NHTSA Complaint #10874586 — 2009 FORD ESCAPE

WAS DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 20-25 MPH, SLOWING DOWN WHEN CAR LOST POWER. WRENCH LIGHT CAME ON FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED. PRESSING ACCELERATOR DID NOTHING. CAR CONTINUED TO SLOW DOWN TO A STOP WITH CAR STILL RUNNING, ALBEIT HESITATING AND "IDLING ROUGH". TURNED CAR OFF AND BACK ON. CAR STARTED BACK UP AND RAN OK BUT DID THE SAME THING THE NEXT DAY, BUT THIS TIME THE WRENCH LIGHT DID NOT COME ON. ONLINE RESEARCH INDICATED IT WAS LIKELY THE THROTTLE BODY, WHICH HAD POTENTIAL FOR DANGEROUS SITUATIONS, CITING POSSIBLE SUDDEN DECELERATION. SO I TOOK THE CAR TO A LOCAL FORD DEALER TO FIX IT, BUT THEY DID NOT FIX IT. INSTEAD THEY "FIXED" A DIFFERENT CODE THEY SAID SHOWED UP ON THE COMPUTER AND DID NOT EVEN ADDRESS THE THROTTLE BODY ISSUE. THE SAME THING HAPPENED TWO DAYS LATER BUT, AGAIN, NO LIGHTS CAME ON. THE THIRD TIME IT HAPPENED, THE SAME THING OCCURRED TWICE WITHIN 2 MILES. APPARENTLY IT'S STILL THE THROTTLE BODY I ASKED THE DEALERSHIP TO FIX A MONTH AGO THAT THEY DID NOT FIX. SO NOW I'M OUT $600 TO THE DEALERSHIP, AND THE PROBLEM IS STILL NOT FIXED. ON ALL OCCASIONS, THE CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN ON SIDE CITY STREETS AT A FAIRLY SLOW RATE OF SPEED, NOT EXCEEDING 25 MPH. AND FORTUNATELY TRAFFIC WAS CLEAR SO I COULD PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO GET THE CAR RE-STARTED SAFELY.