NHTSA Complaint #11217838 — 2014 FORD FUSION

CAR LOST POWER ON (NON-INTERSTATE) HIGHWAY AS WE WERE COMING UP TO A FOUR-WAY STOP. WHEN MY WIFE TRIED TO GET THE CAR MOVING AGAIN, IT BUCKED AND SPUTTERED. THE WRENCH LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE CAR'S DASH, WHICH MEANS "POWERTRAIN FAULT", ACCORDING TO FORD. THE CAR BARELY RAN AND WE PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, SHUT IT OFF AND RESTARTED IT AFTER ONE MINUTE. IT THEN RAN BETTER AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET HOME. AFTER RESTARTING, THEN WRENCH LIGHT WENT OUT. IT HAS HAD A ROUGH IDLE SINCE THEN. THE DEALER FOUND NO STORED DTCS FROM THE INCIDENT, BUT AFTER SIGNIFICANT TESTING, THE CAR SET P0570 - UNABLE TO MAINTAIN IDLE SPEED. DEALER SAYS IT IS A FAILING ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY BUT THAT IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AS IT FAILED WITHOUT WARNING AND COULD HAVE PUT US IN SERIOUS DANGER IF WE WERE ON A CROWDED INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING IT ANYWHERE BUT ON IN-TOWN TRIPS AND MAYBE ON LIGHTLY-TRAVELED BACK ROADS. I HAVE BEEN ARGUING WITH FORD (THE COMPANY, NOT THE FORD DEALER) ON THE PHONE THAT THEY SHOULD COVER THE COST OF REPLACING THE THROTTLE BODY. SO FAR I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET ANYONE ON THE PHONE WHO CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN.