I recently bought a 2021 Limited 4WD and after reading about transmission problems, I’m noticing a rough shift when throttling just right in the first two gears. I had an Indy shop do a fluid swap at 65k miles when I first bought it, and they checked all fluids for flakes, finding nothing. They also did an inspection drive and diagnostics, and everything seemed fine. Is my transmission just waiting to fail one day?
I’ve noticed that keeping the tires inflated regularly helps with the shift shock, especially from the lower gears to the mid-range gears. There’s another shift shock between the 7th and 8th gears. If I let off the gas before the shift, it’s not as noticeable. My car has 90k miles now, and I plan on getting a transmission service every year. My 2014 Fusion had a hard shift into second gear, so I think it’s a Ford thing. I pay more attention to it than I probably should. I kind of wish the newer cars had fewer gears. My old town car had only four gears, and it drove so smoothly.
@Wei
Man! I just had the cold weather deflation issue, and Discount Tire inflated my tires to 40 PSI, which I’ve never had before. The dealership tech had inflated them to 35, and I didn’t question it. After today, with 40 PSI, it felt much smoother driving down the road and on the highway.
I also have a 2021 Max. I’ve noticed a very slight rough shift now and then when shifting from 3rd to 5th. I hope yours is certified, or if you don’t want to deal with it, you might want to consider trading it in. With 65k miles, it probably won’t qualify for an ESP, but you could check. It’s only a matter of time before you deal with cam phasers or the transmission going out. There’s a lot of posts in the forum about people getting their transmission rebuilt under 50k miles.
@Pax
I’ve got a warranty through Endurance, which I’ve had for years. They’ve been a good company, and I don’t usually have issues with the claims I’ve made on other cars. They worked through an ESP in my contract without telling me, but I had them cancel it because I already have one.
@Taylor
Oh, that’s good to hear. Transmission issues seem inevitable, but I hope we’re wrong. The more I read, it looks like the 2023 models made changes after a certain period to address transmission issues.
@Pax
I really like my Expy. I traded in a 2015 GL350 Diesel, which was my overlanding and camping rig. It was great for everything, even for soccer tournaments with my boys. We’d hang out in it between games with the tent and awning. It was expensive to maintain, though, and that’s where it lost its practicality.
@Pax
What about your alignment? Ever feel like yours is off a bit? I had mine aligned when I bought it because the tires were badly feathered, probably from not rotating them enough. But now I’m starting to think the upper control arms might need attention. It’s only at 79k miles.
@Taylor
My alignment has been fine, but I had issues with the stock Hankook ATM tires that gave me a front-end ‘float’ at highway speeds. I swapped them for Michelin Defender LTX tires, and it made a huge difference (better ride, better traction in rain and snow, quieter, and no more float).
@Sidney
Defender LTX tires are great! They’re better than the ones that came with my 2019 Platinum.
The current model has a lot of reported transmission issues. Do you know if the 2025 model will use the same engine and transmission, or will it be all new? Are they working on fixing the current problems?
@Monty
From what I’ve read, the 2024 models and beyond are revamped and supposedly have fixed the transmission issues.
Maybe. I’m not a car expert, but my 2019 transmission locked up while I was going 75mph up a mountain at 36k miles. It was still under warranty, so the dealer rebuilt it at no charge. If yours goes out, hopefully, it happens while it’s still under warranty. 