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.
Car accelerated on its own, applied the brake it would slow down but start accelerating again without touching the gas pedal..got stopped and pressed gas pedal down and the engine finally stopped racing. This is the 3rd time this has happened in the past 4 weeks.
My wife had called me today and advised that the accelerator pedal had stuck on our 2005 Ford Taurus and almost caused her to have an accident. When I got home from work I took the Taurus for a test drive and the problem reoccurred. I was on rt. 145 in lehigh county pa when my car continued to accelerate when I removed my foot from the accelerator pedal. I was able to stop the car by standing on the brake pedal. When I put the car in park the RPM's reved in excess of 4000. I tapped the accelerator pedal several times and the idle finally came down. After returning home I found the cruise control cable had become disconnected from the throttle body linkage which prevents the throttle body from closing. I was able to reconnect the cruise control cable but it becomes dislodged as soon as the throttle is opened. The clip on the end of the cruise control cable is made of plastic and appears to be intact but must be worn on the inside because it will not stay in place. This is a dangerous flaw.
I was traveling at approximately 35 mph when car began accelerating and continue to accelerate and reached speed of approximately 50mph. I managed by applying brakes continuously to slow down and pull in parking lot. I put engine in neutral and engine continued at high RPM. I turned car off and started it back up several times before I tried pressing gas pedal to floor several times. Car then idled at normal idle speed. It seemed to be ok at this point but when I began driving again this happened several more times. If I put car in neutral and floored gas pedal it returned to normal RPM. I have had this reoccur 6 or 7 times since then and putting in neutral, flooring gas pedal resolves problem. I do not use cruise control often but when I tried to use it this summer it no longer works.
This is about the fourth time this has happened. Driving my car at the posted speed limit, the car wanted to accelerate on its own. I have to ride the brakes going down small downgrades and going up hills I didn't need to apply the gas pedal - it did it - all by itself. By the time I got home the car was revving. I put the car in neutral, stomped hard on the gas pedal a couple of times. Nothing. It still was revving at 4000 RPM's. I shut the motor off, waited a few minutes, started the car again but it still revved at 4000 RPM's. I made arrangements for the car to be towed to a mechanic. The tow truck driver started the car, said "oh my" when he saw that it was revving to 4000 RPM's. he stomped really hard on the gas pedal and the car finally settled into a normal idle. He thought the throttle might be loose or something. The mechanic at the garage claimed they couldn't find anything wrong after "test driving" the car off and on for two days. I picked the car up and by the time I got home (about 10 miles) it was doing the same thing. I am afraid to drive the car. I feel it's not safe to drive because I have to put the brakes on hard even on flat road surface. Anyway, I am going to call my tow service again and pay the extra to have the car towed to the nearest Ford dealership in wexford, pa. Hopefully they will be able to find what is wrong with this car. I cannot afford to buy another car as I am on a fixed income and this car has less than 74,000 miles on it. I have seen all the other reports/complaints regarding this vehicle. Seems to me it is a major problem and there should be a recall on this car.
While driving the vehicle started to accelerate on its own. When put into park the RPM's went up to 5,000 in less than 3 seconds. Turned the car off, then back on and the RPM's went up to 3,000 in just a few seconds. Had the car toed to the dealer. They said they fixed the problem but it happened again a little over a week after the first incontinent. The second time when put into park the RPM's went up to 4,000.
- Dearborn, MI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact was traveling 35 mph when vehicle abnormally accelerated after the accelerator pedal was no longer being depressed. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the mechanic confirmed that the cruise control caused the acceleration failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired and the VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 110,000.
While driving the throttle seemed to be less responsive than normal and the engine idled at about 4000 RPM. The car was very difficult to stop and wanted to push through the brakes. We had to shift into neutral to sit out a red light as the engine revved. This has happened three times so far. I'm not sure of the first time, the second was last year and the latest was just today. Each time we opened the hood and found that the control cable that connects the throttle body to the cruise control unit was disconnected. On the latest occurrence the car had been driving fine, she made a downhill stop at a stop sign, made a right turn and as she was accelerating the car lurched and wanted to take off. For the most part the brakes were able to control the car but at a stop light she had to shift into neutral to remain stationary. After some amount of fiddling with the gas peddle it seemed to come unstuck and worked for a short time after which it behaved stuck again. Opening the hood she saw that the cruise control cable had come disconnected again. On the second occurrence of the cable detaching our toddler had been playing in the drivers seat while the car was parked and trying to push the gas peddle with her hands. My best guess was that she had pulled up on the peddle instead of down. To confirm my suspicion I made sure everything was connected and pulled up on the peddle with my foot, as soon as I gave the car gas the cruise control cable came disconnected again. It seemed repeatable. I'm not sure why pulling on the peddle messes things up or how that would have happened while an adult was actually driving, but I suppose it would have been possible. For the first occurrence I don't have details but my girlfriend, who owns the car, said that it had happened before when it happened the second time. She suggested that I look at the connection at the throttle body.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. The contact mentioned that after inspecting the vehicle she noticed that the cruise control cable had detached. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and current mileages were 120,000.....updated 08-24-12 updated 08/30/2012
I had noticed on several occasions that the gas pedal seemed to stick and the engine seemed to rev and the RPM needle would increase to 3500 or more even though I had my foot on the brake. After a couple of minutes, the engine would return to normal. Last week, my cruise control would not work, although I was able to turn on the word cruise on the dash when I pushed the on and set buttons, but the cruise did not take hold. The engine continues to rev up when I start the car and when I bring the car to a stop..
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving 35 mph the vehicle accelerated abnormally. The contact had to put the vehicle in neutral to get the rpms to decrease. The failure recurred numerous times and in some cases, the contact had to shift to park to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for a diagnosis and he requested the dealer to disconnect the cruise control but could not confirm if that would remedy the failure. The manufacturer was notified but offered little assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 62,000 and the current mileage was 69,000.
Tuesday July 10, 2012, while driving home from work, heading slightly uphill at roughly 32 mph, I was messing around with the cruise control that hasn't been working since sometime in early December. The dashboard cruise control light comes on when I press on then set accel to set the speed, but the cruise control does not take over the gas pedal and maintain speed. It appears to shut off when I depress the brake, or turn the cruise control off via the steering wheel buttons. Once before, I noticed driving the same path that the car appeared to accelerate on its own. This was sometime early spring 2012. On Tuesday, I let off the gas pedal, but noticed the engine continued to slightly increase RPM and speed on its own up to about 44 mph. I was able to stop at the stop lights using the brakes, but the engine kept revving somewhat. Pushing some of the buttons and pulling up on the gas pedal with my foot seemed to release the throttle and get the car to act normal once again. This is the second time I have noticed this happening in 8 months, but the first time I have documented the incident.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly accelerated while attempting to enter the driveway and the rpms increased to 3,000. The contact had to turn the vehicle off to stop the acceleration. The contact inspected the vehicle and found the accelerator cruise control cable plastic receptacle detached and caused the vehicle to accelerate. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 109,000.
My 2005 Ford Taurus accelerated abruptly at an intersection at 4000 RPM. If a car had been in front of me it would have hit them. The car was able to get through the intersection and into a parking lot. The car was towed and as the tow truck driver started the car it revved up again and he was able to stop it in time. It is currently at my mechanic in pompano beach Florida.
Driving at 35mph I took my foot off the gas pedal and the car continued to accelerate. I put the car in neutral and the RPM's jumped to 4000. I pushed the pedal down to the floor and the throttle began to slow down and return to normal. Now randomly during acceleration the throttle will stick open when I take my foot off the gas, and not return to normal until after pushing hard down on the gas pedal. This was quite scary being on the road and have my car accelerating out of my control. I read that a cruise control cable can become disconnected that can be causing this problem.
I was driving at 35-40 mph when the car accelerated on its own. I have to depress the brake to stop the car at a traffic light but the car still battled hard to go. I parked at a nearby parking lot and shift to parking. The engine RPM went to 4000 quickly and I shut off the engine. I turned the engine on and off a couple of time and it did the same thing every time. I tapped the gas pedal really hard and it went back to normal. The day before this incident, cruise control quit working for about 3 hours and functioned well again. Meanwhile, the gas pedal is really sticky and I have very rough idle in the morning. I searched the web for solution and obviously a lot of people have experienced the identical problem already. Just want to urge Ford recall this vehicle asap. I'm willing to provide any information NHTSA in order to ensure the security of thousands of Ford customers.
Car continued accelerating after taking foot off gas pedal. Slowed car down. Pulled off road and stopped and put in park. Engine roared. Turned off car. After a few minutes restarted car but engine still roared. Car bucked and lurched. Stomped on gas pedal to stop engine surge. Have taken car to Ford dealer 5 times and each time they tell me it is fixed only for it to happen again.
While driving, the car speeds up without control of the driver. This has happened three times in the last month. Each time this has happened, the car has been between 25 and 40 mph. The car begins to speed up of its own power. The speed will continue to rise unless you can stop the car with pressure from the brakes. Once the car is slowed by use of the brakes, it must be put into park. Once in park, the RPM will race to 3500-4500. I switched the car to reverse, and once my foot is removed from the brake the car speeds up. In my experience, it takes turning off and on the car a couple times to correct the situation. The car is currently at a local independent shop, and has been for the past week. Thus far, they have been unable to determine the cause of the problem. Please help with this very serious issue.
I was turning left into the side road leading to my home when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. I applied the brakes (to no avail) and then shifted into neutral. Engine RPM exceeded 3000. After tapping the accelerator pedal several times the engine returned to idle speed. I continued and turned left into my driveway and the same situation occured. It has not happened again although my cruise control no longer works.I can turn it "on" and when I press "set accel" the cruise light on the dash comes on but the cruise control won't engage.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the cruise control failed. A week later, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. The failure continued to occur. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 83,000. The VIN was unavailable.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Waycross, GA, USA