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.
Vehicle throttle stuck while driving. Vehicle begins to accelerate on its own. Had to hold brake firmly to keep from having serious accident on X-way. It has happened several times. When able to stop and put car in park. Engine is still racing. Had to shut off.
I was driving from a road into my driveway and my vehicle did not slow down when I let off on the accelerator. Instead, the 2005 Ford Taurus sel gas pedal was stuck which caused me to speed into my driveway and I threw the car in park, moments from causing an accident or injury.
My daughters car accelerates on its own. There have been 6 occasions where she has to brake hard and shut the car off. My husband put graphite on some parts but it didn't help. At first we thought she was exaggerating and maybe floor mat was hitting gas pedal. Neither was the cause! it is very dangerous.....I am taking to Ford garage to have them check it out. Asap.
As I was exiting off the interstate, my cruise control failed to shut off. Applying the brake I was barely able to stop my car before rear ending someone, and the RPM was staying around 2000. I then noticed that the gas pedal was sticking and that the cruise control was no longer coming on. Now the cruise control will come on while going down the road on its on and the gas pedal is sticking. This all occurred when the cruise control started acting up. This almost cause a horrible accident.
On the morning of January 30, 2013; I was driving to work approximately at 8 am and noticed my car became difficult to stop. It appeared to be accelerating when I was not touching the gas and had to apply excessive force on the brake to allow the car to stop. Immediately upon releasing the brake pedal the car would quickly accelerate to 15-20 mph. This continued on and off for my entire 15 mile commute to the office. Stepping heavily on the gas pedal seemed to stop the problem (seemed as if the pedal was stuck down). Placing the car into neutral was the only sure way to stop the acceleration. On January 31, 2013; the same problem occurred again. However, this time it happened at higher speeds. I was driving at 65 mph without having to touch the gas as if the cruise control was set to 65. However, the cruise was off. Again...heavily pressing the gas pedal stopped the acceleration. Again, placing the car into neutral was the only sure way to stop the problem. Both mornings were foggy/rainy and very humid. The problem is intermittent, but I believe Ford needs to immediately correct this issue with recalls as a person who is less comfortable driving or just not very calm could definitely have an accident if they panic.
- Trenton, NJ, USA
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I bought my Taurus 2005 SE at the end of February 2012 at mileage of approximately 81,600. It has occurred twice already that the car kept accelerating after I fully released the gas pedal. Both of them occurred on us HW1. The first time was in may and I wasn't sure what was happening at that time because the traffic wasn't stopped completely, before I could fully identify the problem, the traffic started moving fast again. The second time was last Saturday when I was driving from princeton to New York, my wife and 2 year old daughter were both in the car. The traffic was jamming and stopped completely at some point, then I had a really hard time in stopping my car. This time I had a clear feeling that the car was accelerating, although not at high power, but I had to use my full body strength to stop the car and kept pressing the brake for the whole time. Luckily the traffic didn't stop for too long, otherwise I might have given up and just hit the car 1 meter in front of me. I realized only later that I could have also shifted the gear to neutral or turned off the car. I took the car to a mechanic this Saturday but he wasn't sure what's happening because the problem is not regularly duplicate. Then I looked up this online and found that this is probably a common problem with Taurus 2005 and 2006, I am just another victim. Although accident didn't happen, it was very scary. Certainly such accident couldn't have been prevented if it was my wife driving the car.
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.
When I let my foot off the gas pedal the engine continues to accelerate. I thought it was the floor mat catching on the gas pedal. On Saturday May 12 I was coming up my street at about 25 mph and the car wouldn't stop and I came zooming into my driveway. I slammed on the brakes and put the car into neutral and the engine was racing then I turned off the key. When I restarted the engine the problem was gone. I checked the floor mat but I found no problem with the mat. This is the first time I was sure the floor mat was not the problem. Last week May 24 2012 my wife used the car and said she had the same problem and it wasn't the floor mat. Yesterday May 28, 2012 as I approached a busy intersection with a stop sign I let my foot off the gas pedal and the car continued to accelerate into the intersection. By the time I could react I was in the middle of the intersection. I just barely avoided a collision with possible personal injury. This was the last straw with this dangerous problem, so I put the car in my garage and took the cover off the accelerator control leaver. I found the problem quickly. The cause of this unintended acceleration is the cruise control cable has become disconnected from the throttle leaver and is catching on the throttle leaver, so the lever can't return. I tried to reconnect this cable but the plastic retainer on this cheap cable has become defective and will not reconnect. I have now tied the cable back so it can not interfere with the throttle lever. I have contacted Ford about this problem and issued a complaint. There are no recalls regarding this issue. This problem is a serious safety issue and beyond the scope of vehicle maintenance. This issue could cause a fatal accident to an unsuspecting driver. I have documented this issue with photographs. Please contact me for a copy of the photo.
Throttle stuck while running @ highway speeds. While slowing, became difficult to stop. Required putting the trans into N then turning off the engine. Seems to reset after restarting. Upon inspection of the throttle, the cruise control cable had become detached. Unsure of next action to take.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Clarksville, IN, USA