NHTSA Complaint #10543832 — 2010 MERCURY MILAN

AT DUSK ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER14,2013 TRAVELING NORTH BOUND ON 6 LANE INTERSTATE I-55 IN FAR LEFT LANE AT 67 MPH WITH CRUISE CONTROL ON THE CAR BEGAN TO SLOW RPM RETURNED TO IDLING SPEED UNDER 800 RPM AND WAS UNRESPONSIVE TO ACCELERATOR PRESSURE. THE TRAFFIC WAS HEAVY AND I WAS LUCKY TO BE ABLE TO MOVE ACROSS LANES AND REACH THE SHOULDER BEFORE CAR HAD SLOWED TO 5 MPH. THE WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON. SHUT OFF THE CAR RESTARTED IT AND ACCELERATOR WAS RESPONSIVE BEGAN TO ACCELERATE TO MERGE BACK ON TO HIGHWAY AND AGAIN LOST POWER. SHUT OFF CAR AGAIN AND ACCELERATING VERY SLOWLY WAS ABLE TO REACH AN EXIT ABOUT 1 MILE AWAY BEFORE CAR AGAIN LOST POWER. CALLED FOR A TOW BACK HOME AS VEHICLE WAS UNSAFE. CAR TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP SEPTEMBER 16TH FOR REPAIR AND THE THROTTLE BODY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I LEARNED ON LINE THAT THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH CERTAIN FORD AND MERCURY PRODUCTS BUT THERE HAS BEEN NO RECALL TO FIX THIS DEFECTIVE PART WHICH PUTS THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER IN GRAVE DANGER WHEN THE THROTTLE BODY MALFUNCTIONS .LUCKILY I WAS IN A FAIRLY POPULATED AREA AND CELL PHONE SERVICE WAS AVAILABLE. I FEAR WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF TRAFFIC HAD BEEN EVEN HEAVIER OR BEEN IN A MORE REMOTE AREA. THESE PRODUCTS SHOULD BE RECALLED AS THEY PRESENT A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUES FOR DRIVERS. *TR