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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
10 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
73,433 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Ford F-150 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2012 Ford F-150 Owner Comments (Page 6 of 27)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #433

Jun 262020

F-150 6-cyl

  • 137,895 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Ford refusing to fix field service action transmission molded lead frame extended coverage number 19N01 truck shifted down to second gear stayed stuck. There is a recall up to 150,000 miles I have 138,000 found this out ;local Ford dealer screwing me over saying not their issues I founs a NHTSA letter saying other wise also a electrical vacuum pump extended repair number 15N05 causing truck to stall going down roead.

- Amarillo, TX, USA

problem #432

Jun 262020

F-150 6-cyl

  • 120,000 miles
The truck downshifts to first while driving and will not shift out of first gear, the speedometer stops working.location was city street. After stopping and turning the engine off it seems to reset. I have had problems in the past and it was suppose to be fixed however it continues to be a problem.

- Centerville, UT, USA

problem #431

May 132020

F-150 6-cyl

  • 250,000 miles
When I try to accelerate I loose power and the truck reduces in speed dramatically.

- Panorama City, CA, USA

problem #430

Jan 172019

F-150 6-cyl

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving down the road and heard an unfamiliar noise as I started to slow down I heard a loud pop and it felt as if the wheels locked up. After almost wrecking I got out to find that the ring and pinion was damaged.

- Trenton, GA, USA

problem #429

Jun 022020

F-150

  • 160,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently downshifted to a lower gear with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle loss motive power and stalled. The vehicle was restarted and driven back to the residence. The vehicle was taken to surprise Ford (16825 w waddell rd, surprise, AZ 85388 623-792-2522) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the lead frame needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that similar vehicles were repaired under NHTSA campaign number: 16V248000 (power train) however, the vehicle was not eligible for the free repair since the mileage was exceeded. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.

- Surprise, AZ, USA

problem #428

Mar 092020

F-150

  • 174,358 miles
Son of 19 was going around 60 on highway when his Ford F150 shifted itself into first gear. Locking up rear end and sending it into a skid.. it was only through his excellent driving that he avoided an accident. Never had a notice of a recall on this transmission problem and Ford will not honor recall as the truck now has 174358 miles on it. Said they only honor 150K or less. Bought truck from Ford dealer at 124571 in 2-11-19 and should been address then. The company headquarters said to call a lawyer! this transmission "problem" could have been fatal and may have been for others!

- Chipley, FL, USA

problem #427

Jan 252020

F-150

  • 220,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle down shifted from the sixth gear to third and then to the first gear. The contact also stated that while at a stop, the vehicle failed to move forward until it was turned off and was restarted. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 19V075000 (power train). The vehicle was taken to the auto nation, miami, located at (16800 nw 57th ave, hialeah, fl 33015) where it was stated that the vehicle was over the mileage limit. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and stated that the dealer could not be forced to do the repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 220,000.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #426

Feb 272020

F-150

  • 81,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while waiting at a red light, the vehicle failed to shift into gear. The contact had to push the vehicle in to a parking lot, waited approximately half an hour and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the dealer in fifth gear to brighton Ford located at (8240 grand river rd, brighton, mi 48114), where it was determined that the vehicle needed a lead frame attachment. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not a part of the customer satisfaction program (tsb 16N02 (power train). The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 81,000.

- Brighton, MI, USA

problem #425

Feb 282020

F-150

  • 153,800 miles
Traveling down the highway at 70 mph (posted speed limit) when without warning my truck downshifts to first gear. Loss of power and speed resulted in the downshift. I went from 70 mph to 35 mph on a major highway quickly. My entire dash, besides the tachometer, went out as well as a result of this downshift. I was lucky I was traveling early in the morning (about 530 am) and traffic was light. Or else I am sure someone would have hit me due to rapid deceleration. The truck was traveling straight and not in a turn. After this deceleration, I was barely able to manage to get off to the shoulder of the highway because my truck would not shift out of first gear. It had no power to move the vehicle at highway speeds. It also felt as though it had affected the rest of the power items on the truck, steering and brakes especially. It felt as though my power steering was not working and took a lot of effort on the brake pedal to get the vehicle to stop fully. The Ford recall # for this specific problem is 19S07, the NHTSA # is 19V075000. My vehicle is no longer covered under what Ford deemed as a "voluntary safety recall", repair estimates are $1185. I find it ridiculous this problem is a voluntary safety recall, the only reason I was not involved in a serious accident is because of the time of day I was traveling.

- Alpharetta, GA, USA

problem #424

Jul 252019

F-150 8-cyl

  • 170,000 miles
7/25/2019: Southern California -- northbound hwy 101, headed home from glendale to oxnard. So-cal traffic being what it is, travel was stop & go, with brief bursts of actual speed-limit travel. I was doing about 55mph, coming to a bottleneck where traffic was accumulating. I gently pressed the brake pedal, when my truck downshifted. I was expecting a 5-4 downshift, but instead my truck slammed into 1st gear, tires locked. I skid to a stop, dumbfounded. During deceleration, there was a grinding noise, so I pulled over & checked things out. I'm not a mechanic, but I checked all the fluids and trans temp, which were all in operating range. I drove gently the rest of the way home, fearing that it might happen again, but it didn't. the next morning when I left to work, there was a loud whine that seemed to be coming from the transmission at higher RPM, just prior to upshift. I drove gently to work and back home later that evening. The following day was Saturday, 7/27/19: Took my truck to a local shop, where they told me that my transmission was showing signs of rapid failure and that if I continued to drive it that it might last another week, if I was lucky & that my truck would one day soon, leave me stranded on the side of the fwy. The following week I ordered a remanufactured transmission, to the tune of about $3000. A month later, my mechanic brother-in-law & I swapped out the tranny, including the torque converter & tranny cooler. Then I had to have it towed to the mechanic shop, so my ECU & tcu could be reprogrammed to accept the new tranny & updated to fix the recall. What recall" this was the first mention of any recall. So, my question now is: Will Ford reimburse me for the cost of transmission replacement, for what was a known faulty product? if so, who do I contact" thank you for any assistance. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Oxnard, CA, USA

problem #423

Jan 212020

F-150

  • 118,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After experiencing a speed sensor failure in my Ford F-150, I took it to a local dealer to have the recalled part replaced (speed sensor/lead frame). They did not replace the part, instead flashed the sensor with new software. The next day, encountered a related issue, after taking it back, the service rep stated that it seems to be the lead frame and would be covered by Ford but did not off an additional appointment, advised to call back if the problem persists. I have continued having these issues. Issue: Vehicle stops shifting, locks into the gear that it is in, speedometer stops working, all data goes blank and transmission acts like it slips. Then, stop the vehicle, turn it off, restart, then runs fine until next occurrence. After much much research and agreed discussion with the service rep at 2 different dealerships, it displays the exact symptoms of the lead frame which is mentioned in the recall issued related to this issue. 2 different dealerships have now refused to replace the part because the error code is not present when I get the vehicle there and that is because I have to get the issue to clear so I can continue driving it. I have also contacted Ford Motor Co. Customer service and have had the issue escalated 3 times, each time they come back with a response "there are no current programs available to assist" even though there is a Ford issued recall issued in Feb. 2019. I have also waited for a week for a call back from the service manager but no response. The issue persists with no action from Ford. I am stuck driving my truck everyday in fear of being stranded and causing an accident. I have also sent an email to the general manager of peoria Ford in phoenix AZ and have yet to receive a response.

- Glendale, AZ, USA

problem #422

Dec 272019

F-150

  • miles
Transmission shift jerk or hesitation when hitting the gas for some reason. This vehicle only have 41,000 miles. Not sure why it's doing it.

- Douglasville, GA, USA

problem #421

Jul 162019

F-150

  • 181,057 miles
The contact was speaking on behalf of her son in law who owns 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at 40 mph, the vehicle gear downshift without warning to first gear then to neutral. The contact managed to veer to the shoulder of the road, turn the vehicle off and back on in order for the vehicle to resume back to normal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (david mcdavid Ford fort worth 300 w loop 820 S, fort worth, tx 76108 (817) 420-7990) where it was diagnosed that the oss failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. However, the failure recurred intermittently. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact mentioned NHTSA campaign number: 19V075000 (power train) as a possible solution to the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 181,057.

- Springtown, TX, USA

problem #420

Jan 062020

F-150

  • 84,000 miles
Hello nhtsb, my certified pre owned 2012 Ford F-150 lariat 3.5L ecoboost 4WD supercrew has had the safety recall NHTSA 19V-075 19S07 6R80 sudden transmissiondownshift powertrain control module programming on March 18 2019 and since that time the wrench symbol has appeared in the speedo cluster twice and sent the truck into limp mode in motion each time in the late afternoon I was able to limp the truck to the dealer, each time it was too late to have a tech connect the truck to the diagnosis machine ! and if the truck is turned off there is no stored trouble codes ! I continue to drive the truck every day with the erratic shifting issues iam in fear of my truck downshifting to 1st gear on the freeway at high speed !!! I have not felt any improvement to powertrain since the recall repair was preformed, and I see no statemeant that the transmission lead frame was replaced ! thanks for your help. Best

- North Hollywood, CA, USA

problem #419

Jan 022020

F-150

  • 125,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While traveling approximately 20 mph, the vehicle shook and downshifted into first gear. The vehicle was repaired on August 6, 2019 at beach Ford (855 jason blvd, myrtle beach, SC 29577) per NHTSA campaign number: 19V075000 (power train). The same dealer was contacted via phone for the recent failure. The manufacturer was notified of the repair failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.

- Conway, SC, USA

problem #418

Dec 162019

F-150

  • 51,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving 75 mph in fog, the contact attempted to pass a tractor trailer. The vehicle hesitated, failed to accelerate, and decelerated to 60 mph. In addition, the check engine warning indicator illuminated, the rpms fluctuated between 2000-4000, and the gear shifted from fourth to sixth gear. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The failure mileage was 51,000.

- Hayes, LA, USA

problem #417

Sep 032019

F-150

  • 230,000 miles
My transmission sticks in one gear, shifts very hard, and down shifts unexpectedly. There is a recall for this, but Ford has not started to fix this problem. It is causing additional damage to my vehicle the more I drive it. The recall was started in febuary of 2019.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #416

Dec 062019

F-150

  • 160,000 miles
The truck has a recall 16N02 open on it. I just purchased the truck and a few years ago it was in an accident at 99,000 miles and the passenger bedside was replaced, but insurance company totalled it so it has a branded title. Dealer and Ford are refusing to do the repair due to the title status.

- Murfreesboro, TN, USA

problem #415

Nov 242019

F-150

  • 78,000 miles
While going over speed bumps around 10 mph the truck tends to make a "clunk" sound and the engine revs real high - as if it missed a gear.

- Wittmann, AZ, USA

problem #414

Nov 062019

F-150

  • 128,000 miles
The automatic transmission suddenly downshifts to an extreme lower gear while driving in city traffic. The occurs when you first let off the gas. (I understand there may have been a recall for this year and model truck).

- Crystal River, FL, USA

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