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.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving various speeds, the accelerator pedal became stuck, causing the vehicle to accelerate independently. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 110,000... updated 02-07-13 the consumer stated the vehicle has been repaired. The cruise control cable on the throttle body detached. The vehicle was repaired by reattaching the cable with a clip. Updated 02/13/2013
I was on the interstate going about 70. I put on the cruise control but it wouldn't engage. I tried several times then gave up. Not 5 minutes later I tried to go slower, about 65, and the car sped up to 70 on its own. I was confused because the cruise control light was not lit, whereas it was lit when it wouldn't work. I pressed the off button many times but it kept trying to accelerate. My friend was trying to make me pull over but I was scared because the engine was racing and it seemed like the brakes were sluggish. I finally stopped on the shoulder & turned off the car. I was freaking scared because I was in the middle of nowhere. When I turned the car back on it immediately began to race, way up over the 3000 rpms. When I put it into drive it lurched forward. We had to get somewhere, so my friend started driving. I was shaking. It unstuck by itself but continued to do it several times. And I never touched the cruise control again. It does it going 30mph, 60mph, whenever it feels like. I don't have money to fix this & this car has only 50,000 miles on it! I'm scared it's going to do it & the brakes fail when I try to slow down.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the vehicle began to accelerate independently. The contact applied the brakes until she was able to regain control of the vehicle. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle had not been diagnosed. The manufacturer had not been notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 120,000.
The transmission of my vehicle, without warning or prior history of failure, acted like I'd moved the gear into neutral while driving the legal speed limit on the interstate. Engine would rev, but nothing happened. Coasted to a stop on the side of the road without the ability to accelerate or move the vehicle to a safer location. There are at least 150 people who have had a similar experience as me but Ford will not issue a recall despite a clear fault with the transmission for this make and model. www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Taurus/2005/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml.
- Palm Bay, FL, USA
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Hello, I have recently purchased a used 2005 Ford Taurus. The problem is that the car accelerates without me touching the gas pedal, this is a very dangerous problem especially with snow and ice on the ground. I noticed it happens when I take my foot of the brake at stop signs, the car will start to accelerate very suddenly reaching speeds up to 40mph until I step on the brake.
I have multiple times where my car is accelerating on its own and have to put car in neutral to stop it. RPM's are so high the rev limiter kicks in and at least 15-20 times while stopped at a traffic light with the car at idle, car would accelerate fast with my foot on the brake almost hitting car in front of me, once again putting in neutral to stop it, had it looked at by service centers but no fault codes were found and was told not repairable if no code were found because they would be guessing for the problem. And I did look to see if the cruise control cable was on or off the linkage assembly, but cable was attached ok and had not fallen off like other reports.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the vehicle began to accelerate independently. The contact applied the brake and the vehicle emitted a loud noise from the brakes. The vehicle attempted to continue accelerating. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where the throttle body was cleaned. The failure recurred immediately after the repairs. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 68,400 and the current mileage was 68,545.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the accelerator pedal became jammed and caused the vehicle to accelerate to 40 mph. The contact immediately depressed the brakes and powered the vehicle off. The vehicle was later taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileages were approximately 127,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 50 mph, the contact removed her foot from the accelerator pedal and noticed that the RPM reading increased as the vehicle abnormally accelerated to 70 mph. The contact applied the emergency brake and was able to come to a stop by driving over a curb. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or repaired. The failure later recurred and the contact crashed into a fence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician advised the contact that the throttle would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving 35 mph, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. The contact had to apply pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle. The contact restarted the vehicle and the rpms increased excessively. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection nor was it repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 135000.
Cruise control cable on this vehicle popped off of the throttle body. I reconnected the cable but it popped off again. I secured the cable away from the throttle body to prevent the throttle from being jammed open. This defect needs to be addressed as a design flaw worthy of a manufacturer recall; failure of the cruise control assembly doesn't simply render the cruise control inoperative, but has the real potential for fatal accidents. As an interim measure the NHTSA should issue a bulletin warning owners of the potential for failure.
My wife and I have noticed that the gas pedal sticks as you accelerate at any speed. In addition, out of the blue you notice that the car seems to be revving and sort of moving faster than you are depressing the gas pedal. We bought the car at 9000miles and not until we got to over the 100,000mile point did we start noticing these problems.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently to 70 mph. The contact depressed the brake pedal and was able to stop the vehicle. The vehicle continued to rev after restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic stated the idle engine motor needed to be replaced. After the repair the failure continued. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 97,000.
I was driving about 40mph when my car started accelerating. I pulled over, got the car towed and "fixed" that day. About a month later, it happened again on a busier street. Being familiar with the feeling, I rode it out to my home except towards the end it would not stop. The friction on the tires made it smell like fire also and they were smoking. I got it towed again except when the driver got there, the car was fine and nothing seemed wrong at the mechanic's. this has happened at least 3 more times in the past year, each time exactly the same.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while traveling 55 mph, the vehicle erroneously accelerated. The contact was able to slow the vehicle by firmly pressing the accelerator. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue. The failure mileage was 113,000 and the current mileage was 114,000.
Driving around 35mph vehicle started to accelerate on its own. Hit brake but RPM's still climbed. Hit brake again and fixed issue. Also cruise control stopped working around the same time. Has happened 3 times since first incident. Have to smash accelerator repeatedly to fix issue. Very scary feeling and will not let wife drive kids around in this vehicle. After reading the 100's of complaints on internet describing this exact same issue cannot believe Ford has not issued a recall on this problem yet. This is literally an accident waiting to happen. Have owned car since 2007 and this is the first major issue we have had with this vehicle.
The first time this happened, I was leaving the grocery store. The RPM went up very high, and I could not control the speed of the car. It was very scary. I had to put the car in neutral, with engine still running, to control it at stop lights. For a long time, this was a constant problem, but I learned how to control it. I could not afford to take my car in to have it checked. I learned that if I hit the accelerator hard & quick, it would unstick. I can always feel it unstick, and can sometimes even hear a popping noise when it unsticks. As time went on, this happened less and less often. It still happens now, but infrequently, probably less than once a week. In the beginning, however, it happened every day at some point during the day. This is obviously a huge problem for the 2005 models as well as others, as I can see others are posting this same problem. This is very dangerous and the 2005 model needs to be included in the recall.
My 2005 Ford Taurus all of the sudden started accelerating on its own. The first time this happened was October 1, 2012. I was going 45 mph when all of the sudden it started revving up even as I applied the brakes. I had to jump up onto a median at 65ish mph to avoid other cars. The brakes began to smoke and grind as I tried to stop. I had to apply the emergency brake to stop. Even stopped the motor continued to rev at 8000 RPM. I had to turn the car off. Since then the sudden acceleration has occurred five more times. I had to take it in for brake repairs and the mechanic said he didn't know what was causing the acceleration and suggested I remove my floor mats as they may have gotten jammed under the pedal. While I know this to be false I nonetheless removed the floor mats and the condition remains. Another terrifying incident happened while I was visiting my daughter. She lives off a windy dirt road high on a leaf covered ridge. I usually don"T go any faster than 15 mph on her road. The car experienced another sudden acceleration as I was turning a bend. The car began to slide on the leaves and I bounced off a tree stump and almost hit my daughter"S fianc. Again I applied the emergency brake to stop and had to turn the car off. The last occurrence happened in my driveway before I took the car out of park. I had to mash down on the accelerator to bring it back to idle. At this point I am too afraid to drive my car. I have incurred replacement brake bills and various car damages as a result of these incidents. Thankfully no one has been hurt.
The cruise control cable pops off of its connection, and gets in the way of the throttle, holding the car at a higher RPM and speed after the foot pedal is released. Normally this can be handled by stomping on the gas a couple of times to clear the interference and the car returns to idle. Certainly the potential is there for an accident to occur if the driver is not cognizant of how to handle a vehicle that acts as if the cruise has been actuated when the driver is not expecting it to do so.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Chester, CT, USA