2019 Ford Escape with only 59,476. Miles and the transmission needs to be replaced. Very dark transmission fluid when changed approximately 6 months ago. Car not shifting properly and jerking when going into gear. Ford dealer says new transmission, for justb under $8 grand and I told him no more fords for this family.
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Welcome to the forum…
What engine do you have and is this the 6 speed auto (6F35 gen2) or 8 speed auto (8F35) transmission??
Curious, what did the fluid look like at the 30K change?
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Ford’s recommended interval is 150,000 miles. If transmissions frequently fail at 60k because of lack of fluid changes, we’d be seeing millions of failures. If this is the dual clutch transmission, it’s famous for problems.
We’ll this one is costing me a pretty penny.
Surely you jest. No one changes their transmission fluid at such a low mileage interval, and no manufacturer expects you to. For most people, other than those who tow heavy loads, or drive aggressively, a 75,000 mile to 100,000 mile fluid change interval should be sufficient. I usually change the transmission fluid and filter every 90,000 miles, or soon after buying a used vehicle (if it has more than 90,000 miles).
At this point, you basically have three options–do a drain-and fill, and hope the transmission lasts long enough to trade this thing in, sell or trade it in as-is, or have the transmission rebuilt or replaced.
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I get the transmission fluid changed every 30K miles in my vehicles, no matter what the manual says. $100 or so every other year is a lot cheaper than a new transmission.
Personally, I’d tale the Escape to a transmission shop for a 2nd opinion.
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Cars/trucks no longer have TorqueFlite A-727, Powerglide, or C6 transmissions, those could get by with much longer fluid change intervals.
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I do the same.
Could have used car shield warranty protection. They might deny claim as a 5yr old car with 60k miles was neglected? It’s a testament to car makers producing crap these days.
Danica says it’s not a question of IF your car will crap out, it’s when.
And lots of transmission failures.
In the 1980’s my friends and I bought or repaired a lot of cars with 100,000 miles, lots of transmission replacements. Failures were so common that rebuilt transmission could be bought for $125 to $200.
During the last decade, nearly all transmission in customers vehicles that I’ve seen have the original fluid @ 100,000 miles and there are few failures.
During the last few years, I have seen as many hybrid batteries replaced in the shop as transmission replacements. That observation suggests transmissions are more reliable than hybrid batteries, especially when the percentage of hybrid vehicles sold 10 to 15 years ago is considered.
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I wonder how much this improvement is due to improved transmission fluids ( there used to be only two or three kinds of automatic transmission fluid ) and the fact that more recent cars weigh so much less than the yachts of the ‘50s - ‘70s.
Just to clarify…
I suspect automobile transmissions have been created, used, and perfected over the last 125 years or so. Hybrid car batteries have only been around for maybe 20-25 years.
Comparing the design reliability of them is a little bit apples to oranges, I would argue.
Automatic transmission reliability has greatly improved during the last 25 years, yet some people take extra measures in an effort to counter failure.
OTOH, when someone asks about hybrid battery life, they are told not to worry about it, hybrid batteries are reliable. Not as reliable as the transmission.