NHTSA Complaint #11626201 — 2021 FORD BRONCO SPORT

My 2021 Bronco Sport suddenly died on [XXX]. The parking brake engaged unexpectedly, locking all four brakes and resulting in a significant skid mark. An error message flashed: “Park Not Available. Apply Park Brake Before Exiting,” and the park gear light blinked. I turned off the engine again, but the car was dead when I tried to restart it. After getting a jump start, the car turned on. However, the parking brake engaged again shortly after. I was able to drive it off the road. My wife, a research librarian, found that many others have reported issues related to “Sudden Death Syndrome." See below. [XXX] [XXX] ). The car was towed from PA, where we were visiting, to Stanford Ford, where we purchased it on [XXX]. On 11/13, the dealership told us there was a short circuit in the wiring connected to the solenoid and estimated $900.00 for labor. At noon on 11/15, the technician was test-driving the car. By 4:17 PM, I was told it was ready. 5 min. later, they told me it wasn't ready due to another issue. At 11:15am on 11/18, we were informed the issue was a short circuit in the transmission, costing $13,000. How is that possible? The car is only three years old! We've faced many recalls with this car, the last just this past August, but the most dangerous issue is the unexpected engagement of the parking brakes, causing chaotic behavior. Given the number of similar incidents, it's hard to believe there hasn't been a recall. We could have been injured or even killed if we had been driving over 40 mh and driving in heavy traffic, or worse, on the highway. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)