Well, it seems like it. Bought new, now has under 20k miles.
Car starts and runs great to a destination. Stop, shop, start up and drive off. Then, while in traffic, the door locks (4) start locking and unlocking rapidly on their own, then the car will bog down and is unresponsive to the gas pedal. Seconds later, the engine will rev to high rmps momentarily and then lurch forward to a normal speed and it will seem fine for 10 or 20 seconds. Then it repeats the process. It has happened 3 times in the past year. Wife is terrified to drive the car. All three times we took it immediately to the dealer. The second time, it happened there, as they were taking out back. As of this date, the dealer is unable to identify the problem…no codes. It was in for recall in 2014 for the BCM connection repair. It has gotten a new battery 2 yrs ago, and a new key. It has always been dealer serviced. Since it happens in traffic, and my wife is driving we do not know what dash lights indicators pop up, she is trying to keep safe. It’s now been in the dealer, this time, for 5 days, nothing!
That BCM connection repair recall makes me suspicious that someone didn’t do the job right. Did the trouble start after that was carried out?
No…you have an intermittent problem which is worse than being haunted. They are the type of problem that requires a great deal of experience to track down. I don’t think you can find that kind of experience at a dealership. Any dealership. In truth…you will have to search through a great deal of independent mechanics to find the one that’s right for you. It’s tough to find a mechanic that has the right experience who is willing to spend the time necessary to fix your particular problem.
I wish I had better news for you but I’ve been down this road myself a few times. I bought a beautiful brand new '74 Monte Carlo and was almost convinced it was haunted. It was equipped with the engine from the upcoming '75 model year and had a catalytic converter. I traded the Monte Carlo back through dealer arbitration. The problem turned out to be in the HEI distributor. The ignition module was installed without the required silicone heat shield and created havoc when the engine got hot.
I also bought a brand new Ford Ranger that seemed like it was possessed. I found the problem after leaving it with several different dealerships that were clueless. The problem was with a bad inertia switch. It kept cutting off the fuel pump at random times while driving. A quick cut and snip bypass of the relay fixed the problem.
You can keep the vehicle but be advised that it may be a long, difficult road to actually fixing the Aura.
The first thing to do is ask the place where the car is now what they would try if it was their car and an estimate. It is possible that this might just be one of those replace something and hope that is it.
Second search your area for an auto electronics repair service and see if they might have a clue.
I would check all the grounds are clean and tight. Check the battery cables are good, clean and tight. All alternator connections are the same. I would check starter connections. Then I would check the connections to the fuse box in the engine bay.