NHTSA Complaint #11430887 — 2013 DODGE DART

The incident that occurred involved my clutch and transmission. I had purchased the car (8/17/2021)about 2 weeks before complete failure. Everything was going fine until I entered the freeway (8/26/2021)and after driving around 5 miles in 6th gear doing about 65 with no initial issues, I started to smell something burning. I immediately looked for the safest way to get out of traffic. While slowing, gears weren’t shifting and I was basically stuck in neutral. I only had control of brakes and steering wheel which caused me to have to make extremely dangerous evasive maneuvers. Once safe, I was able to find the source of the smoke. Which turned out to be dot 3 from where, what I think is the slave cylinder connects to the top of the transmission. I was able to remove it to check for damage/defection. It was dripping dot 3 and I didn’t see any noticeable defects. Plugged it back. Tried to drive and the clutch engages to start vehicle/change gears. But gears were able to change without clutch as well. Yet i couldn’t get out of neutral. Towed it home, next day clutch pedal was on the floor with no pressure. All components are available for inspection upon request, the safety of everyone involved was put at risk due to me not having any control of anything but the brakes and steering; with no warning or idea of what could be wrong due to the instantaneous nature of the disastrous incident. On a public highway with people going speeds of up to 85 mph. I have not been able to get confirmation or reproduction by anyone. I have not had any inspection due to my lack of knowledge on this process. There was no warning light or indication that the incident was going to happen until I had limited-no control.