NHTSA Complaint #10045723 — 2002 FORD FOCUS

ENGINE STALLED AFTER I HAD DRIVEN TWO MILES WITH NO WARNING. I HAD JUST DOWN-SHIFTED INTO 2ND GEAR AS I WAS SLOWING TO MAKE A TURN AND THE CAR STALLED ACROSS TWO TRAFFIC LANES AND WOULD NOT RESTART. THE OIL LIGHT, BATTERY LIGHT, AND ONE OTHER LIGHT CAME ON (ALTERNATOR I THINK). THE CAR WAS MANUALLY PUSHED OUT OF TRAFFIC LANES IN NEUTRAL GEAR BY TWO MOTORISTS WHO STOPPED TO HELP. THEY WERE ALSO UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES THE ENGINE STARTED. I HAD THE CAR TOWED AND AFTER 5 DAYS THE DEALERSHIP STILL CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. APPARENTLY THE ONBOARD COMPUTER DID NOT CAPTURE THE PROBLEM. I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED BECAUSE THE CAR STALLED WITHOUT WARNING AT APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES AN HOUR. HAD I BEEN ON THE INTERSTATE AS SCHEDULED (I WAS RUNNING LATE AND HAD TO DROP MY DAUGHTER OFF BEFORE GOING HOME TO PICK UP MY LAPTOP) I WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE I HAD NO TIME TO MANEUVER OUT OF TRAFFIC AFTER THE ENGINE STALLED. IT WAS 75 DEGREE DAY (MONDAY 11/3/03) SO OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN A FACTOR. *LA