Raptor Transmission Nightmare!

[Carlos M]

My 17 started doing the very same 4 wks ago while I was pulling my trailer to the MX races 2hrs away. I ended up turning around halfway there and nursing it home. It's been back 2 times since with the same problem and I'm beginning to lose faith in my dealer. They put a module and a valve body in it this week and they tested it with my trailer attached for over an hr on the highway and it didn't get hot or have any issues. I got back but I drove it for less than 50 miles before we left for vacation with our motorhome. I'd swear something is still wrong with it because you know how you know your truck and it feels to me like the tranny is thinking about what gear it wants to be in because it's jumping around quite a bit. It's not shifting hard or anything like that but it just doesn't feel right. I'm going to look into it more when we get home on Monday.

My 18 does the same between 2-5. It holds and the jumps 2-3 gears. No matter how soft I push the pedal. Nothing major but it got to a point that I thought it was normal. Hoping to stay clear from anything major

 

[caleb]

This thread makes me so glad I got rid of my '18 Raptor. From day one, I had shifting issues and despite many visits to several dealers, they could never fix it. About a month before I got rid of it, it started to downshift really hard...to the point that the first time it happened, I thought I got rear ended too (see my comment here in fact). The truck is very fun to drive but is a total nightmare as far as quality...especially for the price you pay for these trucks. Funny thing is, I traded my '16 Tundra for my Raptor and almost immediately regretted it. Same thing, never had any issue with my Tundra, oil changes and that was it, prior to that I had a '14 Tacoma, same thing, totally issue free. I'm now driving my wife's old '16 4Runner and we've had it since new with zero issues. I buy a lot of vehicles and I'll never again buy another Ford. The dealers are all terrible and they don't give a shit that they all suck.

 

[MDJAK]

Are we comparing Toyota quality to Ford? I hope not. Toyota, Honda, they are like the tortoise, slow and steady. I have owned more Honda, Acura and Lexus than I can remember. They are just awesomely reliable.

Ford, Chevy, not so much. There are issues that make me nuts quality wise. My doors on my ‘18 Platinum wouldn’t latch shut in cold weather. The seat cooling doesn’t go up the seat back. Ford has completely ignored these thing. Imagine ignoring something as minor as your door not latching, it bouncing back open when shut? I don’t know how they get away with it. I truly don’t. TSB for it did not fix it.

But besides my Porsche, and no I’m not name dropping, many here own much more expensive exotics than I could ever afford, my Raptor puts a huge smile on my face when I look at it and when I step on it.

It totally sucks what happened to you. I took my ‘17 Raptor from NY to Utah in 2017. Thankfully it performed flawlessly.
Cedar City is nice but a bit boring, though it does have a great long dirt road.

I’m taking my ‘19 back to Utah in August for Raptor Assault. I hope to have better luck than you.

Hope you get it straightened out.

 

[Memphis Ken]

Sorry to hear of your issues. That really sucks and I know exactly how you feel. I had a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack that was constantly in the shop for issues. I sold it and a 2007 F-150 and bought the 18 Raptor which I absolutely love. No issues thus far (knock on wood).

 

[Hawaiian Time]

On April 29th I purchased my very first Ford Raptor, my dream truck and I traded my Toyota Tacoma which now I realize was a giant mistake. The Raptor is a 2017 with at the time 14,600 miles on it. My girlfriend and I decided to take some time and do a road trip from where we live In NY to California (I really wanted to go drive in the desert and Glamis) The trip was absolutely awesome until we got to Utah. The truck started shifting so hard it felt like we were getting rear ended. I pulled off the side of the highway and there was oil all down the underneath of the truck. I limped the truck to the nearest Ford Dealer (Cedar City Motor Company, UT) and they said the oil pan and trans pan were both leaking, and the seal needed to be replaced. So, we stayed 2 nights in Cedar City and actually got a 2019 Ranger for a rental and figured it would be fixed and we’d be on our way. 48 hours later we got the truck back and the tech reassured me that they had their best guy do everything and its better than factory (they did blame the factory for not tightening the pans enough). We drove to Vegas (171 miles) that day and stayed there for the night and figured we would drive the rest of the way to California the following day. The following day we got maybe 120 miles and the truck started shifting extremely bad again and as soon as it did it even my girlfriend said oh no were gonna be stranded. I pulled over and of course there was oil all down the underneath of the truck. We then limped the truck to Mojave Ford in Barstow California and told them what was up, they got us a shitbox rental and we were on our way. The truck sat in Barstow for 5 days due to Memorial Day they couldn’t order parts. When we picked the truck up the service tech said he had his transmission guy check everything over and its 100%. They claimed the first dealer overtightened and cracked the trans pan thus causing the leaking. He too promised me that its 100% good to go and if something happens, I can call him and tell him he’s a ********. We got in the truck and started driving back to NY and drove maybe 70 miles and the truck obviously started shifting like crap and leaking oil everywhere. This time we went to a dealer in Las Vegas (Gaudin Ford) and I had to practically corner the **** that was the service manager there to take the truck in. At this point I had opened a case with Ford Corporate to buy back the truck and told him it under warranty and I need to get home. I pulled my phone out and recorded the conversation I had with him because if I drove off I didn’t want the transmission locking up and ford claiming I was negligent. As I got in the truck to leave he did run out and say that he found the case and would take it that day. There the truck sat for a day and a half and when I went to pick it up, they claimed that the dealer before broke the seal when they were replacing it and overfilled the trans fluid that’s why it was leaking. So here is the 3rd dealer blaming the previous. From Vegas I stopped at 2 more dealers because the truck is shifting funny and they said that the oil underneath is residual, so I was able to get back to NY. The truck is now back in NY and has an appointment at Depaula Ford in Albany on Monday to check the transmission because there was oil in my driveway and I can’t imagine that being residual. Ive been trying to get my case moving for a buyback but my case worker Gretchen E. Merriweather is an absolute nightmare and has hung up on me and lied every interaction we have had. I’m supposed to hear back from her supervisor to get my case reassigned so we will see what happens. I really just wanted to share with everyone my experience dealing with Ford everyone blames each other and doesn’t seem to standby their own work. I’m extremely disappointed because I put 130,000 miles on my 2015 tacoma only doing oil changes every 10,000 miles and here is a truck that cost 3x more and I couldn’t even put 6k on it.

Plastic Oil and Trans Pans do NOT work! Ford should replace EVERY single plastic oil and trans pan with metal ones on ALL 2017 and early 2018 Raptors!!! Lets do a Class Action Lawsuit!

Toyota still uses metal oil pans.

The other non oil related shifting issues are the TCM firmware needing to be updated.

Aloha, HT

 

[Fyatrk]

go and if something happens, I can call him and tell him he’s a ********.

Did you call him ??

 

[andris]

My 17 started doing the very same 4 wks ago while I was pulling my trailer to the MX races 2hrs away. I ended up turning around halfway there and nursing it home. It's been back 2 times since with the same problem and I'm beginning to lose faith in my dealer. They put a module and a valve body in it this week and they tested it with my trailer attached for over an hr on the highway and it didn't get hot or have any issues. I got back but I drove it for less than 50 miles before we left for vacation with our motorhome. I'd swear something is still wrong with it because you know how you know your truck and it feels to me like the tranny is thinking about what gear it wants to be in because it's jumping around quite a bit. It's not shifting hard or anything like that but it just doesn't feel right. I'm going to look into it more when we get home on Monday.

I actually saw your post after I posted and I’m following what happens to you ‍

 

[andris]

Did you call him ??

Hahaha most certainly did

 

[Ray Knight]

Join the club! Mine 2019 had 3 transmissions in the first 3000 miles. It was shifting all crazy again so i traded it for a diesel Roush F250. My 2017 was perfect with 23k when i traded it for the 19. I love the Raptor but that 10 speed is garbage. i no longer trusted the truck. Figured i would get a Super Duty before they put the 10 speed in that too next year.

 

[SpeedJunkie]

Are we comparing Toyota quality to Ford? I hope not. Toyota, Honda, they are like the tortoise, slow and steady. I have owned more Honda, Acura and Lexus than I can remember. They are just awesomely reliable.

Ford, Chevy, not so much. There are issues that make me nuts quality wise. My doors on my ‘18 Platinum wouldn’t latch shut in cold weather. The seat cooling doesn’t go up the seat back. Ford has completely ignored these thing. Imagine ignoring something as minor as your door not latching, it bouncing back open when shut? I don’t know how they get away with it. I truly don’t. TSB for it did not fix it.

But besides my Porsche, and no I’m not name dropping, many here own much more expensive exotics than I could ever afford, my Raptor puts a huge smile on my face when I look at it and when I step on it.

It totally sucks what happened to you. I took my ‘17 Raptor from NY to Utah in 2017. Thankfully it performed flawlessly.
Cedar City is nice but a bit boring, though it does have a great long dirt road.

I’m taking my ‘19 back to Utah in August for Raptor Assault. I hope to have better luck than you.

Hope you get it straightened out.

I suppose it depends on the model, but my wife’s Toyota Sienna minivan is nowhere near as good build quality as my Raptor. The doors on the Sienna feel thin and cheap and they rattle when you close them. My 2018 Raptor has been great for quality and reliability so far at about 23k miles. I love it.