NHTSA Complaint #10503237 — 2011 FORD FIESTA

OVER THE PAST 1 1/2 MONTHS MY VEHICLE HAS STALLED ON THE FREEWAY 6 TIMES. EACH TIME THE "WRENCH" LIGHT CAME ON, THE DISPLAY READ "ENGINE MALFUNCTION" AND "SERVICE NOW". WHEN THIS WOULD HAPPEN, THE ENGINE TACHOMETER WOULD FIRST DROP TO 1000 RPM AND THE ACCELERATOR WOULD BECOME NON-RESPONSIVE. SOON AFTER THAT THE ENGINE WOULD JUST REV AS IF IT WERE IN NEUTRAL; THEN "BAM" THE TRANSMISSION WOULD ENGAGE ABRUPTLY AND MAKE A LOUD BANG NOISE AND LAG WHEN SHIFTING. THIS HAS BECOME A MAJOR CONCERN AS I HAVE HAD PEOPLE ALMOST RUN INTO THE REAR OF ME BECAUSE OF MY DECLINE IN SPEED. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE VEHICLE BACK TO NORMAL OPERATION IS TO COMPLETELY PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND TURN THE CAR OFF FOR A FEW SECONDS AND RESTART IT, UNFORTUNATELY BY DOING THIS IT RESETS THE FAULT CODES AND DOES NOT RETAIN THE INFORMATION FOR THE DEALERSHIP TO BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE. I HAD BROUGHT THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND LEFT IT FOR A WEEK. THEY INSTALLED A "FLIGHT RECORDER" AND DROVE FOR OVER 114 MILES TO TRY TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM; BUT COULD NOT. I HAD PICK ED UP MY CAR DISSAPOINTED THAT THEY COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM AND AS A RESULT COULD NOT FIX IT. WHEN I DROVE MY VEHICLE THAT SAME DAY TO WORK, IT HAPPENED AGAIN AT ONLY 26 MILES AFTER THEIR TESTING. I HAVE SEEN ON OTHER WEB SITES THAT THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH OTHER 2011 FORD FIESTA'S, I ONLY HOPE FORD COMES UP WITH A FIX FOR THIS ISSUE SOON AS IT SEEMS TO ME TO BE A PROGRAM ISSUE WITH THE VEHICLES COMPUTER. *TR