NHTSA Complaint #10519853 — 2010 FORD ESCAPE

MY VEHICLE IS A 2010 FORD ESCAPE 6 CYC WITH 4 WD. THIS WAS A NEW VEHICLE PURCHASED IN EARLY 2010 AS IT HAD 4.7 MILES ON IT WHEN PURCHASED AND I PUT MOST OF THOSE MILES ON IT DURING THE TEST DRIVE. WHEN TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED RECENTLY IN HEAVY TRAFFIC THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST ALL ABILITY TO ACCELERATE. IT WAS AS IF THERE WAS NO GAS PEDAL IN THE VEHICLE AT ALL. NO SHUDDERING, OR CHUGGING AFTER THIS OCCURRED AND ABSOLUTELY NO WARNING AT ALL BEFORE IT OCCURRED. IT WAS EXTREMELY LUCKY THAT NO ONE WAS INJURED AS I ATTEMPTED TO MAKE MY WAY ACROSS 4 LANES OF TRAFFIC TO THE SHOULDER. THE VEHICLE NEVER SHUT OFF WHEN THIS OCCURRED. I THEN TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF, WAITED, AND THEN RESTARTED AND IT SEEMED TO RUN FINE. I TOOK IT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP WHERE IT WAS PURCHASED TO ASSESS THE SITUATION. I WAS TOLD THE BATTERY WAS BAD WHICH THEY REPLACED. I QUESTIONED AS TO HOW A BATTERY COULD CAUSE THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM AS I UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE VEHICLE MECHANICS AND MY RESEARCH SHOWED THAT IT WAS MORE THAN LIKELY A THROTTLE BODY ISSUE AND I WAS ASSURED THAT BATTERY WAS MOST CERTAINLY THE ISSUE DUE TO THE COMPLEX NATURE OF VEHICLES TODAY AND THEIR ON BOARD COMPUTERS. WHEN THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED MY WIFE PICKED UP THE VEHICLE AND HAD JUST ENTERED THE INTERSTATE WHEN AT HIGHWAY SPEED THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM OCCURRED WHERE AN ACCIDENT WAS ALMOST CAUSED BY HER EFFORTS TO EXIT THE ROAD. AGAIN NO WARNING. WHEN IT WAS RESTARTED IT WAS DRIVEN BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP. TODAY, IT WAS CONFIRMED BY THE FORD DEALERSHIP THAT IN FACT IT WAS THE THROTTLE BODY ISSUE THAT MY RESEARCH HAD SHOW IT TO BE, AND MORE SO, THE PART, WHICH IS SOMEHOW NOT A SAFETY RECALLED ITEM BY THE NHTSA, IS ON BACK-ORDER BY FORD BECAUSE OF THE SHEAR NUMBER OF THESE PARTS GOING BAD AND NEEDING TO BE REPLACED IN SO MANY VEHICLES. I NOW OWN A VEHICLE THAT CANNOT BE OPERATED SAFELY WITHOUT A SAFETY RECALL. *TR