NHTSA Complaint #10463605 — 2005 MERCURY MONTEGO

THE CAR WILL SHUTTER, SHAKES AND BANGS WHEN THE TRANSMISSION DOWN SHIFTS TO A LOWER GEAR WHEN FOR EXAMPLE THE CAR BEGINS TO CLIMB A SLIGHT GRADE AND NEEDS A LOWER GEAR TO MAINTAIN SPEED. SOMETIMES, DURING THE SAME SCENARIO, THE CAR WILL SHIFT MOMENTARILY INTO WHAT SEAMS TO BE NEUTRAL CAUSING ENGINE RPM TO SPIKE FROM 2,000 RPM UP TO 6,000 RPM. IN EITHER CASE, IT SCARES YOU AND YOU THINK SOMETHING MAJOR IS WRONG WITH THE CAR AND YOU IMMEDIATELY SEARCH TO GET OFF THE ROAD AND STOP. THE CARS AROUND YOU ABRUPTLY TRY TO AVOID YOUR SUDDEN DECREASE OF SPEED. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE CAR SEAMS TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY WHILE UP SHIFTING TO SPEED ALTHOUGH MAYBE THE SHIFTS ARE GETTING A BIT HARDER THAN WE WERE USED TO. THE DEALER REPLACED AN ENGINE MOUNT ANTI-TORQUE BRACKET FOR $600.00 THAT THEY DETERMINED WAS THE PROBLEM BUT IT DID NOT HELP. NO DIAGNOSTIC LIGHTS APPEAR ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER GIVING REASON FOR THE PROBLEM. WE BASICALLY DO NOT TRUST THE CAR TO TRAVEL ANY WHERE BECAUSE IT IS UNSAFE. I SEE MANY OTHERS ON THE WEB HAVE THE SAME ISSUES WITH THEIR MONTEGO'S. WE HAVE MAINTAINED OUR CAR VERY WELL DURING ITS SHORT LIFE. THE DEALER AND TRANSMISSION SHOPS ARE PERPLEXED TO THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM. THE DEALER SAYS NOW THAT MAYBE IT IS A "VALVE BODY" CAUSING THE PROBLEM BUT ARE NOT QUITE SURE. $2,400.00 DOLLARS FOR A "NOT QUITE SURE" FIX IS A BIT MUCH SPECIALLY AFTER ALREADY SINKING $600.00 INTO THE PROBLEM. FORD, WHAT DO YOU THINK? TIME TO ISSUE A RECALL AND ADMIT THERE IS A REAL SAFETY PROBLEM HERE? BE FAIR AND HELP CONSUMERS REMEDY THE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS THEY ARE HAVING WITH THEIR 2005 MONTEGO'S BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED! *TR