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.
Back in December of 2000 we were driving home to Virginia from NJ and crossing over the del. Memorial bridge and slowing down to go through the toll when we lost our brakes. We wen straight through the toll booth but with smart and quick thinking I pulled the emergency brake to bring us to a stop. We had the vehicle towed and rented a rental car. The dealer in dover, del told us that it was a factory defect because the bolt came off the anti lock braking system. There was also not a safety device to hold it on. It should have had this. We reported this to Ford three times but are still waiting for an apology or some restitution. Last week we were driving down the road and my son screamed that his seatbelt didn't work anymore. I pulled over and the seatbelt would not lock again. He now has to sit in the rear seat at all times.
Brake pedal goes completely to floor. Vehicle stops, but if in an emergency consumer doesn't know if it will stop. Dealer test drove another vehicle and the same thing happened. Dealer stated that it must be normal because other vehicle did the same thing.
Consumer was traveling about 5mph on a side street and hit a block of ice. She applied brakes, and vehicle kept going towards a fence. There were no injuries.
I experienced brake problems on three separate occasions within a 12 hour period with my 22,000 mile 2000 Windstar. I smelled a burning plastic smell for approx 10 seconds and thought nothing of it. I then had difficulty during a normal stop when the disc brakes seemed to be experiencing ABS activity. The brake pedal wasn't fluttering like a normal ABS stop nor was their any moisture on the road. This happened again 10 minutes later. The next day as I was taking it to the shop I made a complete stop and a couple of seconds later the car started moving forward. My full pressure was on brakes and it wouldn't stop. I used the emergency brake to stop. There was no fluid missing from the brake master cylinder. The brake pedal didn't move deeper as I pressed the brake. The tach didn't increase RPM. The shop checked the ABS system and found nothing. There were no computer diagnostic codes found. They drove it 200 miles and couldn't replicate it.
Consumer was traveling 55mph on T highway and ABS braking system light was blinking on dash panel. He was in process of slowing vehicle down, and right rear wheel locked up. He was able to pull vehicle to safety. Vehicle was towed to dealership. While traveling, the ABS light flashed three times and the rear passenger side tire locked up causing the vehicle to go out of control.
Reported spongy brakes. They bled brakes, lasted a week, now pedal goes to floor again. Emergency brake has almost no effect. Dealer says it's normal and all are that way.
While at a gas station consumer was pulling up to a window, pressed brakes and they went to the floor. Consumer rear ended someone because of this problem, then on October 24, 2000 while driving consumer put on brakes and they went to the floor. Consumer had to cut in front of three lanes of traffic to hit a curb in order to stop vehicle.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Mckinney, TX, USA