2020 Ford F-150 Powertrain & Transmission Problems

My family and I were merging onto the highway when without warning, the automatic transmission bucked, making a loud thump sound, then it lost power nearly causing a severe accident. The transmission then began to hunt for gears, seemingly confused. It even cycled through 1st gear, my heart dropped, but luckily it did not engage 1st gear since that would have caused havoc at highway speeds. Afterwards, the vehicle regained some power but was suddenly limited to only two gears (5th and 9th). I immediately drove home, when entering my driveway the transmission could not engage reverse. Therefore I had to roll it in using forward momentum. I just had the vehicle serviced a few days ago because this issue happened before (not as severe). However, I was told the vehicle was operating fine and a leaky transmission pan was the culprit. After the transmission pan was replaced, I picked up the vehicle just yesterday (4/11/26), and this incident occurred today,(4/12/26). Please help, this transmission was rebuilt by Ford under warranty (60k mile powertrain warranty) just two years ago due to the notorious defects that have been ongoing. I contacted Ford corporate but they've refused to provide any help. This problem was confirmed by Ford corporate and the dealer, which led to the initial transmission rebuild (in 2024). However I fear this defect may not be repairable since the issue has returned and is more severe. I believe Ford was aware of this defect and did not disclose this information to me prior to buying. If I had known, I wouldn't have purchased this vehicle. Thank you for any support you could provide on this matter.

Transmission gear shifting isn’t smooth. This has been occurring for 50k miles. Often going into one low gear to the next will hear a “clunk” sound.

The vehicle has less than 95,000 miles on it. The vehicle was purchased with around 83,000 (11/15/2024) started having issues with the transmission around 85,000. The truck will go from 6th to 3rd or it may go from 10th to 1st while running a good speed down the highway or it pulls out fine then goes to neutral. This is a safety issue. There needs to be a recall made on this vehicle before it causes one of us to get hurt. Please have someone to investigate. We need this matter corrected and I do not feel it should be out of our pocket to correct it. Yes, we could trade it but we do not want someone else to get hurt. Seeing as how the dealership sold it to us knowing this was an issue I'm sure they would not fix it to sell it. No incident has occured at this time. I'm trying to be proactive in preventing that.

As I was driving my truck down the highway at 60 miles an hour, it tried to downshift to first gear several times. During that same time it lost several gears in the transmission. Ford is now replacing the transmission which is going to cost me a significant amount since the vehicle is just barely out of warranty. The truck did not have any prior warning lights or codes. It was hesitating to shift between gears occasionally for the last few thousand miles. This was an unsafe situation because the tires could have locked up and caused me to slide off the road at a high rate of speed. The dealer called after the diagnostic and essentially said "there's no way around it, this truck needs a whole new transmission and parts related to the transmission replacement.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

The vehicle just downshifted from 6th gear to 1st gear on the freeway nearly causing a accident and it caused a blown transmission.

My transmission unexpectedly jumps gears and down shifts. My car just stopped getting any sort of power on the highway. All this with my children in the car. I was able to pull over safely, but it was extremely scary. I put the truck in park and then put it in drive and it started driving again. My ford f150 has under 80,000 miles on it. In my opinion this is a huge safety concern. A wrench popped up on my dash indicating that service was needed, but it has since gone away.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly slipped while changing gear, with the power train warning light illuminated. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

The transmission shifted unexpectedly from highway speed to first gear. The back wheels felt like they locked up and my passenger asked if we had been hit.

TRANSMISSION AT VARIOUS TIMES HAS A VERY HARD DROP TO A LOWER GEAR, TO THE POINT WHERE IT WILL DROP FROM A HIGH GEAR TO A LOWE GEAR SKIPPING THE MIDDLE GEARS AND THE TRANSMISSION/DRIVESHAFT SERIOUSLY BANGS WHEN IT DOES THIS.

The vehicle transmission is slamming when the vehicle decelerates. I can feel the jerking in the vehicle. I am concerned the transmission will fail while operating the vehicle resulting in a crash. This is the second time I have had this issue. It was repaired once by the Ford dealership. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone for this occurrence. It has in the past for the same occurrence. There were no warnings prior to the occurrence. This is the second occurrence in several years. The current occurrence began on February 16, 2026.

2020 F150 with only 63000 miles has a failed transmission. The truck doesn't shift gears properly, gets stuck in gears, loses power suddenly. This is a huge safety risk as the vehicle just stops accelerating or working when driving. This clearly endangers me and other drivers. Ford refuses to pay even though their check engine light gave a TRANSMISSION/POWER FAILURE alert and the Ford dealership inspected it and their diagnosis is: REPLACE COMPLETE TRANSMISSION ASSEMBLY. HAS INTERNAL CDF DRUM BUSHING FAILURE. This is an ongoing issue with these 10 speed transmissions on these F150s. There are several class action lawsuits against Ford over these 10R80 transmissions. Ford is not only refusing to recall these dangerous vehicles but also refusing to pay to cover the repairs on transmissions they've known are defect.

I bought a 2020 Ford F150 XL with 83,000 miles on 27 JAN 2026 from a local Phil long Kia dealership. I started to notice that the shifting was very harsh immediately after buying the truck and that the transmission was dropping the gear when I was driving at stoplights and even when I was entering an intersection almost causing an accident. I notice the issue more at slow speeds and in lower gears. Today is 19 FEB 2026. I brought the truck to a local ford dealership and they told me that the transmission needs to be replaced.

While driving my F-150 I made a turn and when I went to accelerate again, the truck acted like it was in neutral - would not go. Engine continued to run but would not accelerate. A second car was directly behind me and almost rear-ended me when truck failed to move. Pulled over, tried low gear and reverse and nothing happened. Transmission is shot. Currently in for a rebuild. This is the Ford 10-speed trans, which has been known to fail. I only have 33,000 miles on the vehicle. Could've been much more dangerous had I been on the freeway when it failed.

Transmission has hard shifting, skips 2nd gear and sometimes will downshift out of 10th gear.

Vehicle was purchased certified pre-owned from dealer at around 35k miles. Currently around 65k miles. Complete loss of power at 45 miles an hour. Truck shifted from 7th gear to 1st in a split second and brought the truck to a complete stop. Luckily able to pull onto shoulder to avoid getting rear ended from car behind. Decent maintenance records with dealer, no prior issues with transmission other than some rough shifting before this issue. Vehicle was dropped at dealer on 2-5-26, have not received any type of feedback or updated since dated 2-8-26. I know there is a current TSB on these transmissions, I believe they are defective based on other reports and my personal experience. Complete safety danger, 45 to 0 in under 2 seconds.

Transmission erratic shifting causes unsafe vehicle handling characteristics. Vehicle will not properly accelerate under certain circumstances. Occasionally in parking lots, vehicle will accelerate on its own after throttle is released under certain conditions. Transmission has been replaced several times, and issue persists in all units. Problems are reported in TSB’s sent out by dealerships.

I am writing to provide supplemental information regarding my existing safety complaints (IDs XXXand XXX). This update concerns a documented failure by Ford’s authorized dealer network to perform mandated Customer Satisfaction Programs (CSPs) that directly correlate to the catastrophic powertrain failures I have experienced. Timeline and Documentation of Failure: • August & September 2025: As previously reported, my vehicle suffered sudden "Reduced Power" malfunctions while in motion (P0734/P07F7), leading to a full transmission replacement. Discovery of Non-Disclosure: My records now confirm that on November 11, 2022—just weeks before I purchased this vehicle as a Ford Blue Advantage Gold Certified unit—CrossRoads Ford (Dunn, NC) documented that 21N03 (Cam Phasers), 21N08 (PCM Reprogram), and 21M06 (Tailgate) were outstanding. • Breach of Duty: Despite this knowledge, the dealership sold me the vehicle on December 3, 2022, without completing these safety-related service actions. Furthermore, as the registered owner, I never received the required notification from Ford Motor Company regarding the 21B10 program or its supplements. Safety Implication: The failure to apply the 21B10/21N08 updates directly contributed to the mechanical failure of the cam phasers and transmission. This resulted in the vehicle entering "Limp Mode" during highway operation, creating a severe risk of rear-end collisions due to the sudden loss of motive power. I request that these facts be added to my existing case files. The lack of manufacturer oversight regarding "Certified" vehicle standards has resulted in a vehicle that was represented as safe and fully maintained while actually harboring known, unaddressed mechanical defects.INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode and failed to accelerate as intended. After a while, the vehicle accelerated, but the acceleration was delayed. The wrench warning light illuminated, and the contact received a notification from the Ford App with the message “Powertrain Power Reduced”. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 49,244.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to shift into third gear, the vehicle started shaking abnormally, and the gear shift was difficult to engage, causing the transmission to shift hard. The contact stated that at faster speeds, while attempting to shift into seventh gear, there was a delayed response. The powertrain fault warning light was illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 23-2123 (Harsh/Delayed Engagement And/or Harsh/Delayed Shift); however, the VIN was not included in the TSB. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000.