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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 1
Average Mileage:
31,521 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Ford Mustang drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2012 Ford Mustang Owner Comments (Page 6 of 8)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #56

Sep 112012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 100,048 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Car would not shift from 3rd gear to 4th gear clutch acted as if it was stuck in traffic close call on accident.

- Mcintosh, FL, USA

problem #55

Sep 012012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 9,500 miles
Clutch would not allow me to shift the car between 3rd and 4th gear I traffic. This is not a new situation the car has done this on and off since I bought it new I notice it after driving a long time or in fast moving city traffic.

- Mcintosh, FL, USA

problem #54

Aug 222012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 10,428 miles
I was completing a left turn when power was no long going to the back wheels while releasing the clutch. It happened again when I arrived home while pulling in to the driveway but this time I smelled the clutch overheating. I lost confidence that the vehicle will provide the necessary acceleration that is need while crossing traffic at an intersection.

- Shrewsbury, PA, USA

problem #53

Jul 052012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 11,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving the vehicle in any gear, when gas pedal to the floor, the car will fall on it's face when reaching 3000 RPM's and up at all speeds. It misses and the ti-vct isn't engaging correctly. Oil level is full, and the spark plugs look great. The vehicle will not even throw an mil light. The vehicle drives fine at low RPM's, but once you down shift to go faster it feels like it misfires and the engagement of the ti-vct is coming in and out.

- Apo, AE, USA

problem #52

May 202012

Mustang

  • 13,000 miles
The contact own a 2012 Ford Mustang GT. The contact stated that his son was doing a burn out in the vehicle and the drive shaft was destroyed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for repair. The dealer would not honor the warranty because they surmised that the vehicle had been used for racing. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The vehicle was then taken to a different dealer, who agreed to repair the vehicle for a lesser cost. The dealer then stated that he was instructed by the manufacturer not to repair the vehicle at a discount. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 13,000.

- Blanchardville, WI, USA

problem #51

May 212012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 4,550 miles
I am having frequent issues with shifting on my 2012 Mustang GT 6-spd. It has been difficult to shift into 5th gear at times. Shifting from 1st to 2nd is now producing a brief grinding sound with every shift. At times, the transmission will not allow shifting into 4th on the first try, and this also occurs from 4th to 5th at times. A second shift attempt usually works but there is the loss of getting up to speed in each case. In addition, the skip-shift feature often engages at too low an RPM range causing the engine to 'lug' with very little power. This has nearly caused an accident twice as I accelerate from a stop, shift (being forced to 4th gear from 1st by the skip shift) and lose power. Once, the engine died following the skip-shift from 1st to 4th, causing a serious risk. After having these issues with the manual transmission, I found many, many complaints on internet forums and this NHTSA site and do not understand why there is no action to encourage Ford to address this well-known and extremely well-documented issue. This situation is getting close to justifying class-action activity.

- Hutto, TX, USA

problem #50

Jun 012012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 2,100 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My clutch is spongy like it is 10 years old, and vehicle shifts like crap and has trouble going into 2nd gear in the morning and at high rpms I have trouble going to 4th and have to drop to 5th causing serious loss of power.

- Apo, AE, USA

problem #49

May 232012

Mustang

  • 4,400 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that the transmission would not engage into third or fourth gear. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The current and failure mileages were 4400.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #48

Nov 012011

Mustang 6-cyl

  • 3,000 miles
Purchased 7/11 a 2012 Mustang with 9 miles on it. In less than 6 months. We have had two failed tires. A leaking transmission. Now the plastic part of the seat belt that hold the belt off the neck is broken and Ford refuses to fix it.

- Nixa, MO, USA

problem #47

Dec 062011

Mustang 6-cyl

  • 6,000 miles
My vehicle has shifting issues between first and second gear. Once shifting between first and second the transmission will lock up and not allow me to shift into any additional gears. Major concern in traffic. Three separate Ford dealership representatives said they are aware of the issue but no recall has been announced. Ford will do nothing to fix the problem and said "try starting in second gear". major safety concern and the problem has been worsening with every mile I put on the car. Very disappointed in Ford.

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA

problem #46

Jan 312012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 3 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Transmission difficult to shift into reverse first and second gear. Almost got rear ended at traffic intersection.

- Racine, WI, USA

problem #45

Jan 272012

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 301 miles
The transmission was shifted into 4th gear and popped out of gear approximately 2 seconds after releasing the clutch pedal. (this happened once) the shift from 1st to second has not been 100% reliable, it has on several occasions not been going into 2nd gear unless I rapidly move the shift lever very slightly side to side to find the gear. This is not a 1st to 4th (fuel economy) shift issue. I read and experienced this enough times to know that the vehicle suggests" this at a low accelerator input. I am referring to knowing about this and accelerating enough in 1st gear as to not see the dash prompt for 1st to 4th! although you are assuming that this is not a safety issue, what else would you call a transmission that will not shift into a gear one hundred percent of the time! you may also assume driver error for one or maybe more occasions but not the same issue on the same car after having it happen several times and consciously trying to avoid it only to have it happen again. Although several occasions of not being able to shift into 2nd out of 100 seem low, when will it happen at the most inopportune time" I am sure that I am not the only driver with years of experience in manual transmission cars to start a report. My 2nd car currently has over 100,000 miles on it and has not had one single issue with the manual transmission or the clutch. Same transmission and same clutch. Never been worked on.

- Simi Valley, CA, USA

problem #44

Jan 172012

Mustang

  • miles
My 2012 Mustang GT was most likely totaled tonight when the transmission did not allow a shift into 5th gear. It slid into 3rd gear and caused the wheels to spin resulting in the car fishtailing and hitting a tree in the median. It had just started to rain which was a factor in this as the road was slicker than normal, but transmission problems been reported to the local Ford dealership this past week. They were too busy to check the car when reported and ironically, the car was suppose to be looked at in the morning. We had reported to Ford an issue with shifting into 5th gear. They told us there was an common issue with this but there was no recall. All airbags deployed and luckily there were no deaths. This is not a case of careless driving. There is an issue with the transmissions in these cars and something needs to be done. There was also an eyewitness that reported to law enforcement there was no wreckless driving.

- Florence, SC, USA

problem #43

Sep 122011

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 2,100 miles
Previously filed complaints ODI 10432980 &10435461. Purchased vehicle- 8/16/11. 1st repair-vehicle was at county Ford for 2 weeks (total) in September-Oct (they evaluated and ordered parts. Took car back to be repaired) 2nd repair- 11/08/11 ' 12/23/11 (45 days) **vehicle on lift the entire time. Found out when we picked it up they damaged the ext housing while attempting to replace bearing-had to wait for parts shipped from china** 3rd repair- 1/11/12-until? transmission still has vibrations in multiple gears and rattling sounds.

- Graham, NC, USA

problem #42

May 252011

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 1,500 miles
I was driving along the freeway going 55 mph when I down shifted to slow down and the gear would not engage into the 5th gear from 6th gear. I put it in neutral then put it in 5th gear with no ill effect. Also when driving on the local street sometimes the gear would grind from 2 to 3 and a couple of times from 5 to 6 gear.

- Redmond, WA, USA

problem #41

Oct 102011

Mustang

  • 1,700 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Mustang. The contact was \driving 20 mph when he realized that the vehicle would not shift into second gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the transmission fluid to remedy the problem but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 1,700.

- Carlsbad, CA, USA

problem #40

Dec 062011

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 1,350 miles
When I first purchased my car I started to notice that shifting didn't seem right. One morning I walked out to my car to start it and the clutch was on the floor. I pumped the clutch several times to get any kind of pedal pressure back. This happened one more time and I did the same thing the get pressure back. On 6 Dec was the first time I brought it in to a Ford service dealer to have it looked at. But before I got to the dealer, I started to notice a lot of noise from the transmission. The noise sounded like a whine. Then noises also came from the rear brakes I started to hear a lot of noise from them, like they were still touching the rotors. When I got to the Ford dealership I told them about all the issues I was having and left the car with them. Later that evening the service center said the car was done. When I picked it up the same issues were happening with the transmission and the brakes. I returned to the Ford service center and dropped off the car again the next day. The service center keeps on saying the transmission and clutch are fine, everything is normal and there are no other reported issues with this problem on the transmission. On the brakes, the service center did find that both rear pads had broken guides on them and they were allowing the pad to move around in the caliper. The service center fixed the brake issue and I haven't had anymore issues with that. Now on 10 Dec, I left my house and went to put the car in sixth gear and it wont go in, the gear will just grind. I pulled over and went through all the gears and sixth gear will not work. I have contacted my local Ford dealer and service center and have yet to hear anything back from them.

- Midway Park , NC, USA

problem #39

Sep 272011

Mustang 8-cyl

  • 4,500 miles
Problem: Abnormal vibration/noise in stick shift/driver seat during deceleration: 2012 Mustang V6 base model (no add on's) manual 6 speed. Purchased new. Had control arms replace within 2 weeks of ownership due to creaking front end (392 miles on the car).approximately 3 months after control arms were replaced I noticed vibrations in shifter and driver seat as well as rumbling noises when on highway during deceleration. Sounded and felt like when you ride over a rough patch of pavement or a metal grated bridge. Problem continued off and on and I could not duplicate. I have recently been able to reproduce the problem. What I discovered was when I ran the car up to 2750-3000 rpms then let off the accelerator I could feel an abnormal vibration and hear the car rumbling. The vibration/noise would stop as the car decelerated to about 2500-2000 RPM's. severity of vibration/rumbling noise has ranged from mild vibration/noise to stick slapping back and forth violently and very loud rumbling. Car does this in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear. I don't get to 3000 in 5th or 6th gear so I don't know if problem exists in these gears. Road conditions do not appear to lessen or increase rate of incident.

- Richmond, VA, USA

problem #38

Oct 142011

Mustang 6-cyl

  • 1,250 miles
My 2012 Ford Mustang V6 with premium package has a 6 speed manual transmission. I can't get the vehicle into some gears. I have noticed this problem to happen when starting the vehicle the shifter does not go smoothly into 1st or reverse gear when pressing the clutch pedal. I have to press the clutch repeatedly and play with the shifter to get it into 1st and 2nd gear when starting from a stopped position. In addition, I have had difficulty changing gears when traveling more than 25 mph. The transmission does not let me go into 3rd or 4th gear without having me put it into 5th or 6th gear while pressing the clutch pedal. I had a 20 year old Acura integra that never gave me a problem and it had a 5 speed transmission with worn out synchros. My vehicle is fairly new and I never expected to have any issues with a car this new. This is a safety hazard especially during emergency situations where I may have to downshift to gain more acceleration in order to avoid hitting something or getting me out of a dangerous situation. Luckily I have not been in a position where I have to downshift quickly as I will be put in a dangerous situation and can seriously injure myself or someone and maybe even be killed. I have noticed the shifting problem to get worse as I put more miles on the vehicle. I currently have under 2000 miles on the odometer. Please look further into this matter.

- West Covina, CA, USA

problem #37

Oct 012011

Mustang

  • 4,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Mustang. While driving approximately 45 mph, the contact noticed an excessive vibration throughout the vehicle and in the gear shifter when decelerating. The failure recurred constantly when decelerating between 45-60 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics but the technician was unable to diagnose the failure and advised that the vibration was normal. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000.

- Bel Air, MD, USA

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