warning while depressing the brake pedal. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 226,000.
My daughter had just left a stoplight and at approximately 35 miles an hour let off the throttle but vehicle continue to accelerate. Pushed as hard as possible on the brake to slow vehicle down and get off the road put in park throttle still high, shut the vehicle off. I investigated and found cruise control cable casing had come out of plastic retainer clip and end of cable housing caught on plastic retaining clip causing throttle to remain open approximately 1/2 inch off idle!
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph and making a turn, the vehicle unexpectedly increased acceleration. In order to stop the vehicle, the gear lever was shifted into the neutral position and the brake pedal was engaged forcefully. The failure recurred four times after being repaired under a voluntary recall issued by the manufacturer. The remedy consisted of replacing the accelerator pedal cable clip. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently without warning. The contact then depressed the brake pedal and shifted into neutral in order to decelerate the vehicle. The contact then managed to merge to the emergency lane. The contact noticed that the vehicle would rev without being actually driven and shifted into park. The vehicle was to be towed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and continued to accelerate when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact had to shift the gear into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. The dealer stated that the cruise control cable was wrapped around the accelerator cable and caused the failure. The cruise control and accelerator cables were replaced. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 140,000.
On two separate occasions, the throttle cable (or speed control cable) got stuck and my car accelerated at a high rate of speed. Luckily, both times I was fairly close to home and made it without causing an accident. After the first incident, I found where the cable was getting hung up. I sprayed it with wd-40, but that obviously did not do the trick as it happened again today. I've read where others have had the same issue and, given this extremely dangerous situation, am shocked that the NHTSA hasn't taken action.
While applying the brake to come to a stop at a red light, the vehicle began to surge at full throttle. In the eleven years I have owned this vehicle this is the fourth instance of the vehicle surging. To recover from this condition it was necessary to turn the ignition off, place the vehicle in park, and attempt to restart. It took three attempts at restarting to resolve the problem. The vehicle is in for repair. This is a dangerous condition which must be addressed by NHTSA.
The accelerator pedal stuck in the full open position as I was driving down a side street. I was able to pull to the side of the road but by the time the car was turned off the transmission had totally fried and all the fluids came out of the engine.
While driving under normal conditions at a steady speed, the car began to speed up rapidly, reaching near 55 mph within seconds. The engine stayed around 4,000 RPM and using the brakes only slowed the vehicle, but could not stop it. To avoid a crash, the only option I had was to shift the car into neutral and turn in to a parking lot. Once in neutral, the engine's RPM remained close to 4,000. After turning the ignition off, I inspected under the hood of the car to find that the flimsy plastic piece that holds the cruise control cable in the proper position was broken in several places, leaving the cable free to get caught on what is left of the plastic piece extremely easily. Since that incident, the exact same situation has happened several times. Due to the plastic piece being broken, the cable does not sit inside the plastic piece as intended, which has caused the RPM to stay higher than normal at all times when the car is in gear. While driving, removing my foot from the accelerator pedal to begin decelerating before a stop has no effect, as if the cruise control is engaged at all times. Slowing the vehicle can only be done by using the brakes. This situation came very suddenly with absolutely no prior signs or symptoms of any problem. The rapid, uncontrollable acceleration poses a severe safety threat to driver and anybody around the vehicle. Luckily there was not any traffic when this happened to me, and there was a parking lot nearby to exit the road. If this happened while in moderate to heavy traffic, a crash would be very likely. This issue is unpredictable and has happened to me at highway speeds of 70 mph and at road speeds of 35 mph. I have since decided to park my car and not operate it until I can fix this problem because it is highly unsafe to drive in its current state.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that she was attempting to park when the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a building. The contact stated that the vehicle was not destroyed. The contact sustained a broken finger and a bruised knee. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 90,000.
I pulled out of a gas station. Came up to a stop light. After the light turned green I pushed the accelerator then noticed the car was increasing in speed without my foot on the accelerator. Came up to another stop light and could barely get the vehicle to stop.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while traveling 30 mph, the accelerator pedal seized and the vehicle erroneously accelerated. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by shifting into neutral. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic and was told that a mounting piece on the throttle cable fractured and caused the failure. The cruise control was disconnected to correct the failure. The failure and current mileages were 130,000...updated 03/18/13 updated 03/27/13
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the accelerator pedal became stuck. The contact mentioned that the vehicle continued to accelerate although he had removed his foot off the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 39,000 and the current mileage was 39,052.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cedar Falls, IA, USA