NHTSA Complaint #10532734 — 2009 MERCURY MARINER

ABOUT FOUR WEEKS AGO I HAD NOTICED THAT THE GAS PEDAL OF MY CAR WAS ACTING STRANGELY; OCCASIONALLY, AS I WAS TRYING TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOPPED POSITION IT WOULDN'T WORK, OR "CATCH," RIGHT AWAY, AND I WOULD HAVE TO PUSH DOWN INCREASINGLY HARD UNTIL IT MOVED. I HAD AN APPOINTMENT AT MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP WHEN I WAS DRIVING HOME ONE FRIDAY, STOPPED AT A STOP LIGHT TO TURN LEFT, AND IT STALLED. I BROUGHT IT IN THE FOLLOWING MONDAY MORNING AND AFTER A COUPLE HOURS THE SERVICE ADVISOR AND TECHNICIAN TOLD ME I NEEDED A NEW THROTTLE BODY. THEY TESTED IT AND SAID THEY COULD SEE IT "STICKING." HOWEVER, AND THIS IS WHERE MY COMPLAINT COMES IN, THEY TOLD ME A NEW PART WOULDN'T COME IN RIGHT AWAY AS IT WAS ON BACKORDER AND THERE WERE 48,000 ORDERS BESIDES MINE! IT HAS SINCE BEEN 3 WEEKS SINCE THAT VISIT WITH NO NEW PART AND NO EXPECTED DATE, AND THE SERVICE ADVISOR TOLD ME TODAY WHEN I CALLED THAT THERE WERE CLOSE TO 750,000 ORDERS FOR THIS THROTTLE BODY BECAUSE IT'S THE SAME PART USED IN MANY DIFFERENT VEHICLE MAKE AND MODELS. REGARDLESS, MY CAR IS PROGRESSIVELY GETTING WORSE. WHEN I PUSH THE GAS PEDAL I MORE FREQUENTLY GET NO ACTION AND AT TIMES IT NOW ALSO ACCELERATES UNNATURALLY FAST, ALMOST JUMPS, THEN QUICKLY RETURNS TO NORMAL. YESTERDAY THE PEDAL REQUIRED SO MUCH FORCE BEFORE THE CAR MOVED THAT I THOUGHT IT HAD STALLED ON ME AGAIN, ONLY THIS TIME WHILE I WAS DRIVING IT. THE DEALERSHIP HAS TOLD ME THAT THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHEN THE PART COULD COME IN AND CANNOT GIVE ME A LOANER CAR FOR AN UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME, SO UNTIL THEN I AM DRIVING AROUND IN UNRELIABLE VEHICLE, NEVER QUITE SURE HOW IT'S GOING TO ACT. IT INFURIATES ME THAT THERE ARE SO MANY OF THESE PARTS ON BACK ORDER, AND YET A RECALL WAS NEVER ISSUED. HAD THERE BEEN A RECALL WHEN THE OTHER THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAD ISSUES I WOULD NOT HAVE TO SIT AROUND WAITING, WHILE FEELING LIKE I'M PUTTING MY OWN LIFE IN DANGER. *TR