NHTSA Complaint #11339370 — 2015 FORD ESCAPE

WITHIN LAST WEEK, TWICE WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE ON A CITY HIGHWAY, THE ENGINE SUDDENLY SHUT OFF. LIGHTS, RADIO, DASHBOARD, ETC. ALL CONTINUED TO WORK. NOTIFICATION CAME ON DASHBOARD STATING "WARNING, VEHICLE IS NOT IN PARK." FORTUNATELY, IN BOTH INSTANCES I WAS ABLE TO COAST ONTO THE SHOULDER INTO A PARKING LOT AND AVOID CAUSING A WRECK OR BEING WRECKED INTO. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE! WITH CAR SAFELY IN A PARKING LOT, I MOVED MY TRANSMISSION INTO PARK. I TURNED MY KEY TO THE "OFF" POSITION. I REMOVED MY KEY. I REINSERTED THE KEY AND TRIED TO START THE VEHICLE. LIGHTS, RADIO, DASH, ETC. ALL CAME ON. HOWEVER, VEHICLE WOULD NOT START. THERE WAS NOT A "CLICK" AS IF THE ENGINE WAS TRYING TO TURN OVER. THERE WAS ONLY A NOTIFICATION OF "SYSTEM START FAULT." I TRIED OUR SPARE KEY, AND RECEIVED SAME NOTIFICATION. VEHICLE WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO MOVE TRANSMISSION FROM PARK INTO NEUTRAL TO BE TOWED. STEERING WHEEL WAS LOCKED UP. ABANDONED VEHICLE. AFTER ABOUT 2 HOURS, RETURNED TO VEHICLE, AND VEHICLE STARTED. TO CLARIFY, EVERYTHING LISTED HERE HAS HAPPENED 2 TIMES AND ON 2 SEPARATE OCCASIONS SO FAR. TESTS AT BOTH AUTOZONE AND O'REILY AUTO PARTS CONFIRM - AS I SUSPECTED, SINCE LIGHTS, RADIO, ETC. WOULD TURN ON - THAT THE BATTERY AND THE TRANSMISSION ARE WORKING JUST FINE. THIS IS HUGE SAFETY ISSUE THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD SUDDENLY SHUT OFF!