NHTSA Complaint #761952 — 1994 MERCURY COUGAR

VEHICLE BEGAN SPONTANEOUS ACCELERATION WHILE IDLE AND STOPPED ON 10 OCCASIONS SINCE 5/1/2002. IT TOOK ALL OF MY STRENGTH TO DEPRESS THE BRAKE TO KEEP THE CAR FROM JOLTING FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. WHILE PULLING INTO MY GARAGE TODAY, TRAVELLING AT LESS THAT 1 MPH, THE CAR ACCELEARATED ON ITS OWN AND I HAD TO SLAM ON THE BRAKE TO PREVENT FROM CRASHING INTO A HEATING OIL TANK. VEHICLE HAS BEGUN TO RANDOMLY SHUDDER WHEN APPLYING BRAKES AT VARIOUS SPEEDS FROM 10 TO 65 MPH. THIS IS NOT A CONSISTENT PROBLEM BUT VERY DANGEROUS WHEN IT OCCURRED ON HIGHWAY YESTERDAY. POWER WINDOW ON DRIVER SIDE NOW RANDOMLY SHUDDERS WHEN LOWERING. THIS IS NOT A CONSISTENT PROBLEM AND IS NEW. THE PASSENGER POWER WINDOW IS INOPERABLE AND TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME TO HAVE FIXED. THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH OTHER OWNERS OF THIS VEHICLE. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT HAS BEEN ON SINCE 1997 AND THIS IS ALSO A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WOULD COST ME $150 TO FIX AND THAT IT IS MERELY A SENSOR DEFECT AND NOT A AFETY ISSUE. HOWEVER, IF THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM, FORD SHOULD OVER THE COST FOR REPAIR, NOT THE CONSUMER.