NHTSA Complaint #11012246 — 2011 FORD FLEX

WE ARE SEEING ALOT IN THE NEW MEDIA ABOUT FORD EXPLORERS AND EXHAUST ISSUES. ABOUT A YEAR AGO WE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR ISSUES WITH OUR FLEX. MY HUSBAND HAS A 30-35 MINUTE HIGHWAY COMMUTE TO WORK, WAS ARRIVING AT WORK AND COMING HOME FEELING ILL TO THE POINT WHERE HE WOULD NEED TO SIT OR LAY DOWN, IT WOULD EVENTUALLY PASS. WE NOTICED A STRONG ROTTEN EGG SMELL IN THE VEHICLE. FORD DEALER HAD THE CAR FOR 2 WEEKS, WAS ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ODOR - RELATED TO RUNNING A/C AT HIGHWAY SPEED - UNABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS CAUSING IT. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH - WE LEARNED THE ROTTEN EGG ODOR WAS SULPHIDE BASED - LIKELY HYDROGEN SULFIDE. SIMILAR SYMPTOMS AS CARBON MONOXIDE, BUT CARBON MONOXIDE IS ODORLESS. ALSO HYDROGEN SULFIDE, AS EXPOSURE CONTINUES, NUMBS THE SMELL SENSE SO THAT ONE THINKS THE ODOR IS GONE, WHILE TOXICITY LEVELS ARE INCREASING. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR CASE. THIS CAR WAS TOXIC, IT WAS LITERALLY MAKING MY HUSBAND SICK, AND WE DID NOT FEEL IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TRADED IN TO BELMONT FORD (NC) - THEY WERE COMPLETELY AWARE OF EVERYTHING IN THIS STATEMENT. THE FLEX WAS BUILT ON THE SAME PLATFORM AS THE EXPLORER IN 2011.