2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid

DRIVING AT 50+ MPH ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS AND VEHICLE GIVES STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE AND SUDDENLY REDUCES GREATLY IN SPEED. IT RANDOMLY HAS OCCUED AND WHEN IT HAS, I HAD TO TRY TO NAVIGATE OUT OF 50+MPH TRAFFIC AFTER THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY REDUCES SPEED TO ABOUT 20 MPH TO A SHOULDER OR OTHER SAFE AREA. HAD THE COOLANT PUMP REPLACED BUT STILL OCCURS. FORD SAID THE TWIN VEHICLE THE 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID HAS RECALLS FOR THE THROTTLE BODY ASSEMBLY AND BLEND DOOR ACTUATOR FOR HYBRID BATTERY COOLING SYSTEM THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS CAUSING THE STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE WHICH BECAUSE THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY DROPS FROM HIGHWAY SPEEDS TO ABOUT 20MPH COULD CAUSE SERIOUS ACCIDENTS. SINCE THE 08 MARINER HYBRID IS THE 08 ESCAPE HYBRIDS TWIN, THE THROTTLE BODY ASSEMBLY AND HYBRID BATTERY SYSTEM BLEND DOOR ACTUATOR SHOULD BE RECALLED ON THE MARINER HYBRID ALSO AND REPLACES TO PROTECT LIVES BY PREVENTING ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF THE DEFECTIVE PARTS. *JS

JUST AFTER STARTING MY CAR AND DRIVING DOWN MY STREET AT ~5MPH, THERE WAS A WARNING SYMBOL (RED TRIANGLE) AND THEN MESSAGE SAYING "STOP SAFELY NOW." THE VEHICLE THEN LOST POWER STEERING, AND POWER TO THE ENGINE. I RESTARTED THE CAR AND MADE IT ~100FT AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS ALSO HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES PREVIOUSLY ON THE HIGHWAY TRAVELING ~65MPH AND WITH THE SAME MESSAGE "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE APPEARED AND IMMEDIATELY LOST ALL POWER TO STEERING AND THE ENGINE. I WENT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD TO REPLACE THE HYBRID COOLANT PUMP AND BLEND DOORS AND THIS FIXED THE PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL MONTHS UNTIL TODAY. I HAD ALSO JUST TAKEN THE VEHICLE INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOR A RECALL ON THE POWER STEERING. THIS LOSS OF POWER AND ABILITY TO STEER IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED! *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY MARINER HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A TURN, THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT EXTREME FORCE WAS REQUIRED TO CONTROL THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE VEHICLE WOULD INDEPENDENTLY RESUME TO NORMAL OPERATION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE COMPUTER NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 87,000.

HAD THE THROTTLE BODY FIXED ONCE TWO MONTHS AGO BECAUSE I WAS GOING 45, MY SUV. HAZARD LIGHT CAME ON AND IT SAID TO SLOW DOWN AND PULL OVER SAFELY. THEN IT HAS HAPPENED THREE MORE TIMES SINCE I GOT IT FIXED, MY SUV IS IN THE SHOP AGAIN, I PAID 845 LAST TIME AND I STILL HAVE $15,000 LEFT TO PAY ON MY CAR. I CAN'T AFFORD TO KEEP PAYING TO GET THIS FIXED, LET ALONE THE SAFETY ISSUE.THE LADY TWO TIMES IT HAPPENED I HAD MY BABY IN THE CAR ON THE FREEWAY AND I WAS IN THE MIDDLE LANE AND IT WAS RAINING... IT WAS FRIGHTENING. *TR

WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING OUR 2008 MERCURY HYBRID MARINER ON A HIGHWAY AT A SPEED OF APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, A WARNING LIGHT APPEARED ON THE DASH (RED TRIANGLE WITH AND EXCLAMATION POINT) AND THE VEHICLE BEGAN SLOWING DOWN IN A MANNER THAT PREVENTED HER FROM CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF THE VEHICLE. MY WIFE, FORTUNATELY, WAS ABLE TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY WITHOUT INCIDENT. THE FORD DEALERSHIP'S DIAGNOSTIC TEST REVEALED A FAULTY ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY AND THE DEALERSHIP RECOMMENDED IMMEDIATE REPLACEMENT FOR SAFETY REASONS. I UNDERSTAND THAT AS A RESULT OF SIMILAR ISSUES WITH FORD ESCAPE AND MERCURY MARINER MODELS, THROUGH A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM, FORD VOLUNTARILY HAS EXTENDED WARRANTY WORK FOR SOME ESCAPE AND MARINER VEHICLES. THE VIN FOR OUR 2008 MERCURY HYBRID MARINER, HOWEVER, WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS PROGRAM. I SPOKE WITH A REPRESENTATIVE AND WITH A SUPERVISOR FROM FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE (800-392-3673), AND THE SUPERVISOR REPORTED THAT FORD IS NOT IN A POSITION TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE WITH RESPECT TO MY VEHICLE, BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ENOUGH DATA TO INCLUDE MY VEHICLE WITHIN THE VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM. *TR

AS I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY, MY MERCURY MARINER HYBRID DISPLAYED A "STOP SAFELY NOW" SIGN ON THE CONTROL PANEL. NOT EVEN A MINUTE LATER, THE CAR BEGAN TO SHUT DOWN AND I HAD TO MANEUVER GET OFF THE FREEWAY. WHEN I PARKED THE CAR, I SAT FOR A MOMENT AND THEN THE CAR STARTED RIGHT UP. I DROVE ANOTHER FEW MILES AND IT DISPLAYED THE SAME MESSAGE AND THEN STOPPED. IT STARTED AGAIN AND THEN DID THE SAME THING AGAIN. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MERCURY MARINER HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED AND THE HYBRID WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE OPERATED NORMALLY ONCE IT WAS TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 57,000.