NHTSA Complaint #10924209 — 2005 FORD EXPLORER

THE GEAR SHIFTER/LEVER BROKE OFF INTO MY HAND WHEN ATTEMPTING TO SHIFT FROM PARK TO REVERSE. THE GEAR SHIFTER/LEVER BROKE AT THE BASE, INSIDE THE STEERING COLUMN. THE BROKEN PART SEEMS TO BE A CAST METAL PART, THAT THE GEAR SHIFTER/LEVER ROTATES TO CHANGE GEARS. THE FRACTURE SURFACE APPEARS ROUGH -- IT IS NOT CLEAN. FORTUNATELY THE CAR IS STUCK IN PARK, NOT ANOTHER GEAR, AND IN A SAFE PLACE (PARKING GARAGE). SHOULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED WHEN IN ANY OTHER GEAR I WOULD HAVE TO TURN OFF THE CAR IN THAT GEAR, IF I HAD ENOUGH ROOM TO MANEUVER THE CAR TO A SAFE PLACE. OTHERWISE IT WOULD JUST HAVE TO SIT WHEREVER IT WAS LEFT, NO MATTER HOW INCONVENIENT TO OTHER DRIVERS. I CALLED FORD AND THEY STATE THIS IS NOT A DOCUMENTED ISSUE, THEREFORE NO RECALL OR REIMBURSEMENT IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, AN INTERNET SEARCH REVEALS THIS IS HAS HAPPENED TO MANY PEOPLE, WITH PICTURES OF THE SAME EXACT BREAK POINT THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED. ALSO, THERE ARE AFTER-MARKET REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR THIS EXACT PART, FURTHER HINTING THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM.