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 owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving with the cruise control activated at 50 mph, the cruise control disengaged independently yet the vehicle continued to increase in speed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 100,000.
Vehicle accelerates on its own, causing it to cruise around 50-60mph without any pressure on the throttle. When this happens, dropping the vehicle into neutral causes the engine to rev high. When shut off and started again, problem still persists. Has noticeably occurred on three different instances. Might be similar to a current NHTSA investigation regarding "sticky accelerators" on tauruses. The cruise control on the vehicle stopped working on the car approximately a year ago, and the problem has occurred since then.
While driving down the road upon slowing down before making a turn accelerator would stick as if it was in cruise control mode. Upon pumping the gas pedal the pedal would become unstuck. Cruise control mode now no longer works in vehicle. The has happened on two different occasions once while making a turn and once while pulling into the parking lot.
Speed control failed and after failing noticed that accelerator sticks and holds speed rather high. So far the engine returns to normal after tapping the peddle a time or two. Upon reading however am sort of worried that sometime it may stick full power in which case would cause an accident.
While in a residential area, my car began to accelerate on its own and did not give way when I hit the breaks. The car started accelerating on its own at 40mph, and kept going to 50 mph, and then at 60 mph I began to panic. The traffic on the road I was traveling on was busy and cars were going in and out of businesses. When trying to hit the breaks the car slightly jerked and did not slow down the car. I was quickly approaching a line of cars waiting at a red light and there was no break down lane. Luckily, I was able to move into a small parking area and nearly hit a storefront by 3 feet. I quickly put the car in park, while it continued to accelerate on its own. Thinking I would reset something, I turned off the car and started it again. The car kept accelerating and created a lot of smoke in the back. $500 to fix at a Ford dealership later and I am still anxious that the same issue will happen again but I will not be so lucky - what if it happened on the highway" when a pedestrian was crossing the road? what if I hit someone" Ford needs to recall this part - and I want my money back!
- Manchester, CT, USA
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The gas pedal was stuck. I free it by re pressing the gas pedal a number of times. This has happen twice over 5 months. Also I checked from news report about the cruise control and found that my control does not function at all.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. The contact placed the gear shifter into neutral and was able to stop the vehicle. The failure occurred three different times. The contact stated that the failure would occur within twenty-four hours of using the cruise control. The cruise control was not activated when the vehicle accelerated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for a diagnostic test. There was an investigation for the 2005 Ford Taurus under NHTSA action number PE12005 (vehicle speed control:cables), that may be related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.
While driving vehicle to work, noticed that cruise control would not engage as normal. As I began to decel onto the off-ramp, the engine RPM stay at approx 2800 RPM and would not go any lower. Found that black cruise control tab on throttle body had allowed throttle cable to slip out partially, causing the throttle body to stay partially open. Had to wire-tye the end of throttle body for cable to remain engaged to operate vehicle.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle would abnormally accelerate when driving at any speed or when at a complete stop with the brakes depressed. On multiple occasions, the vehicle abnormally accelerated to 50 mph without depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic numerous times for the failure. The mechanic replaced the throttle sensor and the cruise control was disconnected, but the failure persisted and the vehicle continued to abnormally accelerate. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 130,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact abnormally accelerated despite that the brakes were being depressed. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the mechanic confirmed that the throttle needed to be cleaned. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 119,000 and the current mileage was 125,000.
I was on my way home from the bank when my car suddenly sped up and wouldn't stop accelerating. I reached up to 55 mph without touching the gas petal. Thankfully my brakes still worked and I was able to get to my house without causing any damage. However, my gas petal is still stuck, even with the car off, and I checked around the petal to make sure nothing had gotten in the way to make it stick, nothing had. Now I can not drive my car without ruining my transmission and possibly the front of my house, as I'd fly right into it. This can be very dangerous, if my breaks would have gone out, I most certainly would have caused an accident and possibly killed someone. This was a very terrifying experience.
While driving, if the ac is on, the car will sometimes accelerate on its own. It will rev up to 3000-3500 rpms and maintain for awhile and eventually stop accelerating. Possibly related, the cruise control turns on, but a cruising speed cannot be set. This happens multiple times.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. While traveling 60 mph, the contact noticed that the vehicle would gradually accelerate without depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the contact was informed that the failure could not be repaired. The current and the failure mileages were 78,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to higher speeds. The vehicle would not stop when the brakes were applied. The vehicle was safely coasted to the shoulder of the road and restarted. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer and they informed the contact that they were unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the accelerator pedal would get jammed. In order to release the pedal, the contact had to place the vehicle in park. The vehicle had not been inspected by a dealer nor had it been repaired. The manufacturer was notified and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
Date approximate. Ford Taurus 2004. Vehicle accelerated and RPM increased on a downhill grade after removing all pressure from the accelerator peddle. On subsequent level grades vehicle did not slow down when the accelerator peddle was released. Braking was difficult. Upon inspection, the cable end had slipped out of its socket and jammed behind the control linkage. The Ford garage said that Ford had no recalls on the item and I would have to pay to replace the entire throttle body. Not having the money and wanting to await news from Ford, I carefully drilled a small hole through the knuckle/linkage and then safety wired the knuckle to the linkage. I drive less than 6000 miles a year. It is still working but the weakened conditioned, original defect and subsequent temporary.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact was driving 20 mph when the vehicle increased acceleration unexpectedly. The failure stopped after the brakes were depressed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 109,000 and the current mileage was 126,258.
My 2004 Ford Taurus accelerated on it's own on 3 separate occasions. Without my foot on any pedal, my car kept going faster & faster. It would not stop by pressing the brakes. Car had to be put in neutral & then turned off. It happened when mechanic drove my car, also. No car in front of me, so no accident. I paid twice to have my car fixed, since problem was difficult to diagnose. Sounds like same throttle problem that is happening to other tauruses now. I have copies of my car repair receipts.
While leaving a pva, gas pedal went to floor and stuck causing the engine to rev up, had no control over car, crossed road into another pva and hit 3 cars and hit 2 concrete pillars which caused injuries to the driver and caused a death to the passenger. Driver indicates he had no steering or brakes. Car did not stop until slamming into the concrete pillars....updated 03/28/12...updated 07-15-13 updated 07/19/2013
When attempting to slow down to stop the car the RPM's revved up to over 3000rpm and it was difficult to stop the car. I had to press on the brake really hard and the car was still revved up over 3000rpm. I could barely get the car off the road and had to throw it into park and turn the car off. When I turned the car back on it still revved up to over 3000rpms. The next day the car started and idled at a normal 1000rpms. The problem repeated itself two other times with very similar scenarios. It is very difficult to get the car stopped as if it wants to run away. The first occurrence was may, 2011, then Oct., 2011, and Feb. 2012.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Berry , IL, USA