NHTSA Complaint #10895988 — 2012 FORD MUSTANG

ON AUGUST 1, 2016, AT APPROXIMATELY 7:30 P.M., I WAS DRIVING SOUTH ON U.S, HIGHWAY 1 (Y,S, HIGHWAY 2 IS A 3-LANE ROAD). SUDDENLY, MY VEHICLE LOST THE POSER TO ACCELERATE. I WAS PANICKED, AS THERE WAS TRAFFIC BEHIND ME AND TO MY LEFT SIDE. I COULD DO NOTHING TO STOP THE LOSS OF ACCELERATION. FORTUNATELY, MY FRIEND AS FOLLOWING ME AND WAS IMMEDIATELY AWARE THAT I WAS HAVING A PROBLEM. MY FRIEND IMMEDIATELY PUT ON HIS EMERGENCY FLASHERS; AS I SLOWED, I WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF TO THE SIDE AND COAST INTO A FILLING STATION. AT THIS TIME, I NOTICED TWO THINGS; THE CAR RAN ROUGHLY AT A VERY SLOW SPEED AND A WRENCH SYMBOL APPEARED ON THE DASH. I WAS ABLE TO PULL TO A SAFE LOCATION ON THE FILLING STATION LOT. MY FRIEND SEARCHED FOR THE SYMBOL IN THE OWNER'S MANUAL WHICH INDICATED THERE WAS A THROTTLE CONTROL PROBLEM AND I SHOULD CONTACT MY DEALER IMMEDIATELY. AT THIS TIME, I CALLED AAA AND WAS ADVISED THAT A TOW TRUCK WOULD BE THERE IN APPROXIMATELY AN HOUR AND A HALF. WHEN THE TOW TRUCK ARRIVED, I COMPLETED THE PAPERWORK AND THE CAR WAS TAKE TO PARADISE FORD WHERE I PURCHASED IT IN 2012. THE FOLLOWING MORNING, FORD CALLED ME AND DIAGNOSED IT AS A DEFECTIVE THROTTLE BODY ASSEMBLY AND REPLACED IT. SOME RESEARCH INDICATED THAT A TSB HAD BEEN ISSUED TO FORD DEALERS ABOUT THE MALFUNCTION OF THIS ITEM. BECAUSE IN MY CASE, THIS WAS AN OBVIOUS SAFETY ISSUE, I FEEL FORD SHOULD HAVE NOTIFIED ME AND GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE IT REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. AS A RESULT OF THIS, I WAS CHARGED $621 FOR THE REPAIR. TO REITERATE, THE MAIN ISSUE HERE IS THAT IN AN UNSAFE SITUATION DUE TO, WHAT I PERCEIVE, AS THE FORD DEALER'S NEGLIGENCE.