NHTSA Complaint #11415728 — 2009 FORD FUSION

BEGINNING IN 2017, MY 2009 FORD FUSION BEGAN EXPERIENCING DECREASED BRAKING FOLLOWING ENGAGEMENT OF THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM. ON 20DEC2019, FORD ISSUED RECALL 19S54/NHTSA RECALL 19V904. ON 04 MAY 2021, I DELIVERED THE VEHICLE TO SUNTRUP FORD WESTPORT AND REVIEWED THE WORK TO BE PERFORMED WITH SERVICE ADVISOR JL INCLUDING REPAIRS FOR RECALL 19-S54 AND OTHER SERVICES. I RECEIVED A CALL MR. JL WHO ADVISED THE REPAIRS FOR RECALL COULD NOT BE COMPLETED WITHOUT ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC WORK RELATING TO NOT BEING ABLE TO BLEED THE FRONT BRAKES. WHEN ASKED IF THERE WOULD BE CHARGE FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC WORK, I WAS ADVISED THAT IT WOULD BE AN $80 CHARGE FOR 30 MINUTES OF TECHNICIAN TIME BUT WAS ALSO TOLD ITS LIKELY THE BRAKE LINES COLLAPSED AND THERE MIGHT BE CALIPER ISSUE. I VERBALLY AUTHORIZED THE ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC WORK ON 05MAY2021. I RECEIVED A TEXT MESSAGE FROM MR. J.L. STATING TO COMPLETE RECALL 19-S54 I WOULD HAVE TO PAY $820 +TAX TO REPLACE THE BRAKE HOSES AND THAT THERE MAY STILL BE A CALIPER ISSUE THAT MAY NEED ADDRESSED AS WELL PRIOR TO PERFORMING THE RECALL WORK. I CALLED MR. JL BACK TO DECLINE THE WORK AND TO PREPARE THE CAR FOR PICK UP SO I COULD GET A 2ND OPINION. ON 06 MAY 2021, I DELIVERED THE VEHICLE TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP REQUESTING A 2ND OPINION SPECIFICALLY REQUESTING INSPECTION THE BRAKE HOSES AND CALIPERS AND TEST IF THE BRAKES WOULD BLEED BRAKE FLUID. THE TECHNICIAN ADVISED THERE WERE NO ISSUES WITH BLEEDING ANY OF THE 4 BRAKES AND NO SIGNS OF CALIPERS STICKING. I CONTACTED A DIFFERENT ST. LOUIS AREA DEALERSHIP AND WAS ADVISED TO CONTACT THEM AGAIN IN APPROXIMATELY 1 MONTH AS THE PARTS ARE UNAVAILABLE. AS OF 08 MAY 2021, I AM STILL EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUES WITH THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM AS FIRST EXPERIENCED IN 2017 AND NO REPAIRS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE.