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.
About a month ago while driving on the freeway, after accelerating, the vehicle wanted to keep accelerating. I maintained speed by braking. I pumped the gas pedal a few times which seemed to fix the issue. This occurred a few more times over a months period. The beginning of July 2014 the same thing happened but pumping the gas was ineffective. I braked and pulled off the road. I put the vehicle in park which made the rpms go quite high and then shut the engine off. I looked under the hood and found a cable disconnected going to the throttle which I believe is part of the cruise control. I reconnected the cable and was able to drive home. Today I went to the Ford dealer to discuss the issue. They gave me the contact info for Ford owner and I opened a case. Ford said there is currently no recall for this issue. Currently the car seems ok but the problem is intermittent and im not sure if the cable will disconnect again. Incident was a bit nerve racking but could have been serious if I needed to bake quickly.
Was stopped in left turn lane. Accelerated up driveway to enter parking lot and throttle stuck, rode brake into parking lot. Tach was at approx. 2500 RPM, switched feet on brake pedal and tapped the accelerator twice and the idle went down below 1000 rpms and shut off engine. After restarting engine idle was normal. When I returned home I checked under hood and found cruise control cable clip was not on throttle body pin. I reattached the clip to the pin. Tried cruise control and it did not work. Checked cruise control cable and the clip was off again and laying next to the throttle body pin. I left the cruise cable disconnected but the acceleration problem has happened four (4) more times. Once to me and three (3) times to my daughter. I believe the cruise clip gets stuck under the throttle body pin and when the accelerator is tapped it comes loose and idle returns to normal. I have owned multiple cars with cruise control and never had a similar problem, even with over 100,000 miles on them.
The car takes off without pressing on the gas. RPM goes up and car continues to accelerate despite pressing on the brakes. Took car to a mechanic and had the idle valve replaced. 2 weeks later the problem continued to persist and mechanic told me the cruise control was detached but suspects it is a problem with the model of car and needed to be recalled. The speeding of the car occurs sporadically, so driving on the road I am not able to predict when it will happen. This is a malfunction that needs to be addressed by Ford for the sake of safety.
I was driving to the store down curvy, mountain road when I slowed down to cross a railroad track. Then when I came out on the other side the car suddenly accelerated and just wanted to keep speeding up. I had to down shift and ride the brake to try to get it to slow down. I was doing 40 in a 35 zone and it just keep wanting to go, go, go. I put mt left foot on the emergency brake and was barley able to keep from going through a stop sign into oncoming traffic. As I pulled out I tapped the accelerator and from that point on it seemed to go back to normal (thankfully because I was then approaching a 15 mph school zone.) Ford and the government have known about this problem since 2007! what are you people waiting on" are you going to wait until somebody dies from this defect before you deem it worthy of a recall? you need to fix this now!!! which one is more important to you, profit, greed, quarterly statements, or a human life???"
- Welch, WV, USA
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I was driving along and all of sudden my car felt like an out of body experience and was accelerating faster than I was going. I was able to come to a stop after applying the brakes very hard. Shut the car off - started it again 2 different time and the tachometer went up to 3 RPM - on the third try I tapped the gas pedal and the RPM's came down. I drove home (approx. 8 miles) safely without any further incidents. I took it to the dealer the next day - I told them what had occurred and I also mentioned that my cruise control was not working. (this is the third time I had trouble with my cruise control) they are replacing the throttle control body and speed control cable. I am now waiting to hear from them to pick up my car. What I don't understand is this - if it is known there is a problem with the gas pedal sticking why has there not been a recall. Are you waiting until some serious accident occurs or for a fatality? I am just glad I was not on a congested highway when this happened - it was 9:00 pm at night on my way home after visiting my sons and believe me when I say I was quite upset and shaking when this occurred. I never want to experience something like this again. I wish your association would look into this further so it can be rectified. Thank you for your time and attention to this submittal.
Sitting at a red light, waiting our turn, car accelerated thru the light! had to put it in neutral to stop it. After that numerous times the car would accelerate while driving. Our mechanic has worked on this issue for over 9 months, keep thinking found it, drive a week or so, then it would do it again.
I was driving on the highway going about 65 miles per hour and the car just began to speed up and the peddle left from my foot and I had to put the car in neutral and punch on the peddle to try to stop it from going to 100. This has happened several times even at a 25-35 mph pace. The car will just take off. I am currently not able to drive this car due to my safety. This issue with the transmission that I had to replace is, it would not go into 2nd gear, like if I came to a stop and then tried to accelerate, the car would only go about 5 miles per hour. I could not drive it in the streets because it could not keep up with the traffic so I had to have the transmission replaced and out of pocket almost 3K. At the time the car only had about 25000 miles on it.
The 2005 Ford Taurus experienced an uncommanded acceleration. The ignition had to be turned off to control the vehicle. Similar to NHTSA investigation PE-12-005, the problem was caused by the cruise control cable detatching from the throttle body assembly and interfering with the throtlle assembly, causing the rpms to exceed 4,000. This caused the vehicle to lurch, nearly striking a vehicle in front of the Taurus. This is a severe safety issue and has the potential to cause serious injuries or loss of life.
Throttle body/cruise control cable needed replaced for the second time. Car accelerated w/O pushing the gas up to 30 mph. This is the second time I have had to have it fixed for the same issue.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle abnormally accelerated when the brakes were engaged. The check engine light illuminated after the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 135,000. The current mileage was 135,040.
The car began accelerating on its own. When I attempted to brake the car would rev and when placed in neutral or park it would rev up to 4000 RPM. This has made me very worried that the car will not stop when it need to since it took much further to get the car stopped.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving 10 mph, the rpms increased and the vehicle would suddenly accelerated without warning. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 83,400. The current mileage was 83,463.
The contact owns a 2005 Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the vehicle accelerated to 65 mph. The contact had to apply the brakes abruptly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the cruise control cable was disconnected. The failure recurred and the dealer then replaced the throttle body and the cruise control cable. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000. Updated 7/16/14 updated 8/25/17
Throttle sticks at cruising speed, and won't release without kicking accelerator pedal. Cruise control cable causing throttle not to return to idle position when letting off accelerator pedal! car maintained speed if not slowed by braking without cruise control activated. Removed cruise control cable and throttle works fine, however Ford dealer wants to replace throttle body for $400 and not replace cable? this same vehicle also has an intermittent hard shift problem with the transmission between 1st and 2nd gear approx. 5% of the, but runs fine the rest of the time, dealer says it would need to replace the entire transmission for $3300 but vehicle is now valued around that!
The gas pedal seems to be stuck and the car starts accelerating. My wife became panicked and was about to crash into another car. The problem can be solved by putting the gearshift into neutral and press the gas pedal to the bottom, then it returns to the normal. The problem is very serious and can lead to accidents in hectic situations.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, there was a sudden loss of engine power and the electronic throttle control warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 120,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while she drove at 55 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact had to depress the brake pedal with force and shut the engine down to bring the vehicle to a stop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure and current mileage was 64,000. Updated 06/10/14
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated the cruise control was not activated; while driving approximately 40 mph when the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated up to 70 mph with an intermittent illumination of the engine warning indicator. The brake pedal was depressed repeatedly before coming to a stop. A certified mechanic detached the cruise control cable; however, the unintended acceleration persisted. The vehicle was towed to the contacts residence. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they were unable to duplicate the problem. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
While driving on the highway at 60 mph without the cruise control on, the car started to accelerate on its own to up to 75 mph. I pumped the brakes to reduce the speed, but the car continued to accelerate. I tried lifting the gas pedal with my foot to see if it was stuck; it was not. I turned the cruise control on and off, but cruise was not functioning. I continued to drive on the highway (about 10 miles) to my destination, and continued to pump the brakes while driving to prevent the car from going at a dangerous speed. When I got off the highway, I had trouble braking. The car lurched forward a bunch when I tried stopping completely. While braking, the car shook and the rpms shot up to about 3500. I did get the car to stop at a red light, but only after pushing pretty hard on the brakes. When the light turned green, I lifted my foot off the brake and the car accelerated on its own. The rpms continued to remain around 3500. Since I was in the city, I continuously hit the brakes so I wouldn't go over 40, but each time I did this, the front of the car shook vigorously. It was terrifying. The car was making a lot of noise, too. By the time I got to my destination and put my car in park, it was really loud and the rpms remained above 3000. I turned off the car and let it sit for about 90 minutes. Later, I turned it on again and the rpms shot to 2500, dropped to about 2000, and then jumped to 3500. I immediately turned it off. I had it towed to the dealer. The mechanic stated that the cruise control cable had fallen apart/failed, which caused the throttle to continuously accelerate. I also had to get my front brakes completely redone, because my constant breaking to prevent the car from speeding out of control warped the rotor (which made the car shake when I braked). This was a very dangerous and frightening situation.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Washougal, WA, USA