ABC's 20-20 to investigate...
 

From the all ford mustangs dot com posting boards site....

Guess I'm glad I wasn't among the first to jump on the 5.0 models. Still would love to have the hotter engine, tho...

ATTENTION:

I just got off the phone with the investigative team at ABC News. They are, indeed, moving ahead with a story for 20/20 around the transmission issues so many of us are dealing with. They asked that I forward them a list of owners experiencing issues with their cars. They are interested in speaking to current owners of 2011 and 2012 Ford Mustang V6, GT, and BOSS 302 vehicles with manual transmissions who have:

1. been to their dealers and have not had their issues resolved... and/or

2. Have been in a situation where they were unable to engage a gear due to the issue... and/or

3. Have had repairs made that did not solve the issue... and/or

4. Have been denied replacement vehicles or refunds after multiple failed repairs... and/or

5. Who believe their car's current condition poses a safety concern

I need to get this list to them by end of day today if possible. They are looking to speak to you briefly on the phone to hear your story. It would be great if we can get a representative sampling from all areas of the US and Canada.

If you're comfortable participating in this, please PM me your name and contact info ASAP. The sooner this is brought to light, the sooner ALL of our cars will be fixed correctly.

If you prefer, you can contact ABC Investigator Gerry Wagschal directly at: Gerry.Wagschal@abc.com and schedule a phone interview

Thanks everyone

John

Good to hear it. Now wish they would go after Jaguar for the S-Type transmission failures in the 2000-2003 models...

I always buy used cars.

It's because I'm too "value conscience" (cheap) to take the huge depreciation hit, but another advantage (since I like Mustangs, and have considered a used one) is finding out about problems such as this.

I wouldn't consider a Mustang with a slush-box, and will not consider a 2011 with a manual tranny.

Looks like If I ever get a Mustang, it will look alot like Paul's.

They need to look at Chrysler too. 4 mini vans now, 6 transmissions. Every 70,000 miles I get a new gearbox.

Many, many vehicles have endemic problems. The issue here (and it's a weak issue, at best) is whether Ford is unfairly denying claims.

Well, there are some very angy people posting on this issue. There has been talk of a class action suit. There seems to be a private money fix...Tremec aftermarket 6 speed, built to handle 700 horsepower.

Just got the notification yesterday to take my pickemup into the stealer for this:

So what happens to the tranny? Is it a manual?

The 2007 GT500 had a great 6 speed manual.

Yep it's the 2011-12 "Gertag (sp?) six speed...designed in Germany, built in China, that is having problems. I'm not sure, but I suspect the 2007 GT500 ran the Tremec 6 speed I mentioned earlier?

Is getrag a bad company? I know that older truck getrags all blow out bearings and mainshafts if the oil isn't overfilled and changed like its engine oil.

Getrag is a great company. They're German and they've been around a LONG time. I think Ford owns them now, at least partially. The new plant in China seems to be the issue? But these kinds of problems happen all the time with new applicatinos. It's how they deal with current customers that will define them.

You can bet Getrag will quickly fix the issue with beefier components. It's always a balance of cost and friction.... they want to use parts that are *just* strong enough, but not overbuilt.

I think the transmission in my Merkur xr4ti was the worst trans ever. made in Mexico. The German Getrag trans where the ticket. Got a wrecked European xr4ti and changed everything over and all was good.
I think if the US car manufactures would put more into the cars they build instead of there pockets there would be more support for the junk they build.

When you snap and glue something together as fast as possible to save on labor and cut cost to just get a product out the door to line your pockets you get a US made piece of crap.

The best thing they got going is most of the US car buying public are not real car people and buy cars as a utilitarian necessity. JMO

The uber-German BMW M3 also uses the Chinese made Getrag.

So it isn't a US thing.

And your Merkur was also German, so it isn't a US thing.

On the flipside of this coin, a post made by a member of the IMBOC (International Bullitt Owners Club)

"Yeah it was cool BUT I had 2 catastrophic engine failures in Boxsters, one under warranty and one out of warranty. 2 failures in 3 cars was enough!!

The Bullitt takes me back to my youth when I was a young navigator in the AF."

I'm not the only Porsche expatriate over there...Enjoy your P-car, and I hate to break your bubble, but you can find "car people" being enthusiasts about American cars...

And a warning...someday, your elitist attitude may bite ya in the Butt...;) Your automotive viewpoint seems rather narrow, and where your head is at the view gets progressively narrower and it's hard to see the light.

20/20 or 60 Minutes could devote entire shows to auto related failures. It would be like shoting fish in a barrel. But since the auto industy spends more money on TV ads than any other medium (just a guess on my part) I would think the TV networks/producers need to be very careful. Can't bite the hand that feeds you sort of thing. ;)

Very good point. One to keep in mind when reading "tests" in the Car magazines as well.

My bike has the Getrag gearbox as do most beemers. Clunky as heck but pretty solid. Don't know if its chinese made though.

The Merkur xr4ti chassis was built in Germany. Very good by the way. The US model had the famous out dated US built turbo four cyl. Mexican transmission and dealers that would not know crap about customer service after the sale.

Topical US automakers taking a good product and screwing it up because they think the US people impulse buy and they don`t need high quality. The bottom line seems to be the target rather then producing high quality. How can you build a high performance hot rod knowing its going to be beat on and put a cheap Chinese built transmission in it,

You would think it is going to cost more to repair and address the problem now then it would if they had the best transmission they could find in the first place.
Of coarse on the other hand when you have billions whats a few million here and there.

except the news outlet better be right. 60 minutes did a good job of killing Audi, for no reason back in the day. took many many years to bounce back after creative journalism

We owned an Audi at that time and I've haven't watched 60 Minutes and hardly ever CBS since then. Talk about destroying your credibilty. And this was years before the Rather BS.