NHTSA Complaint #11223016 — 2016 LINCOLN MKX

IN MAY AND JUNE OF 2019 ON 2 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, OUR 2016 LINCOLN MKX IGNITION 'TURNED OFF' ON ITS OWN WITHOUT ANY INPUT BY THE DRIVER WHILE USING CRUISE-CONTROL ON A CROWDED HIGHWAY GOING 75 MPH! WHEN IT OCCURRED, A TEXT MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED SUPERIMPOSED OVER THE TACHOMETER THAT READ: 'CAUTION: IGNITION TURNED OFF'. FORTUNATELY, WHEN IT TURNED OFF, THE CAR AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTED INTO 'NEUTRAL' INSTEAD OF 'PARK', WHICH IT DOES AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE IGNITION SWITCH IS USED TO TURN THE CAR 'OFF'! AFTER IT SHUT OFF, WE COASTED IN 'NEUTRAL' WITHOUT POWER BRAKES OR POWER STEERING WHILE SURROUNDED BY MACK TRUCKS AND OTHER CARS. THANK GOD THERE WAS A SHOULDER ON THE ROADWAY WHERE WE COULD SAFELY PULL OVER. BEFORE WE COULD ATTEMPT TO RESTART THE CAR, WE HAD TO COAST TO A COMPLETE STOP, PUT THE CAR IN 'PARK', DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL, AND PRESS THE IGNITION BUTTON. HAD WE BEEN IN A WORK-ZONE W/CONCRETE BARRICADES AND NO SHOULDER, WE COULD HAVE BEEN RUN OVER/KILLED BY A MACK TRUCK AND/OR OTHER CAR(S) APPROACHING FROM BEHIND AT HIGH SPEEDS. THE SERVICE MANAGER AT OUR LINCOLN DEALERSHIP SAID THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS OCCURRENCE, BUT WE EASILY FOUND TWO (2) WEBSITES DISCUSSING THIS ISSUE REGARDING THE MKX. WE CAN ONLY WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE MAY HAVE ALREADY DIED WITH NO EXPLANATION ABOUT WHY THEY WERE AT A FULL STOP ON A BUSY HIGHWAY. BECAUSE WE RESTARTED THE CAR, THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID THE "ERROR" HISTORY IN THE COMPUTER WAS ERASED - BAD PROGRAMING! BOTH TIMES OUR INCIDENTS HAPPENED, WE HAD BEEN DRIVING ABOUT AN HOUR ON THE HIGHWAY. THE CAR HAS BEEN 'IN THE SHOP' AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR 2 WEEKS, AND WE ARE STILL AWAITING AN EXPLANATION AND FIX. I'M NOT SURE I'LL EVER FEEL CONFIDENT/SAFE ENOUGH TO DRIVE IT AGAIN!