NHTSA Complaint #11526254 — 2018 FORD ECOSPORT

On my way to work as a travel nurse in another state from home, my car had an engine oil pressure light come on. It was the dark hours of the morning and I wasn't sure what it meant so I looked for the next place to stop safely. Not even five minutes later, I heard a large bang, almost like a gunfire sound, and large billows of smoke came from the front part of the car. My car handling went out and I lost complete control of the car and it started to skid. I gripped the steering wheel as a way to turn into my skid to steady the car until it came to a stop. Luckily there was no one on the road and I avoided a crash. After sending it to the Ford dealer, I found out a few weeks later that the car needed a total engine replacement which astounded me on a car that had less than 32,000 miles. My car is under warranty and I had just did an oil change and 21 point inspection two months before which was checked out good and it was not due for another couple hundred miles. I am now fighting with Ford to address this issue as I now know this is a common problem with the Ford 1.0L Ecoboost Engines. The car is getting the Engine replaced (a band-aid fix to a open, bleeding wound) but it doesn't help the fact that this is an unsafe vehicle and can happen again. When, not if, that happens, safety is a huge issue as I almost crashed the car the first time. Unfortunately, my state of Florida will not buy this car back as I have owned it for over the two years, however, I still owe money on it and have no choice to keep it until I can trade it in. Ford and the NHTSA needs to address the safety issues with this vehicle. The next person that this happens too (could be me again) might not be so lucky.