The 1999 through 2000 Mercury Villager vans have a defective throttle body assembly. My gas petal started sticking on my Villager van late last year. I finally had the throttle body assembly cleaned and throttle control sensor replaced in January, after several failed attempts by the Mercury dealership to rectify this problem. I had another mechanic replace the failed throttle body control sensor (in may)after only 4 months (part was guaranteed for 12 months) and the throttle body was ok for a short period of time and now it's sticking and the gas petal is hard to depress. It is a major accident hazard because you need to know that you can pull out safely from an intersection or accelerate when entering a ramp on the interstate. With this problem you have to press the gas petal harder than normal and then you feel like you are getting whiplash because the petal will unstick and you shoot forward. Our car had a check engine light that came on and it was also associated with this problem. From the contents of this article, I believe that Mercury and Nissan are completely aware this danger. www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/20/biz_villagersuit20.html please investigate this issue and force Mercury & Nissan to recall all of these vehicles and agree to replace the throttle body assembly free of charge. When you have taken care of your vehicle maintenance wise and the manufacturer knows there is a safety problem and does nothing, then they should bear the brunt of their faulty design and be liable for any injuries or deaths associated with this issue. More links below www.allworldauto.com/comments/mercury_villager_comments_and_complaints_101-573-1.html.

- High Point, NC, USA

The contact owns a 1999 Mercury Villager. When coming to a complete stop at an intersection, the contact noticed a strong gasoline odor coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop and a technician determined that the fuel retention straps failed, which caused the spot wells to separate. The repair would cost $800. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign id number 99V205001 (fuel system, gasoline:storage:tank assembly:mounting); therefore, no compensation would be provided. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 167,000.

- Lake Hamilton, FL, USA

1999 Mercury Villager estate mini-van. Purchased new in 1999. Owned briefly when gas pedal stuck, but if kicked down on released. Of course, the vehicle would jump forward from the hard kick on the accelerator. The problem was corrected by replacing the throttle body...only for a short time though. When it happened again after the manufacturer's warranty period a quick 20 minute cleaning of the inside of the throttle body fixed the problem...again for a while. This sticking or the throttle most often causes a delay in the forward motion of the vehicle; however, it has also occurred when I was trying to stop and in order not to run into another stopped vehicle the ignition had to be turned off or placed in neutral. I thought of reporting this when I saw on a Mercury blog page that many others have experienced this same problem.

- Danville, KY, USA