NHTSA Complaint #10323711 — 2003 FORD TAURUS

ON 3/31/10 I WAS DRIVING MY 2003 FORD TAURUS SOUTHBOUND ON I-5 IN THE SACRAMENTO, CA AREA AT ABOUT 7:20 PM. JUST NORTH OF RICHARDS BOULEVARD MY AUTO BEGAN SLOWING DOWN FOR NO APPARENT REASON. NO DASHBOARD EMERGENCY LIGHTS CAME ON AND THERE WAS NO UNUSUAL SOUNDS. AS I DEPRESSED MY ACCELERATOR MY RPM INDICATOR WOULD INCREASE BUT MY CAR CONTINUED TO LOSE SPEED. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY EXIT THE FREEWAY AND MY AUTO COASTED TO A STOP ON A SIDE STREET. I THEN PLACED MY CAR IN REVERSE, DRIVE, 1 AND 2 AND DEPRESSED THE ACCELERATOR AND THE CAR DID NOT ADVANCE FORWARD OR BACKWARD. CAR WAS TOWED TO A FORD DEALERSHIP ON 4/1/10. ON 4/3/10 A CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER CALLED TO TELL ME THAT THEY NEED TO REMOVE THE TRANSMISSION IN ORDER TO DIAGNOSE PROBLEM FURTHER. THE CAR HAS LESS THAN 59,000 MILES ON IT AND I HAD PURCHASED IT USED IN 2007 WITH APPROXIMATELY 23,000 MILES ON IT. I HAVE SEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR SIMILAR COMPLAINTS AND HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT IT IS A POSSIBLE TRANSMISSION FAILURE WHICH COULD COST ME APPROXIMATELY $2500.00 TO FIX. I BOUGHT THE CAR FOR $8,900.00! I'VE OWNED A 1989 MAZDA 323 AND A 1998 TOYOTA COROLLA WHICH EACH HAD OVER 110,000 MILES ON THEM AND I NEVER ENCOUNTERED A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. *TR