NHTSA Complaint #10464545 — 2012 FORD FUSION

WHILE APPROACHING A ROLL-THROUGH TOLL BOOTH, THE CAR LOST THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE; BOTH THE WRENCH LIGHT AND ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I PUT ON THE EMERGENCY HAZARDS AND COASTED TO A MIDDLE ISLAND AFTER GOING THROUGH A TOLL BOOTH. THE CAR CONTINUED TO IDLE, BUT WAS NON-RESPONSIVE TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. AFTER MAKING SOME CALLS FOR A TOW (1 1/2 HOUR WAIT DUE TO 100+ TEMPS), I TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF AND WAITED SEVERAL MINUTES. THE CAR RESTARTED AND APPEARED TO "RESET", AS BOTH THE WRENCH AND ENGINE LIGHT SYMBOLS WERE NO LONGER ILLUMINATED. AFTER TRAVELING 500 YARDS OR SO, I SWITCHED THE A/C BACK ON (NOTE: A/C WAS ON AT TIME OF MALFUNCTION.) ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, THE CAR BEGAN TO BOG AND IDLE ROUGHLY, AND AGAIN LOST THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE. I AGAIN WENT INTO HAZARD WARNING/COAST TO THE SHOULDER MODE, TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF, WAITED A FEW MINUTES, AND RESTARTED THE CAR. IT AGAIN "RESET", BUT THIS TIME THE ENGINE LIGHT REMAINED ON (HOPEFULLY SOMETHING WAS RECORDED, AS WITH SOME OTHER COMPLAINTS I'VE READ THIS DIDN'T OCCUR). I STARTED MY JOURNEY HOME AGAIN, THIS TIME WITHOUT A/C, AND IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE VEHICLE TO MY LOCAL FORD DEALER (DID I MENTION THAT I'M A LIFELONG GM GUY AND THIS IS MY FIRST FORD?) UPON CONTACTING THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY (BROUGHT IT IN LATE ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON), WAS INFORMED THAT THE THROTTLE BODY AND ACCOMPANYING MOTOR WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. WHEN ASKED IF THIS WAS AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM FOR A RELATIVELY NEW VEHICLE WITH 25,000 MILES, HE SEEMED TO INDICATE THAT THEY'RE MADE OF PLASTIC AND MASS PRODUCED, SO LIKELY AFFECTING QUALITY - NICE. ON TOP OF THAT, THEY DON'T HAVE THE PARTS IN STOCK, SO I'LL HAVE TO WAIT 'TIL MONDAY FOR THE REPAIRS TO BE COMPLETE. YOU'D THINK THE DEALERS WOULD KNOW BY NOW. SEEMS TO ME TO BE AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS ISSUE FOR A RELATIVELY NEW CAR. AS HAS BEEN SUGGESTED, FORD SHOULD INVESTIGATE. *TR