NHTSA Complaint #10474507 — 2010 FORD FUSION

WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, MY ENGINE LOST POWER. RPMS WENT DOWN, AND THE ACCELERATOR WAS NOT RESPONSIVE. I PULLED THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND PUT IT IN PARK. THE ENGINE IDLED VERY ROUGHLY. I SHUT OFF THE CAR, WAITED 5 SECONDS AND ATTEMPTED TO RESTART. THE ENGINE DID RESTART AFTER SOME EFFORT BY THE STARTER. I DROVE DOWN THE ROAD, AND THE CAR BEHAVED NORMALLY. THIS SEEMINGLY ISOLATED INCIDENT INCREASED IN FREQUENCY IN THE FOLLOWING WEEKS. SOMETIMES UP TO 5 TIMES A DAY. I TOOK MY CAR TO AN AUTHORIZED FORD DEALER, AND THE PROBLEM WAS DIAGNOSED AS A FAULTY THROTTLE BODY. COST OF REPLACEMENT IS $355. I RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM ONLINE AND NOTICED THAT THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE FAIRLY COMMON AMONG 2010 FORD FUSION OWNERS. THE ONLINE COMPLAINTS ABOUT FUSION THROTTLE BODY PROBLEMS WERE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE SYMPTOMS I EXPERIENCED. THE DANGER LIES IN THE FACT THAT THE CAR BASICALLY STALLS WITHOUT WARNING AND MUST BE RESTARTED BEFORE NORMAL DRIVING CAN RESUME. I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM AT BOTH HIGHWAY AND CITY SPEEDS. A STALLED ENGINE IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME (MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION, FREEWAY, WHILE PASSING, ETC.) COULD HAVE DISASTROUS EFFECTS. *TR