NHTSA Complaint #11503206 — 2022 FORD BRONCO

On January 17, 2023, while driving down a commonly driven road (Muldoon) in Anchorage, Alaska at approximately 30 mph, I suddenly heard a large air escaping noise "Psh Psh Psh Psh" and it took me a moment to realize what was happening--the dash indicated the PSI of my rear driver's-side tire was deflating rapidly, to completely flat. Had the vehicle lost control in these snowy conditions, it could have ran into multiple other cars on the road--not ruling out the possibility of a roll-over type accident. When I pulled over into a parking lot, I figured that it was just a flat tire, so I jacked up the vehicle. However, at about the point that the front driver's side tire was leaving the ground, but the rear one wasn't, I determined there must have been an additional issue. I looked behind the tire at the suspension, and it appears that an arm of the suspension had broken off and either destabilized the tire to the point where it lacked a seal around the rim and the air leaked out entirely, or put a hole in the tire. No hole was identifiable, but the tire was so deflated it was hard to tell. When I called the dealership, Kendall Ford of Anchorage, they let me know that they didn't have an appointment until March 2023--at which point I refuted that making me wait 2 months with an undriveable vehicle with under 5,000 miles on it was unacceptable--especially for the price I paid (nearly $70,000). No one has been able to inspect the part yet, but it is clear from photos that the rear suspension on the driver's side does not match the passenger's side rear suspension. There were no warning of failure before this occurred, and the vehicle had been treated very well--it has never been off trail or offroading in the sense that it was in an untraveled area. It has been to archangel pass once, but I would not consider this offroading because the trail is not particularly difficult to pass.