NHTSA Complaint #752163 — 2000 MERCURY COUGAR

THE VEHICLE WOULD STALL DURING DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. WITHIN TWO DAYS THAT I RECEIVED THE VEHICLE IT STALLED. ELECTRICALS INTACT. MILEAGE 102. DEALER SAID MOST LIKELY BAD GAS, CALL IF HAPPENS AGAIN. AT JUST OVER 7000 MILES SOMETIME IN MARCH IT STARTED BUCKING AND THEN STALLED AT HIGHWAY SPEED. AFTER FIFTEEN MINUTES IT RESTARTED. I WAS VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AS I WAS STUCK ON THE SPAN OF A MAJOR BRIDGE WITH NO PLACE TO GO.. FOR THREE WEEKS THE DEALERSHIP ATTEMPTED TO FIND THE PROBLEM AND FINALLY BLAMED A FUEL PUMP. ONE WEEK LATER, AT 55 MPH, THE CAR ENGINE SHUT OFF WITH NO WARNING, ELECTRICALS APPEARED TO WORK. CAR RESTARTED ABOUT ONE MINUTE LATER ON FIRST TRY. DEALERSHIP BLAMED AIR CONDITIONER, EXCEPT I HAD NOT USED AIR CONDITIONER IN THE PREVIOUS SIX MONTHS. THEY NEVER FIGURED IT OUT AND COULD NOT DUPLICATE. AFTER A NASTY DEALING WITH FORD, MY LAWYER, AND THE FLORIDA LEMON LAW I NOW DRIVE A 2001 MERCURY DEATHTRAP/COUGAR. *AK