NHTSA Complaint #10790452 — 2012 FORD FIESTA

OUR 2012 FIESTA WITH 30K MILES HAS HAD CONSTANT PROBLEMS WITH THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. IT HAS UNEVEN AND ERRATIC SHIFTS, PRONOUNCED SHUDDERING, GRINDING AND RATTLING. SLOW PROGRESSIVE STARTS FROM A STOP USUALLY RESULT IN SHUDDERING, IT'S ACTUALLY SMOOTHER TO MASH THE ACCELERATOR TO THE FLOOR. PULLING UP OUR STEEP DRIVEWAY AND INTO THE GARAGE IS TRICKY, ALSO RESULTS IN SHUDDERING AND LURCHING. THE BEHAVIOR OF THE TRANSMISSION IS UNPREDICTABLE TO THE POINT THAT I CONSIDER IT TO BE AN UNSAFE DISTRACTION. THE DEALER, AND FORD, HAVE ISSUED SERVICE BULLETINS AND A RECALL OF SORTS. IT HAS BEEN BACK TO THE DEALER THREE TIMES BUT APPARENTLY THE ONLY FIX IS REPROGRAMMING WHICH ISN'T WORKING. FROM CONVERSATIONS WITH THE FORD TECHNICIAN AND FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN ONLINE I GET THE IMPRESSION THAT IT'S COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT THESE TRANSMISSIONS DON'T WORK AND ARE POTENTIALLY UNSAFE.