NHTSA Complaint #11665754 — 2020 FORD EXPLORER

While driving at highway speeds, my 2020 Ford Explorer ST began to hard-shift and hesitate between gears, resulting in a dangerous loss of power. The transmission would delay or fail to engage, making it difficult to accelerate or maintain speed, creating a serious safety risk for both myself and my wife while in traffic. After safely reaching home and placing the vehicle in park, the transmission completely failed. It would no longer engage Drive or Reverse and behaved as though it was in Neutral in all positions. No warning lights or error messages were displayed at any point before, during, or after the failure. The vehicle has only 85,000 miles, and the failure occurred just after the extended warranty expired. I have since learned that the 10R60 transmission in this vehicle has experienced similar issues in other Ford models, indicating a possible widespread defect. This failure could have caused a serious accident had it occurred at high speed or in heavy traffic.