2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid

I HAVE A 2010 MERCURY MILAN. THIS HAS BEEN AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM: SOMETIMES THE CAR FEELS LIKE IT DOES A HARD GEAR SHIFT--THE WRENCH LIGHT COMES ON AND THE CAR LOSES POWER. I STILL HAVE POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES BUT PRESSING ON THE GAS DOES NOTHING. IF I TURN OFF THE ENGINE AND RESTART, IT IS FINE--SOMETIMES FOR A FEW MINUTES AND SOMETIMES FOR A FEW MONTHS. *TR

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON THE HIGHWAY ON 9/2, THE WRENCH WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CAR LOST POWER AND STARTED SHAKING. WE HAD TO DODGE TRAFFIC TO LIMP OFF THE ROAD AND STOPPED THE ENGINE. UPON STARTING AGAIN, THE WARNING LIGHT WAS CLEARED AND WE HESITANTLY DROVE HOME. WE CALLED THE LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP AND WERE TOLD THAT IF THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN, TO NOT SHUT OFF THE ENGINE AND TO DRIVE DIRECTLY TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE NEXT DAY (9/3) MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE CAR ALONE AND THE WARNING CAME ON AGAIN, SHE LOST SPEED AND THE VEHICLE STARTED SHAKING BADLY. SHE LIMPED AS SAFELY AS SHE TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD SHE HAD TO LEAVE THE CAR THERE BECAUSE IT WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE FOLLOWING DAY (9/4) WE WERE TOLD THAT THE THROTTLE BODY (ETB) NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. BECAUSE WE NEEDED THE CAR FOR A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT AND BECAUSE THE CAR WAS "UNSAFE TO DRIVE", WE AUTHORIZED THEM TO REPLACE THE ETB. AFTER RESEARCHING THE ISSUE, WE FOUND THAT THE ETB WAS EXACTLY THE SAME ONE THAT WAS PART OF THE NHTSA INVESTIGATION, WHICH INCLUDED THE ESCAPE/ MARINER HYBRIDS, BUT SURPRISINGLY DID NOT INCLUDE THE FUSION/MILAN HYBRIDS. TO PRECLUDE A MASSIVE RECALL, FORD LAUNCHED A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM THAT BLATANTLY EXCLUDED THE FUSION/ MILAN HYBRIDS, EVEN THOUGH THEY USE THE IDENTICAL DEFECTIVE ETB. AS PART OF THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM, FORD ISSUED EXTENDED WARRANTIES OF 10 YR/150,000 MILES FOR THE ETB. SINCE THE SAME DEFECTIVE ETB WAS USED IN THE 2010 FUSION/MILAN HYBRIDS, IT POSES THE SAME SAFETY ISSUE AS IN THE OTHER "COVERED" VEHICLES. AS SUCH, IT SHOULD BE FURTHER SCRUTINIZED BY THE NHTSA AND/OR SUBSEQUENTLY COVERED BY THE SAME FORD CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM. FORD CLEVERLY CONCEDED TO THE PROGRAM TO PRECLUDE A MASSIVE RECALL AND THEN BLATANTLY EXCLUDED 40,000 TO 50,000 FUSION/MILAN HYBRIDS, THAT ARE EQUALLY DEFECTIVE AND UNSAFE. NHTSA, PLEASE HELP. *TR

MY 2010 MERCURY MILAN HYBRID THREW THE WRENCH LIGHT TWICE LAST WEEK. BOTH TIMES, IT LOST NEARLY ALL POWER, AND I HAD TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP ON THE HIGHWAY. MY FORD DEALER DETERMINED IT WAS THE THROTTLE BODY, FORCING THE VEHICLE INTO A SOFTWARE ENFORCED LIMP MODE. UPON DOING SOME RESEARCH I DISCOVERED THAT THROTTLE BODIES IN MILANS, FUSIONS, AND OTHER VEHICLES HAVE BEEN COVERED BY CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03 FOR 150,000 MILES & 10 YEARS. FOR SOME REASON THE HYBRID MODEL HAS BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THE PROGRAM, INCLUDING A SOFTWARE UPDATE TO PREVENT THE CAR FROM BECOMING DANGEROUSLY UNDERPOWERED IF THE OLD PART FAILED. I HAVE CALLED FORD TWICE, AND BEEN DEEPLY DISSATISFIED WITH HOW MY ISSUE HAS BEEN HANDLED. THEY SEEM TO HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY EXCLUDED THE HYBRIDS, PERHAPS IT WAS AN OVERSIGHT. THE DEALER HAS VERIFIED THAT THE PART THAT WAS REPLACED IS THE SAME EXACT PART BEING SUPPLIED FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03. I PAID NEARLY DOUBLE AND TOOK A RISK ON BUYING AN EARLY FORD HYBRID. MY CAR HAS ABOUT 1/3 OF THE MILES AND IS ONLY HALF AS OLD AS MANY CARS WITH THE SAME PART THAT HAVE RECEIVED SOFTWARE UPDATES AND FREE REPLACEMENTS WHEN REQUIRED. MY DEALER HAS VERIFIED THAT THE PART THAT WAS REPLACED IS THE SAME PART NUMBER BEING REPLACED UNDER CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N03. IT IS DANGEROUS FOR FORD TO NOT NOTIFY HYBRID CUSTOMERS OF THE FAULTY PART, AND EVEN MORE DANGEROUS NOT TO ADDRESS IT VIA SOFTWARE AND IF NECESSARY REPLACEMENT, AS THEY HAVE DONE WITH MOST ALL OTHER CARS USING THE PART. *TR

THE CAR WOULD INEXPLICABLY STOP DURING DRIVING AND DISPLAY THE RED TRIANGLE WITH THE MESSAGE STOP SAFELY INTERMITTENTLY SOON AFTER THE TIME IT WAS BOUGHT. BUT UPON TURNING IT OFF IT WOULD RESTART. THE DEALERSHIPS DID NOT FIND ANYTHING TO FIX. THE RED TRIANGLE DISPLAY AND SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER WHILE DRIVING DEFECT STEADILY WORSENED AND BECAME SO FREQUENT THAT IT INTERFERED WITH DRIVING. BUT EACH TIME THE CAR WOULD RESTART AND DRIVE. IT WAS AGAIN REPORTED TO YOUR DEALERSHIP WHEN IT WAS BROUGHT IN FOR SERVICE AT ABOUT 48,000 MILES. AGAIN I WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NO PROBLEM. ON JUNE 6, 2014 THE CAR COMPLETELY DIED ON A BUSY ROUTE. TWO GOOD SAMARITANS BEHIND ME STOPPED AND HELPED BRING THE TRAFFIC TO A HALT. THEN THEY HELPED PUSH THE DISABLED CAR ONTO A DRIVEWAY BEFORE PROCEEDING ON THEIR WAY. I ESCAPED SERIOUS INJURY OR EVEN DEATH, WHICH MAY WELL HAVE RESULTED IF THIS HAD HAPPENED ON A FREEWAY. THE CAR HAD TO BE TOWED IN AS IT BECAME NON-RESPONSIVE WITH NO POSSIBILITY OF RESTARTING IT. FORD CLARIFIED THAT THE HYBRID BATTERY CABLE IS TOO SHORT FOR THE ENGINE/TRANSAXLE MOVEMENT AND CAUSES THE HYBRID BATTERY TO BE DESTROYED AS WELL. NEITHER THE HYBRID BATTERY NOR THE HYBRID BATTERY CABLE ARE COVERED BY THE VARIOUS WARRANTIES FOR THIS DEFECT ACCORDING TO FORD. *JS

DRIVING 65 MPH ON INTERSTATE; CAR STOPPED ACCELERATING, STARTING DROPPING IN SPEED. PRESSED ACCELERATOR UNTIL ON FLOOR, WOULD NOT ACCELERATE, ONLY CONTINUED DECREASING IN SPEED. "WRENCH" INDICATOR APPEARED ON VEHICLE ELECTRONIC DASHBOARD. STOPPED. WHEN TURNED OFF AND BACK ON WRENCH WAS GONE, CAR WOULD ACCELERATE, BUT SEEMED TO BE "MISSING". TOOK TO DEALER FOR REGULAR OIL CHANGE AND MAINTENANCE, ASKED THEM TO CHECK. THEY DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING. 4 DAYS AFTER GETTING IT CHECK SAME PROBLEM OCCUR ED. THEN 2 DAYS AFTER THAT IT OCCURRED AGAIN, AND BESIDES "WRENCH" LIGHT THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT ILLUMINATED. TOOK CAR INTO DEALER, IT IS STILL THERE. DEALER SAID THE THROTTLE BODY IS BAD, AND IT IS NOT COVERED. I FOUND WHERE FORD HAS HAD MULTIPLE PROBLEMS WITH THIS, AND ISSUED WARRANTY EXTENSIONS ON MERCURY MILAN, AND OTHER VEHICLES, FROM 2009-2013, BUT THEY ARE NOT SURE IT APPLIES TO MY VEHICLE. SERIOUSLY? SOUNDS CONSPICUOUS THAT MY CAR WOULD HAVE THAT VERY PROBLEM BUT IT WOULDN'T BE AN "ISSUE" THAT NEEDED RECALLING/OR FIXING UNDER WARRANTY! *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 MERCURY MILAN HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH, THERE WAS A SUDDEN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND AN ABNORMAL NOISE COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED AND FAILED TO RESPOND. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FAILED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

WHILE DRIVING ON FREEWAY, WARNING LIGHT CAME ON TO HAVE POWER STEERING SERVICED. NO PROBLEM STEERING THE CAR AT THAT TIME, BUT AFTER STOPPING AND TURNING OFF ENGINE, THE POWER ASSIST HAD BEEN DISABLED AND I COULD NOT STEER THE CAR. MANAGED TO GET IT TO A DEALER IN SENACA FALLS, NY, WHO RESET THE SYSTEM, BUT COULD NOT FIND CAUSE AND HE REFUSED TO CHARGE ME FOR THE WORK, AS I WAS TRAVELING ACROSS STATE AND HE DID NOT WANT LIABILITY IF SOMETHING HAPPENED. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT DEFECT IN STEERING AND THE RISK THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ME WHILE DRIVING. *JS