NHTSA Complaint #10618523 — 2012 FORD FOCUS

THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED WHILE IN TRAFFIC ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY DURING RUSH HOUR EVENING TRAFFIC. I HAD TO COME TO A STOP ON TRAFFIC IN A CONSTRUCTION ZONE DUE TO TRAFFIC AT A POINT WHERE THERE WAS MOVING TRAFFIC IN LANES ON EITHER SIDE OF MY VEHICLE. THE CAR WAS RUNNING AS NORMAL, NO LIGHTS CAME ON (NOTHING TO ALERT TO AN ISSUE), HOWEVER, WHEN I WENT TO ACCELERATE MY CAR WOULD NOT ENGAGE THE TRANSMISSION. IT WAS AS IF MY CAR WAS IN PARK AND I WAS REVVING THE ENGINE. I PUT MY HAZARD LIGHTS ON, CALLED 911 TO REPORT I COULD NOT GET OUT OF MY VEHICLE TO MOVE MY CAR AS I FEARED I WOULD BE HIT SINCE IT WAS RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC AND COULD NOT EVEN OPEN MY DOOR. I SHUT MY ENGINE OFF, WAITED A FEW MINUTES, AND TRIED AGAIN. THE CAR STILL WOULD NOT MOVE. AFTER BEING STOPPED AND UNABLE TO MOVE FOR APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES, THE TRANSMISSION SEEMED TO RE-ENGAGE AND I WAS ABLE TO GET MY CAR OFF THE HIGHWAY. I HAD THE CAR TAKEN TO THE DEALER AS IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AFTER HAVING MY CAR FOR A WEEK. AS SOON AS I GOT MY CAR BACK, I DROVE APPROXIMATELY 10-15 MILES, AND THIS SAME ISSUE OCCURRED AGAIN, BUT THANKFULLY I WAS CLOSE TO HOME AND NOT IN ANY HEAVY TRAFFIC AS I WAS WITH THE FIRST INCIDENT. AGAIN, IT WAS ARRANGED TO TAKE MY CAR TO THE DEALER (THE DEALER HAD MY CAR FROM APPROXIMATELY 7/11/14 TO 8/1/14). AGAIN, I WAS TOLD THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. WITHIN 2 DAYS OF HAVING THE CAR RETURNED TO ME, I DROVE APPROXIMATELY 20-30 TOTAL MILES, AND MY CAR STOPPED ON ANOTHER HIGHLY TRAVELED ROAD, BUT THANKFULLY WHILE IN A TURN LANE. A STRANGER HELPED ME PUSH MY CAR TO A NEARBY GAS STATION WHERE IT HAD TO BE LEFT UNTIL IT COULD BE TOWED BACK TO THE DEALER. *TR