NHTSA Complaint #10281338 — 2005 FORD FIVE HUNDRED

I PURCHASED A USED 2005 FORD FIVE HUNDRED IN JULY 2008. AT THE TIME THE CAR HAD 68K MILES, AND NO WARRANTY. IN JANUARY, MY CAR STARTED DOWN-SHIFTING VERY ROUGH AROUND 1000 RPM. THIS HAPPENS AT EVERY DOWN-SHIFT AFTER THE ENGINE REACHES A CERTAIN TEMPERATURE. IT ALSO SHIFTS HARD WHEN I ACCELERATE AS IF TO PASS SOMEONE ON THE INTERSTATE. FORD HAS FLASHED THE COMPUTER AND FOUND NO PROBLEMS. THEY SUGGESTED THAT I REPLACE THE VALVE BODY AND FLUID. I HAVE BEEN CHECKING MESSAGE BOARDS AND HAVE NOTICED MANY OTHER CONSUMERS ARE HAVING THE SAME EXACT ISSUE WITH THEIR FIVE HUNDREDS, TAURUSES, AND MONTEGOS WITH THE CVT TRANSMISSION. HOWEVER, NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE FOUND A SOLUTION AT THIS TIME, AND FORD HAS NOT MADE ANY RECALLS. I REFUSE TO SHELL OUT RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF MONEY TO "MAYBE" FIX THIS SERIOUS TRANSMISSION ISSUE. ALSO, I AM UNABLE TO TRADE MY CAR FOR SOMETHING ELSE BECAUSE IT IS NOW COMPLETELY DEVALUED. PLEASE HELP THE HUNDREDS OF FORD CONSUMERS WHO SHARE IN THIS ISSUE. *TR