NHTSA Complaint #11659775 — 2014 FORD F-150

Major transmission failure that causes sudden unintended downshift to first gear, even at high speeds. This occurs often and randomly without warning, causing the engine to "redline", rear tires to slide and the vehicle to come to a near sudden stop. This is an extreme safety concern, especially in slippery road conditions as the vehicle could overturn or slide off the road or at a minimum be rear-ended for suddenly stopping unexpectedly on a freeway. This is a widely known problem by Ford. The local Ford service manager admitted that his 2013 F150 has the same issue and he continues to drive it because he tried fixing it by replacing the Molded Lead Plate in the transmission and that didn't resolve the problem. Remember, I noted this is a Ford Service Manager! Ford has issued a recall (24S37); however, the prescribed solution is to have the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) software updated and that prescribed fix actually makes the sudden downshifting happen more often. This is the cheapest, band-aid solution that Ford hides behind so they can say that they are addressing this issue. A second Ford dealership down the road actually admitted that they have identified that the recommended software update actually makes the problem worse and they practically refuses to perform the software update for their customers. After several discussions with Ford's Recall Assistance Team and several discussions with a local dealership's service manager, Ford is not willing to do anything more, despite this major safety issue not only not getting resolved, but actually has gotten worse due to their band-aid approach of a software update. In my case, if further diagnosis is to be performed, I have to be the one that covers that cost and also I would be the one to cover the cost of repairs. To me, this is completely unacceptable. The rational that Ford uses to deny accountability is that the vehicle's computer doesn't register any DTC codes when the incident occurs.