NHTSA Complaint #11539640 — 2019 FORD TRANSIT

Brakes totally fail - only occasionally No accidents yet. 2019 Transit 350 XLT, EcoBoost engine. I bought it used: ~ 2 years old, 16K miles. While driving at various speeds: I push down on the brake pedal – and absolutely nothing happens. Pedal goes completely to the floor. Van does not slow down at all. I have flown thru stop signs. Nearly rear-ended a semi. Weird part: This only happens rarely. It has only happened 4 times in 2.5 years. Will go for months – almost a year – between episodes. Most of the time, brakes work absolutely perfectly. And a pre-condition that has to happen first: Before each of the 4 times it's happened, I drove at least 1 hour on the highway. But an hour of highway driving will NOT always set it off. Only sometimes. Cannot replicate this issue on-demand. Attempted resolution #1: Local Ford dealer completely inspected brake system. And said rear brakes were getting low (@ 18,000 miles) They recommended I have the rear brakes replaced. I was skeptical - but I had them do it. Then same symptom happened again, a few months later. Dealer agreed to just hold onto it, and whenever they had some slow time, they would take it out for a test drive & try to replicate things. After ~ a month, they had it up on a lift – and saw... Apparently, previous owner had been backing up – over something taller than the ground clearance & snagged parking brake cable, kinking it. Their theory was: The kinked parking brake cable never let the parking brake fully release, so the slightly dragging brake cable would eventually (after an hour+ of driving) make the rear brakes overheat & after enough highway driving, rear brakes were fading until they were non-functional. Attempted resolution #2: Dealer replaced parking brake cable. Problem remains. No warning lamps lit up. Problem has not been independently confirmed or reproduced. Entire brake system inspected by dealer. NOTE: Ford recalled pickups for this issue. (recall # 20V332000)