NHTSA Complaint #10534334 — 2011 FORD ESCAPE

I WAS DRIVING ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET WHEN MY CAR SHUDDERED, AND I NO LONGER HAD ANY GAS WHEN I PUSHED THE PEDAL DOWN. THE CAR WAS STILL ON, SO I WAS ABLE TO GUIDE THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE STREET, TURN THE CAR OFF AND THEN RESTART THE CAR. THE NEXT DAY, THE SAME THING HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES--ALWAYS A SHUDDER AND THEN NO GAS--BEFORE I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR TO MY FORD DEALERSHIP TO SEE WHAT WAS WRONG. THEY TOLD ME THE THROTTLE BODY WAS BAD. THEY LOOKED FOR A REPLACEMENT, BUT THEY SAID THE PART WAS ON A NATIONWIDE BACKORDER. THEY SAID I COULD GET THE PART CLEANED (AT MY EXPENSE), BUT THEY WOULDN'T GUARANTEE IT. SINCE I FREQUENTLY HAVE MY GRANDCHILDREN IN MY CAR, AND SINCE I AM FREQUENTLY ON THE INTERSTATE AT MUCH, MUCH HIGHER SPEEDS, I THINK I'LL WAIT FOR THE NEW PART--WHICH I HAVE BEEN TOLD HAS BEEN REDESIGNED. OF COURSE INSURANCE AND EXTENDED WARRANTIES WON'T PAY FOR A RENTAL CAR WHILE WAITING FOR A PART, SO I'M AT HOME--WRITING YOU! THE REAL REASON THAT I'M WRITING, OF COURSE, IS THAT THIS IS SUCH A SAFETY ISSUE. FOR MY CAR TO STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WAS A LITTLE SCARY. SINCE THERE IS A BACKORDER ON THE PART NATIONWIDE, I ASSUME I'M NOT THE FIRST, OR EVEN THE SECOND, PERSON TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM WITH THEIR FORD CAR. BTW, I CALLED NHTSA, AND MY REFERENCE NUMBER IS [XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR