2001 Lincoln Continental

2001 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL / 115,000 MILES WHILE DRIVING ON THE 10 FWY IN JULY 2008, AND WITHOUT ACTIVATING CRUISE CONTROL, OR PRESSING SHARPLY ON THE GAS PEDAL, MY CAR BEGAN TO SUDDENLY ACCELERATE AT TOP SPEED. THE ENGINE ROARED WITH A LOUD SOUND AND IMMEDIATELY WENT INTO FULL OPERATING POWER. THE SOUND OF THE ENGINE AT FULL THROTTLE WAS UNMISTAKABLE AND AS I LOOKED AT THE DASH BOARD GAUGES, I SAW MY SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE QUICKLY REACH 90 MPH AND KEPT MOVING HIGHER. REALIZING I WAS IN DANGER, I APPLIED THE BRAKE TO SLOW THE VEHICLE, BUT THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS NOT SLOWING MY CAR DOWN IN THE NORMAL FASHION. IT ONLY DEPRESSED ABOUT - OF THE NORMAL RANGE. CONFUSED, I QUICKLY GLANCED DOWN AT MY FEET TO CHECK FOR AN OBJECT OR FLOOR MAT THAT WOULD CAUSE MY GAS PEDAL TO BE STUCK OR LODGED. THERE WERE NO OBJECTS TO BE FOUND. WITH MY CAR CONTINUING AT A SPEED OF AT LEAST 90 MPH, AND MY LEFT FOOT ON THE BRAKE, I THEN FELT THE GAS PEDAL BENEATH MY RIGHT FOOT MOVE AWAY AND DOWN TOWARD THE FLOOR BOARD ON ITS OWN. I LIFTED THE GAS PEDAL WITH MY FOOT IN AN ATTEMPT TO REVERSE THE ACCELERATION, BUT IT DIDN'T WORK. REALIZING I HAD NO CONTROL OF MY CAR, I REPEATEDLY PRESSED MY BRAKE PEDAL, BUT THIS ONLY SLOWED THE CAR FROM 90 MPH TO 70 MPH; IT WAS NOT BRINGING MY CAR TO A COMPLETE STOP. WITH MANY CARS SURROUNDING ME, A CRASH BECAME IMMINENT ? SO I MOVED 2 LANES OVER INTO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD. I WAS TRAVELING AT APPROX 60MPH AT THIS POINT & KEPT BRAKING TO TRY TO REGAIN CONTROL OF MY VEHICLE. THE BRAKES WERE NOT STOPPING MY VEHICLE SO I PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL, WHICH SLOWED THE VEHICLE TO APPROX 40 MPH. STILL MOVING FORWARD, WITH BOTH FEET ON MY BRAKE PEDAL PUSHING AS HARD AS I COULD, I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO ENGAGE THE E-BRAKE AS A LAST OPTION. THIS SLOWED MY CAR TO ABOUT 15 MPH, AFTER WHICH I PUT THE CAR IN PARK. THE CAR CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. I REMOVED THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION. *TR

MY 2001 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL WAS PURCHASED NEW, MARCH OF 2001. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER I PASSED THROUGH A WARNING RADAR DETECTOR ON THE INTERSTATE WITH MY CRUISE CONTROL SET AT 60 MPH. THE RADAR SAID I WAS TRAVELING AT 54 MPH. I TURNED AROUND AND REPEATED THE PASS-THROUGH WITH THE SAME RESULTS. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY DEALERS SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND THEY WROTE UP THE SPEEDOMETER PROBLEM. AFTER 2 DIFFERENT SERVICE VISITS, AND CHECKING THE SPEED OF LINCOLN TOWN CARS, AND LINCOLN LS (TOWN CARS, AND LS LESS THAN 1 MPH OFF TRUE SPEED ACCORDING TO HANDHELD GPS) , THE SERVICE MANAGER INFORMED ME THAT ALL CONTINENTALS HAVE DEFECTIVE SPEEDOMETERS AND MY CARS PROBLEM IS NORMAL. I COMPLAINED AT LEAST 4 MORE TIMES AND WAS TOLD ALL CONTINENTALS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. I TESTED A 2002 CONTINENTAL AND IT HAD A 2 MPH ERROR. AT MY REQUEST HE QUESTIONED FORD ENGINEERS IN MICHIGAN AND WAS TOLD 10% PLUS OR MINUS IS AN ACCEPTABLE SPEEDOMETER ERROR. I ASKED FOR IT IN WRITING AND FORD RESPONDED THAT IT IS NOT IN WRITING, AND IT WAS AGAINST THE COMPANYS POLICY TO GIVE IT TO ME IN WRITING. I INQUIRED WITH OTHER CAR COMPANIES AND SPEEDOMETER CALIBRATION COMPANIES AND FOUND THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO MORE THAT A 1 MPH PLUS OR MINUS DIFFERENCE. I REQUESTED TO PRESENT MY CASE TO THE FORD DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BOARD. I DID SO APRIL 4TH, 2002. THE BOARD CONCLUDED THAT THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS IN REGARDS TO THE SPEEDOMETER CONCERN. THE BOARD BASED THIS DECISION ON ME TEST DRIVING A LIKE VEHICLE AND THE RESULTS WERE THE SAME. AN MY REQUEST FOR REPAIR OR VEHICLE REFUND WAS DENIED. WELL THEY WERE NOT THE SAME, MY VEHICLE HAS A 6 MPH ERROR. THE CONTINENTAL THAT I TESTED HAD A 2 MPH ERROR. A 200% DIFFERENCE. ACCORDING TO FORDS DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BOARDS REASONING, IF FORD SOLD A MODEL WITH A DEFECTIVE PART IN ALL OF THE UNITS PRODUCED, THE DEFECT WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE BECAUSE THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS.*AK