NHTSA Complaint #11326792 — 2015 FORD MUSTANG

WHILE DRIVING UP A HILL AND ATTEMPTING TO PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE, I BRIEFLY LOST ACCELERATION. THIS HAPPENED AGAIN A FEW MINUTES LATER, AND REPEATED A COUPLE MORE TIMES. I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED THIS ISSUE BEFORE AND THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS, OR ANY OTHER SIGNS OF MECHANICAL FAILURE. AFTER HAPPENING SEVERAL TIMES, LOSING ACCELERATION INTERMITTENTLY WITHOUT TAKING MY FOOT OFF THE GAS, A WARNING MESSAGE DISPLAYED "HILL ASSIST NOT AVAILABLE," AND THEN DISAPPEARED. NO OTHER WARNING MESSAGES OR DASH INDICATORS APPEARED, AND I COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING RELATING TO HILL ASSIST IN MY SETTINGS. AFTER PARKING AND SHUTTING OFF MY CAR, I NOTICED THE BRAKE LIGHTS REMAINED ON- I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN THEM OFF. I SEARCHED ALL OF THESE ISSUES AND FOUND A BLOG POST WRITTEN BY ANOTHER OWNER EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUES. THE OTHER OWNER FOUND SMALL FRAGMENTS OF A BROKEN PLASTIC DISC ON THE FLOOR MAT, BELOW THE PETALS- I FOUND THE SAME THING IN MY CAR. I WENT TO A NEARBY AUTO ZONE FOR ASSISTANCE AND WAS ADVISED THE BROKEN PIECE WAS A "BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH PLUNGER." ONE OF THEIR ASSOCIATES QUICKLY INSTALLED A $3.00 REPLACEMENT FOR ME, WHICH SEEMED TO FIX ALL OF THE ISSUES. I HAVE NOT YET TAKEN MY CAR TO FORD, BUT PLAN TO DO SO ASAP. EACH TIME I LOST ACCELERATION I WAS TRAVELING UP A HILL, AND IT WAS ONLY TEMPORARY- WITH NO OTHER SYSTEMS APPEARING TO BE AFFECTED. *TR