NHTSA says it's reviewing complaints of faulty Ford transmissions
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday it is "reviewing all available information, including complaints filed from consumers" after three members of Congress called for an investigation of Ford vehicles with faulty transmissions.
The safety regulator's comments came as Ford dealers awaited further guidance on how to handle customer concerns about the defective transmissions, on certain Fiesta and Focus vehicles. The automaker had said it would provide an update by July 19.
Ford has not offered additional guidance to its 3,100 dealers since the bulletin it sent them two weeks ago. That notice gave dealers permission to do a free fix on the transmissions for customers who came to dealership service lanes between July 12-19.
"Ford did not even send out an update on July 19 like it said it would do in that first bulletin," said a Ford service manager who asked to not be named for fear of retribution.
A Free Press investigation found that Ford knowingly sold Focus and Fiesta cars with defective DPS6 transmissions. The transmission can cause the vehicles to lose acceleration when it slips into neutral at various speeds.
Following that report earlier this month, some members of Congress — including U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees NHTSA — called for an immediate review by regulators. The other members of Congress seeking a review were U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.
Much more: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2019/07/24/ford-focus-fiesta-transmissions-nhtsa-reviewing/1805008001/
FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2011 file photo, a Blue Candy Metallic 2012 Ford Focus SEL Sedan, left, and a Lime Squeeze Metallic 2012 Ford Fiesta SE are dispayed at the Maroone Ford of Miami dealership in Miami. More Americans are choosing small cars like the Chevrolet Cruze and even smaller subcompacts like the Honda Fit because they're worried about high gas prices and big car payments. They're also finding that small cars have many of the same features as larger ones, and are much improved from the cramped, chintzy econoboxes of the 1980s and 1990s. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) (Photo: Wilfredo Lee, AP)