NHTSA Complaint #11591380 — 2016 FORD FUSION

The previous 2 models of this car had a recall on the button underneath the brake switch that is engaged by the pedal. They have not changed the design and the 2016 has the very same issue, plus another issue. We were able to replace the button ourselves since they decided not to admit that they did not change these parts even though they knew this was an issue years prior. Not only that, but the holder for the switch is part of the entire pedal assembly and it is the only part of this assembly that is made of plastic. The rest is metal. The problem is that since this is plastic, and it resides where the heat comes out from under the dash, the part becomes brittle and breaks into a million pieces just with normal wear. The pedal assembly is super expensive and you can't even get it out without removing the entire dash. We tried to get a used part and spent half of the day taking the part out only to find that it had done the exact same thing that my daughter's car did. The plastic disintegrates and falls apart. At that point there is no brake switch and the brake lights stay on and the car will decrease speed without warning or won't accelerate. This is something I am pretty sure Ford is well aware of since they recalled part of this defective design years ago. They just didn't admit that the entire thing is designed to fail. It is only a matter of time due to the constant heat that the plastic holder for the brake switch is on. All they had to do was change it to metal and it would have fixed that part of the issue, but then there is also the button itself that disintegrates due to the same heat exposure causing the symptoms listed above. They knew very well the design was flawed since the 2 previous years of this car were recalled for the same issue, and they are still using the same parts in the exact same way. They have not fixed anything and this company needs to be held accountable before someone gets hurt.