NHTSA Complaint #11558849 — 2018 FORD ECOSPORT

My car’s “low engine oil pressure” light came on at the end of a long road trip. I immediately began getting off the highway and trying to exit. That’s when the car stopped accelerating and I coasted to a stop in a neighborhood right off the road. I drove for less than 3 minutes after the light came on. My car was towed and the mechanic at the dealership told me it was a problem with the engine and I had no oil. I called my insurance, assuming a large pothole I hit on the road trip caused damage. But the adjuster found no evidence of damage at all. It turns out, the engine’s oil pump belt was shredded due to a tensioner problem. I googled this issue in my model car and discovered that the NHTSA is apredatory investigating this problem across 2018-2021 Ecosports. This is extremely concerning bc my car is barely 5 years old and only has 38,000 miles. Ford says the belt should last through 150,000 and it barely made it 1/4 of that. Because it wasn’t damaged and the vehicle isn’t recalled yet, I will likely have to pay nearly $8,000 out of pocket to repair my car.