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.
My wife was in the process of parking her 2003 Ford Windstar in a parking lot. As she went to apply the brakes, the pedal went down to the level of the gas pedal causing her foot to engage both the brake and the accelerator at the same time. The car lurched forward and she hit a post (thankfully not a person). Probably did about a $1000 in damage. The reason I am writing is that this is the second time this has happened. The first time was about a month after we bought the vehicle. The same type of situation in a parking lot. At that time I called the Ford dealer where we bought the car and inquired if there had been any bulletins about such a problem. I was told no. Now my wife could have been at fault but I believe there is a real problem with the brake system as I have experienced the same situation myself. When letting off the gas pedal at low speed and then touching the brake pedal, there feels like a loss of brake pressure momentarily. What then happens is that the brake pedal depresses to the level of the accelerator pedal and the driver then engages both brake and accelerator at the same time. Instead of stopping, the car lurches forward because the acceleration overrides the soft (temporary) brake pedal pressure. I'm thinking there is a problem with the brake system pressure at idle when the car is moving. Hence the pedal depresses further than usual and the side of the driver's foot then also pushes the accelerator down in addition to the brake pedal. The fact that this happened when the car was new and still happens today makes me think it is a engineering problem coupled with a design problem. The pedals may also be too close together which increases the likelihood of this problem happening. Note: The car's brakes work fine otherwise and we do normal service on the vehicle.
The brake pedal and the gas pedal are too close together. Owner took vehicle to the dealership, who had recognized the problem, but told the owner that there was nothing they could do about it.
The accelerator pedal and brake pedal are too close. When pushing the brake pedal somehow the accelerator is pushed, causing the vehicle to accelerate. Once, caused a collision, where consumer's vehicle hit a parked vehicle in a parking lot.
- Manzanita, OR, USA
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- Manzanita, OR, USA