Complaints claim SUV safety risk

Owners of 2004 Ford Explorers have filed more than 200 complaints to regulators about their vehicles’ transmissions, with most saying the SUVs shift into reverse without warning and surge backward, federal records show.

Ford officials say the transmission problem has never posed any safety threat and was addressed years ago through a service program at dealerships. But complaints continue, and the issue has caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“We have not launched a formal investigation. But we are certainly very much aware of the potential problem and have been watching it very closely,” Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the watchdog agency, said last week.

Of particular concern are complaints alleging Explorers’ transmissions don’t fully go into park, then slip into reverse, Tyson said.

On Monday, a trial is scheduled to start in DeKalb County involving Jessica Mundy, whose spine was fractured when she was run over by her 2004 Ford Explorer after she got out to mail a package in McDonough. She was 22 at the time.

In court records, Mundy, who is suing Ford for damages, alleges she is a paraplegic because of a transmission design defect that let her Explorer unexpectedly shift from park to reverse. The suit alleges that the defect also allows drivers to put the shifter in what appears to be park — but really isn’t.

Officials at Ford Motor Co.’s headquarters outside Detroit said in a written statement: “While our sympathies go out to Ms. Mundy and her family, we do not believe the Explorer or its transmission are defective or to blame for this tragic accident. We believe operator error led to the accident because Ms. Mundy failed to shift her vehicle into Park before exiting the vehicle.”

The company points to an audio transcript from a dashboard camera on a police car that responded to the accident in November 2005. As Mundy was lying on the ground, her spine fractured and complaining of serious pain, she said to a police officer: “I was getting out of the car to drop something, that’s when I fell and, obviously, I only put it in reverse, because it ran over me and it happened so fast.”

Recently, as Mundy reviewed the tape during a deposition, she said that’s what she “assumed” happened. Mundy said she believed at the time of the incident she had put the Explorer in park, “but I just logically thought that since it ran over me it was in reverse.”

Mundy’s attorneys declined to comment for this article.

Court papers note that Mundy’s Explorer was one of several Ford vehicles covered by a transmission repair service bulletin issued by the automaker in January 2005. Mundy’s lawyers have alleged that the automaker’s fix, which was done on the woman’s Explorer, could have contributed to the vehicle slipping out of park. Ford’s lawyers, in court papers, say the allegation is without any basis.

Ford officials objected to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writing about the service bulletin, saying it has nothing to do with any safety defect and has nothing to do with the Mundy case.

The bulletin — which Ford calls a “customer satisfaction program” — notified owners that the factory-installed transmission fluid may over time cause their vehicles to experience “delayed/harsh reverse engagements.” Ford told owners to take vehicles to dealers, who would install a transmission fluid additive to correct the existing fluid.

“The longer that your vehicle is operated with the original fluid, the greater the possibility that your vehicle will experience transmission shifting concerns in the future,” Ford said in an April 2005 follow-up letter to vehicle owners.

Consumers have filed more than 200 complaints with the NHTSA about the automatic transmission in 2004 Ford Explorers. Most involve a delayed engagement of the transmission when the SUV is shifted from park into reverse, or into reverse from another gear. Some complaints indicate problems with the vehicle slipping into gear from park — though Ford officials repeatedly said that they read the reports differently and that “none of them claim that the transmission went from Park to Reverse.”

According to the NHTSA complaints available online, one Explorer owner said: “when shifted into park will show it is in park but is really still in reverse. This is a major safety issue which has not been recalled.” Another reported: “I have problems with the car lurching into reverse and not engaging in park correctly. The car rolls about 2-4 feet when in park…”

“The transmission shifts violently into reverse,” said another, who like many urged the NHTSA to take action. “You all are the watchdog, please do your job.”

Nobody was injured in most of the reported cases.

Tyson, the NHTSA spokesman, encouraged Explorer owners of any model year who have had transmission problems to file complaints with the agency to help it spot any trends. They can do it online at safercar.gov or call 1-888-327-4236, he said.

“At a certain point we make a decision: Is there sufficient evidence to justify the opening of a real investigation,” he said. “We aren’t at that point with this particular issue.”

Most consumers complain directly to automakers and only a fraction of vehicle owners file complaints with the agency, experts say.

Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood would not say how many reports the automaker has received of 2004 Ford Explorers slipping out of park into reverse. He said the information is proprietary and is shared privately with the NHTSA. “We have not seen a trend with this type of issue,” Sherwood said.

Sherwood said consumer complaints alleging park-to-reverse shift problems are not uncommon for automatic transmission vehicles and have also been filed against other makers’ vehicles. Automakers often say drivers are at fault for not ensuring they shift fully into park.

In 2002, Chrysler recalled about 1.6 million Jeep Grand Cherokees made from 1993 to 1998 after consumers complained the vehicles could shift into reverse when the gearshift appeared to be in park. In news reports at the time, Chrysler said its vehicles were not defective, but that the company was installing an additional part to make it more difficult for drivers to fail to put the vehicle fully into park.

——————————————————

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received more than 200 complaints about the automatic transmission in 2004 Ford Explorers.

Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said the company has seen no trend indicating any safety problem with the Explorer’s transmission. He said problems consumers have complained about to the NHTSA don’t have any “direct parallel with what’s going on in the court case” involving Jessica Mundy.

Here are excerpts from some consumers’ complaints:

• “While the vehicle was parked and the engine was running, the vehicle rolled into the contact’s home. … The mechanic stated that the vehicle had a defective shift indicator and it was replaced.”

• “Transmission got stuck in neutral when column shifter was put in the park position. As my wife got out to help her sister with her newborn and baggage the Explorer started rolling, my niece (in the back seat) got scared and jumped out of the vehicle and got ran over. The vehicle hit a pole and trapped my niece under the rear tire.”

• “When put into reverse, engine revs, feels like there is no connection to the transmission, as if in neutral, then unexpectedly it engages, causing the vehicle to lurch backward. … The reverse problem is getting worse.”

• “It has become a public hazard to drive. It seems to jump in and out of gear as it wishes with a clunking sound, especially when put into reverse. … I urge you to please take action so that this issue may be deemed part of a recall. These vehicles are posing a public threat and Ford is doing absolutely nothing about it.”

• “When putting the vehicle into park the lever is in the park position; however the transmission is still in reverse.”

——————————

CHECK OUR SOURCES

To review consumer complaints, recalls and service bulletins filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the 2004 Ford Explorer or any other vehicle, go to www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/index.cfm

REPORT AUTO DEFECTS

To report problems to federal regulators, go to safercar.gov or call 1-888-327-4236.

——————————

HOW NHTSA WORKS

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a process it must undertake before opening a formal investigation. It’s not uncommon for recalls to occur after vehicles have been on the road for years. Here’s what’s involved:

Initial screening process: The agency’s Defects Assessment Division reviews consumer complaints, manufacturer service bulletins, consumer advisories and other available information.

Panel review: If the Defects Assessment Division staff determines the available information indicates a safety trend or that a “catastrophic failure” is developing, they present their findings to a panel within the Office of Defects Investigation for a recommendation on whether to open a formal safety defects investigation. There is no established number of reports that triggers an investigation, the agency says.

Petition analysis: Separately, any person may submit a petition to the NHTSA requesting it open a formal investigation into an alleged safety defect. Petitions trigger the agency to conduct a technical analysis of the issue. If the petition is granted, an investigation is opened. If it’s denied, the agency will publish its reasons for denial in the Federal Register.

——————————-

Do you suspect a consumer rip-off, government waste or a threat to public safety? Tell us what you want investigated. E-mail spotlight@ajc.com or call 404-526-5041.