Ok, so to make a very long story a little bit shorter, I purchased a brand new 2013 Ford Focus from a reputable dealership less than two months ago. Last week someone hit my vehicle from behind while it was parked (and had been for more than an hour). The vehicle then rolled nearly half a block before slamming into a snowbank.

There was no damage to the rear of the vehicle, or the front of the car that hit mine. Police came, and the report says the other driver was going less than 2km/h, as she was parking behind my car and her vehicle nudged mine. My vehicle is an automatic.

Insurance will cover the $3K+ damage to the front of my car, and give me a rental car until the body work is finished. Great. The problem is, according to pretty much everyone I have talked to, the car shouldn't have rolled that far unless there was a major problem.

I had the body shop, which incidentally is the same as the dealer where I purchased the car, examine the transmission. They are telling me nothing is wrong with the vehicle. I'm finding that a little hard to believe, seeing how far the car rolled after being lightly tapped from behind while it was in park.

I have contacted my dealership repeatedly, and am still waiting to hear back from the manager, as I have told them I still believe there is a safety concern with the vehicle. I have also contacted Ford Canada to let them know about the issue, and they re-directed me to the dealership.

Am I crazy for making this a huge issue? At this point I don't feel safe knowing the vehicle did this once and could do it again. Thankfully this time no one was injured, but it nearly rolled into a major intersection and I am concerned it could happen again and this time someone might end up seriously injured or even killed.

Just to clarify, I was NOT in the vehicle when this happened, nor was I there to witness it (although there are witnesses who can confirm what happened). The vehicle was parked on a small (read: tiny) incline, and the parking brake was NOT engaged. I did take another vehicle to the same spot where the incident happened, shifted it into neutral and it did not roll at all (hence why I had never bothered to engage the parking brake).

 

In "N" it should roll, in "P" it should not.

Put your car in "P" and try pushing it forward. If you succeed there is a problem.

 

First , I do not believe you can remove the ignition key unless the shift lever is fully in the park position.
There is what we call a park pawl that is placed into one of a series of slots on the output shaft of the trans. That pawl can be broken if the vehicle is jarred hard enough.
If that was the case and that vehicle has an inertia switch it certainly should have been tripped and that car would not start until it was reset.
That vehicle has a problem either in the linkage to the trans,within the trans, or there is definitely something not right in that trans.
I would not let anyone look at ,or tinker with that trans or vehicle until an attorney and certified technician are consulted together. Once anybody gets their hands in there all credability is lost. It does seem Ford is dodging the issue. I believe you have a good case and you just might get a better response if your attorney wrote to Ford.