I was coming hope from vacation to Florida and the temperature was hot outside and not a fun thing when you are driving and a tractor trailer is beside you and your engine goes into a idle mode as you have just lost your overdrive transmission. As long as you had the overdrive turned off it would run but you could not get it very fast as the RPMs would skyrocket on it.

Ford has some major issues with their transmissions and it needs recalls on this dump sh*t when you are 500 miles away from home in bump f*ck Egypt and no one around but you and the road. Spoiled my vacation and no telling what it will cost to get the thing fixed. I'm a divorced woman with only one income as that. I will never buy another FORD product again and I worked for their company.

Here I sit on Easter Sunday, about to complain of my truck instead of heading to the 12 o'clock service at church. I'll be going to the 5:30 pm instead. Says a lot, doesn't it? Yesterday on my way to home depot my transmission lost its overdrive gear... right as I was entering a ramp to a major bridge. With everyone honking at me I sat there bewildered, trying to manage driving my truck in the right lane while my tachometer went crazy and my tranny did nothing. I was able to drive in D2 gear with blinkers on until I thought of disengaging OD with the tiny button. Thankfully that allowed me to drive home without the slipping.

I can honestly say that Ford lost one of its most loyal customers. That is all I've owned my entire life. I've put up with a lot of bad engineering over the years with them, but I am really handy and, trained in aviation maintenance, I was always up to the challenge. You know, on small things - bad wiper motors, brakes, window motors, brake cables, etc. Did all my own maintenance. Overall their products were good in spite of their ol' American lazy-engineering prior to Japanese competition.

When I purchased my 2004 F-150 FX4 Supercrew in 2009 with 59,000mi, I thought i was buying a truck that would go the distance with me. I don't tow, and I only drive it 12 miles to work and back. That's it. On nicely paved interstate highways. With such a tough truck, how could I damage it? It's like using a Sherman Tank to mow grass, so I thought. Well, little did i know that Ford's engineers had damaged it in design. I've had to repair the engine phasers, rebuild the differential (!), ignition coils, spark plugs that are frozen in place, and now the transmission. Wow. To think this is Ford's best selling vehicle. Thank God I used it for wimpy duty. So much for Ford Tough.

If i was young with tons of money to spare, no big deal. But with 3 kids and a wife out of work, the timing of this couldn't be worse for us. My wife's 2004 Honda Odyssey has 170,000 mi on it with a slipping tranny, and I thought that would me my next major repair. Wrong. Until yesterday I was considering buying my wife a slightly used Ford Sedan, and I'd stick with the F150. Now, I think I'll be needing to rid myself of what I thought would be my retirement truck, and NOT buy my wife a Ford. We are DONE. Don't know how much $$ it will cost to repair the truck. I must repair it, since I can't sell it or trade it in in this condition.

I was proud that Ford hadn't taken bail out money. But now, I think that Ford actually is running a stimulus program for transmission and power train repair companies. As a mechanical engineer myself, to think that I wanted to work for Ford when i graduated college! I cannot overstate how much of a Ford enthusiast I was. I owned a 1989 Mustang 5.0L that still makes my eyes mist up. But I can say now that I am done. This company doesn't care about customer loyalty. I wonder if Henry Ford thought this way, or if he actually did care about his customer base. When today's new trucks require practically a mortgage to finance, you'd think that they'd care a bit more. I think i will consider an American-made Japanese truck or car. American built, but I'll let the Japanese keep the profits in Japan. Maybe their truck differentials and trannies last past 100,000 miles. My conscience is clear - I gave Ford a hell of a chance to keep me - most of my life. I've taken measures to let my kids, family and co-workers know my Ford hell. It's the best retribution you can give a car manufacturer - bad personal references. Before yesterday, even with all my hell, I had actually thought about a newer F150 given their beautiful lines. Ha.

All this aside, a happy Easter to anyone that reads this today.

For anyone that took the time to read this pitiful rant, thank you. Don't buy the first model year/redesign of any vehicle, especially American. I learned my lesson.

Truck in great condition, 60,000miles, always maintained as recommended by Ford. No signs/symptoms of transmission problem. Driving on highway and in an instant, the OD fails. First, second & third is fine. When it shifts to OD, it loses power to rear differential (like in neutral.)

Drove to Ford dealership for diagnosis - OD band failure. Actually, it is broke. Rebuild or replacement is now a necessity. Cost estimate at $2900 for replacement.

Ford needs to stand behind their powertrain. Will contact Ford, but complaint and request for reimbursement will probably be denied.

Bought my F150 brand new in December of 04. First 10,000 miles went smooth. Then the B.S. started.10,200 miles vibration when braking...dealer replaced rotors ...charged me for pads. 11,500 miles rotors replaced again, charged me for pads. At 12k transmission would not go in reverse, back to dealer...coded...no problems.14k driver side window fell down in door ...dealer said my fault from tinting window...also rear sliding window rattles all the time...went back to dealer numerous...numerous times!! Still is not fixed. At 17k passenger window clips broke...dealer fixed again at my cost due to window tint. At 22k more tranny problems sluggish, chattery and sometimes won't engage in reverse...dealer codes and no problems... also driver side window clips broke again...at this point I find out FORD has issued a recall on clips and there is 3 different designed clips!!... There is not enough room to write what happened between 23k and 33k. At 33,019miles my OD blows, truck runs fine in DRIVE just not OD...back to dealer. My 3 year 36k has expired...They replace OD solenoid, solenoid valve, some broken clip? , fluid and trans kit...I bitch and complain, dealer charges me 106.00 dollar company deductible...I skate out the door...just hit 36kand less than a year later OD is shot again...All the same previous tranny problems it had at 33k to a tee...dealer states everything they fixed at 33k is fine...There is other problems with tranny and I will be responsible to pay1500 to 2k this time...At this time I do not have my F150 back yet from dealer... I am in the process of filing complaint and lawsuit against FOMOCO. I am also filing complaint against Ford dealer and FOMOCO with the Pennsylvania State Attorney Generals Office...I purchased a new truck for 33 thousand dollars 5 years ago and put up with all this...I expressed my disappointment to the dealer yesterday on 03/08/10 and his reply to me was that '' I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A TOYOTA !!'' if I don't like ford. Nice huh?