10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 7 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 87,225 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
While driving, the gas pedal sticks, I try to put on the brakes the car just keeps going until I press the brakes hard. I press the pedal real sharp and it may idle down.
- Louisville, KY, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal would intermittently become stuck while driving at 30 mph or higher. The failure occurred over a period of a year and a half. There would be a high rate of engine rpms and the vehicle would continue to accelerate when the brakes were applied. The contact had to apply repeated pressure to the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and they were unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
- Westley Chapel, FL, USA
When driving, the vehicle would not decelerate when pressure was taken off the accelerator pedal. This typically occurred around 55 mph. It felt as if the cruise control was on, but it was not. When the vehicle would not decelerate on its own, I would apply the brake to come to a complete stop. When I would stop, the engine was remain at approximately 2,000 rpms. This problem was intermittently, but did occur approximate 10 times over the course of a week (until the problem was corrected at a mechanic shop). Furthermore, the cruise control no longer worked. A certified mechanic found that the wire had broken/detached within the cruise control/throttle assembly. This wire was the reason why the cruise control no longer worked and why the throttle was getting "stuck." The entire cruise control assembly had to be replaced. This fixed the problem.
- Farmington, MN, USA
Many times while driving only (not parked with motor running), the accelerator becomes stuck/jammed and must be tapped several times to unstick what seems to be a ghost-driven pedal. The vehicle will sometimes unstick while moving, but I have been scared to the point of stopping the vehicle since it won't unstick and put it into park and hit the gas again. This does unstick the gas pedal.
- Fredericksburg, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle continued to accelerate, although the accelerator pedal was not depressed. The contact stated that he was able to maintain control of the vehicle by shifting to neutral and engaging the brakes. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that the throttle cable was fractured and the throttle body and cable assembly needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 126,981 and the current mileage was 150,000...updated 04/16/12 according to the repair invoice, the cable was broken. The dealer replaced the cable and throttle body. Updated 05/17/12
- Woodland, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the accelerator pedal became jammed and caused the vehicle to abnormally accelerate. The contact attempted to decelerate but the vehicle would not stop. The contact had to shift into neutral and restart the vehicle. Once started, the engine would race and the RPM's would increase excessively. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they advised the contact that the cruise control cable needed to be disconnected. The vehicle was disconnected repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. The VIN was unavailable.
- Sylva , NC, USA
Regarding action #PE12005.sudden acceleration, my 2006 Ford Taurus had several instances of acceleration, beginning July 14 & 15th 2011, and ending approximately September 2011...I know the beginning dates are accurate, because one of these dates is a family birthday, and it happened first on that birthday.. this usually happened when I was decelerating, such as at stop lights..it required hard, heavy pressure on the brakes to keep the vehicle stopped until I could pull over and put the car in neutral I would guess the number of instances to be 6-8 times this somehow seemed related to my cruise control..my cruise stopped working on June 14 2011, then the incidents of acceleration started almost immediately..I was usually driving a daily stretch of road at 45 mph when the instances of acceleration occurred. When the accelerations happened, I pulled over to the side of the road, riding the brakes hard until I was slowed, then I slipped the transmission in neutral and would depress the accelerator pedal fast and release..this usually caused the acceleration to stop...occasionally I had to shut the engine off to get this to cease.. after several weeks, this all stopped, and has not happened again in several months...my cruise control no longer works..
- Bowling Green, KY, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph and approaching an off ramp, the vehicle could not be stopped. After depressing the brakes to no avail, the contact turned the ignition off. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where they advised her that the cruise control cable could have been the cause of the failure. The cruise control cable was disconnected. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000. Updated 6/4/12
- Lincoln, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the throttle stuck and he crashed into a ditch as a result. The contact suffered injuries during the crash. The vehicle was repaired, but was not examined to determine the cause of failure. The contact stated that the vehicle surged forward and would not stop prior to the crash. The failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage was 80,000. Updated 05/09/12 the contact's wife pulled up to the back door of her home and exited her vehicle. Upon reentering the vehicle a few minutes later, the vehicle reversed a few feet. Then shifting into drive and put her foot on accelerator the car immediately surged forward, resulting in the car landing in a ditch. She suffered some minor bruising of her leg. The vehicle was repaired, but not examined to determine the cause of failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000 and the current mileage was 80,000. Updated 06/06/12
- Sandusky, MI, USA
I was driving on the highway at approximately 80mph with the cruise control on when I decided to exit the highway to go to a gas station. At the time the light was green so I maintained speed but slowed gradually. The light turned yellow and I tried to speed up a little bit. The light quickly turned red. I slammed on the brakes hard as I possibly could but the vehicle didn't seem to slow and the engine RPM remained steady. I managed to slow the vehicle to around 35mph before having to take an evasive maneuver into a busy intersection through a red light. I struck one car and it spun me around hitting another car.
- Grandville, MI, USA
On Jan. 10, 2012 I was coming to a stop at a cross walk with a follow to a stop light. It was at that time that the car accelerated so fast I had to put the brakes on, that was not going to stop the car, so I put it in neutral and hit the gas pedal with my foot, that stop the car from accelerating. I almost hit a person in the cross walk and then I would have gone in to the intersection. This was one of many incident's my self and my family, (husband, and son) had with this car. I called Ford Corp office and asked if there were any recalls on this problem of course they said no. I told them on the Ford form website, others were having the same issue. Still Ford said there was nothing they could do, that no recalls were out there. I said does someone have to die to get a recall. Still no real answer from them. So, I had to go to (3) different mechanics to figure out what was wrong. The Ford dealer in greenfield, MA disconnected my cruise control, they said that it was latching on to the throttle, that was the problem. This to me is a Ford recall issue. I plan on addressing this with the attorney general office.
- Granby, MA, USA
I had purchased the vehicle in Nov of 2010 and the speed control issue began in July of 2011. The engine RPM would go up around 4 or 5 while coming to a stop or slowing. At times this made it hard to slow down. I would have to shift out of drive to get slowed or stopped. Noticed that the speed control did not work during this time period. I took the vehicle to my local inspection station and they fixed the problem with a zip tie. Not to sure if that would work. It did correct the problem.
- Townville, PA, USA
Recurring - intermittent speed control problem from 2008 to present (3/1/12). Engine unintentionally accelerates when the vehicle is driven over a bump or depression in the road, especially when driven over a railroad track crossing. Once it starts to accelerate out of control, applying the break will only have a slight effect for as long as pressure is put on it, once I remove my foot from the break, the engine will continue to accelerate despite the fact that no pressure is being placed on the gas pedal; however hitting the gas pedal (down to the floor) several times corrects the problem. Engine also unintentionally accelerates when the break is applied abruptly. The only way to control the car once this happens is to apply intense firm pressure on the break and then quickly placing the car into park. The engine will still continue to race in the parked position; however hitting the gas pedal several times seems to correct the problem. I did previously attempt to adjust the cruise control buttons to solve the problem; however that had no effect. Floor mats where no where near either pedal. This problem has occurred more than a dozen times over the past 4 years. I did take it to the mechanic several times when it first happened, however the mechanic could not detect the problem and explained that they could not diagnose the issue unless it happened while they were inspecting it or test driving it.
- Bethpage, NY, USA
I was sitting at a red light. I had my foot on the brake yet the car began to jump and move forward while my foot engaged the brake pedal.
- Hammond, IN, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at a stop with the brake depressed, the vehicle continued to accelerate and lunge forward without warning. In addition, the rpms increased to 7,000 abnormally. The vehicle was shifted into neutral and returned to normal function. The failure was experienced several times. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 83,000 and the current mileage was 89,000.
- Saint Albans , WV, USA
The car started idling very high and seemed to want to accelerate while my foot was pressing firming on the brake. I shifted the car into neutral and the engine seemed to keep revving. After this incident, the same day, I noticed the cruise didn't work any longer. Still to this day, at times the car will try to accelerate without pushing on the gas seems very dangerous!
- Scottsville, KY, USA
The car accelerates without any contact with the gas pedal. This occurs while driving which makes stopping more difficult (I have never noticed it occur while in park). I did take it to a mechanic who looked the car over; he didn't find anything obviously wrong, but guessed it was the cruise control and disconnected it. This did not fix the problem at all, as it still accelerates on its own. When it happens I keep tapping on the gas pedal until it stops accelerating, which is effective. It is very unsafe - it has been going on for so long I instinctively keep my eye on the tachometer to catch the acceleration as soon as it starts.
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Engine RPM increased excessively at a stop sign, car would not slow down I had to turn the car off twice to get it to stop revving.
- Wernersville, PA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Taurus SE. The contact was driving 40 mph when the vehicle abnormally accelerated until the vehicle was shifted into neutral. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and the VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 121,000 and the current mileage was 132,000.
- Marlton, NJ, USA
- Bedford, IN, USA