NHTSA Complaint #10552621 — 2009 FORD ESCAPE

WHILE DRIVING MY 2009 FORD ESCAPE (V6) HOME FROM WORK, MY CAR LOST ACCELERATION. THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING, THE LIGHTS STILL WORKED, RADIO ON, POWER STEERING, BUT I HAD NO ACCELERATION RESPONSE FROM THE GAS PEDAL. I WAS ABLE TO COAST MY CAR ONTO A SIDE ROAD WITHOUT INCIDENT, AND NOTICED THE SERVICE LIGHT WAS ON BEFORE TURNING MY CAR OFF (WRENCH SYMBOL). I WAITED FOR A FEW MOMENTS, AND TRIED TO RESTART THE CAR. TO MY SURPRISE, THE CAR STARTED UP IMMEDIATELY, AND I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE HOME WITHOUT FURTHER ISSUE. I TOOK THE CAR TO A LOCAL AUTO SHOP TO HAVE THE COMPUTER CHECKED TO SEE IF THE ERROR WAS STILL IN THE SYSTEM, BUT IT WAS ALREADY CLEARED. TWO WEEKS LATER, WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM A VACATION WEEKEND, THE CAR DID THE SAME THING, EXCEPT THIS TIME I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT 70MPH, THREE HOURS FROM HOME WITH MY SON IN THE BACK SEAT. TO SAY I WAS RATTLED WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. I WAS ABLE TO GET TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, TURN THE CAR OFF, RESTART THE CAR AND REJOIN TRAFFIC. ROUGHLY 1 HOUR LATER, THE SAME THING HAPPENED. I IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE CAR TO THE NEAREST FORD DEALERSHIP AND DROPPED THE CAR OFF FOR INSPECTION AND SERVICE. THE DEALER WAS ABLE TO PINPOINT THE ISSUE TO THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY, AND DETERMINED IT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. $375 AND 24 HOURS LATER THE CAR WAS FIXED. NO ISSUES AFTER HAVING THE CAR BACK IN MY POSSESSION FOR TWO WEEKS. I WANTED TO ISSUE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT, AND EXPRESS MY DISSATISFACTION WITH FORD MOTOR COMPANY FOR KNOWING ABOUT THIS SAFETY ISSUE, AND DRAGGING THEIR FEET ON ISSUANCE OF A RECALL. THE DELPHI MANUFACTURED COMPONENT WAS KNOWN TO BE FLAWED, AND HAD ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB) 09-23-5, AND RE-ENGINEERED THE COMPONENT. I AM A LOYAL FORD DRIVER, BUT I FEAR FORD'S LACK OF ETHICAL CONDUCT ON THIS ISSUE MAY BE CAUSE FOR RECONSIDERATION OF FUTURE PURCHASES. *TR