FaultScore

Ford Expedition acceleration problems

837 of the 11,934 complaints filed about the Ford Expedition are about the throttle and cruise control — 7% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2000.

837

Complaints

7%

Share of all complaints

84

Crashes

248

Fires

Acceleration & Cruise Control complaints by model year

Median failure at 50,000 miles

1997 Expedition 81 9.7%

Median failure at 120,000 miles

1998 Expedition 79 9.4%

Median failure at 111,500 miles

1999 Expedition 59 7.0%

Median failure at 116,500 miles

2000 Expedition 127 15.2%

Median failure at 109,000 miles

2001 Expedition 100 11.9%

Median failure at 100,000 miles

2002 Expedition 58 6.9%

Median failure at 63,000 miles

2003 Expedition 20 2.4%

Median failure at 66,500 miles

2004 Expedition 21 2.5%

Median failure at 30,060 miles

2005 Expedition 66 7.9%

Median failure at 71,000 miles

2006 Expedition 29 3.5%

Median failure at 85,640 miles

2007 Expedition 12 1.4%

Median failure at 36,000 miles

2008 Expedition 13 1.6%

Median failure at 44,382 miles

Median failure at 117,000 miles

Median failure at 50,000 miles

2012 Expedition 18 2.2%

Median failure at 71,512 miles

Median failure at 114,380 miles

2015 Expedition 15 1.8%

Median failure at 45,000 miles

2016 Expedition 22 2.6%

Median failure at 57,148 miles

2017 Expedition 21 2.5%

Median failure at 50,100 miles

2018 Expedition 15 1.8%

Median failure at 41,323 miles

2019 Expedition 13 1.6%

Median failure at 72,000 miles

2020 Expedition 13 1.6%

Median failure at 85,000 miles

Median failure at 2,000 miles

Median failure at 21,000 miles

Median failure at 19,631 miles

What owners said

2012 Ford Expedition Leavenworth, KS

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

vehicle shifting erratically and shows fuel mileage low and loss of speedometer

NHTSA complaint #11756398 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2012 Ford Expedition Leavenworth, KS

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

vehicle shifting erratically and shows fuel mileage low and loss of speedometer

NHTSA complaint #11756399 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2021 Ford Expedition Meridian, MS

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

On my expedition I started having issues with my transmission staying in gear while driving. I will be going up a hill and all of a sudden boom it starts down shifting or not accelerating at all. I had a few times when me and my wife will be driving, and we would be going through a intersection or a area where you don't want to slow down and then the transmission would forget which gear it would be in and lose all power. Keep in mind my expedition only has 83K miles and serviced regularly. $8,900 later it needs a new transmission. This is a huge safety problem that's being ignored.

NHTSA complaint #11753340 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2021 Ford Expedition Carlsbad, NM

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

I am filing this complaint because I truly believe this transmission issue is a safety problem. I was driving my 2021 Ford Expedition and was merging onto a busy highway when I pressed the gas to get up to traffic speed. Instead of accelerating, the engine revved but the transmission would not shift. It felt like the vehicle was stuck between gears or in neutral. My SUV would not accelerate when I needed it to, and I remember thinking, “This is how someone gets hit.” As a mom, it was terrifying. I depend on my vehicle to safely get my family where we need to go. When you press the gas while merging into fast-moving traffic, you expect your vehicle to respond. Mine didn’t. I was left trying to merge while traffic was approaching and my SUV would barely move. Before this happened, I had noticed increasingly harsh shifting and delayed gear changes. The vehicle had been properly maintained, and the transmission had recently been serviced. After the incident, an authorized Ford dealership diagnosed the transmission with a failed CDF drum in the 10-speed transmission. The transmission had to be completely rebuilt. After researching this problem, I found many other Ford owners reporting the exact same failure and the same scary symptoms. This doesn’t seem like normal wear and tear. Losing the ability to accelerate without warning is a serious safety concern, especially when merging onto a highway or crossing an intersection. I hope NHTSA investigates this issue before someone isn’t as lucky as I was. I was fortunate to avoid an accident, but I can’t help thinking another family may not be.

NHTSA complaint #11752114 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2019 Ford Expedition at 79,000 miles Pearland, TX

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the message "Vehicle in Park" was displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle unexpectedly shifted into park(P) on two separate occasions. There was an abnormally loud clunking sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle failed to accelerate. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train). The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000.

NHTSA complaint #11751599 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2018 Ford Expedition Ft Mitchell, KY

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

I noticed a loud rattle when starting my 2018 Ford Expedition, at first occasionally and then on every cold start. The Ford Dealer's service department diagnosed a cam phaser issue. There were no warning lights or messages available to me, but the service department's diagnosis showed several timing faults. I was told the cam phaser repair is $4000 - $5000 and continued use puts the engine and transmission at risk. I contacted Ford customer service and was told that my vehicle was not eligible for assistance with these repairs and that my level of loyalty also did not make me eligible for assistance. I have maintained this vehicle with oil changes, fluid changes, tire and brake maintenance for the life of the vehicle. I would like the NHTSA to investigate Ford for a recall of the cam phasers and effected parts since this is a known and prominent issue that also impacts road safey.

NHTSA complaint #11750763 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2021 Ford Expedition Three Rivers, MI

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

I have a 2021 Ford Expedition Max that we purchased new. From the time we first purchased it, it has had an intermittent issue. During these times if I accelerate hard or try to give gas to go up a hill, it will occasionally act like it is losing power- like it drops into neutral and stops accelerating. If I do not let off of the gas immediately, it is followed by a loud metallic rattling/ grinding noise. If I release the accelerator, it recovers quickly and seems to “reset” and I’m able drive like normal. On a few occasions a brief warning has popped onto my dash but it goes away so quickly that I never know exactly what it said. It MAY have said something related to parking but I can’t recall what I’ve seen before it goes away. I’ve learned to adjust my driving, making as few hard accelerations as possible to avoid this. Sometimes they can’t be avoided. It becones scary when I’m trying to merge or have to make a quick turn to get into a break in traffic because when it happens at those times I’m not able to accelerate to avoid the oncoming traffic. It doesn’t do it every time but seems to do it more the more I’ve driven like longer trips and I believe it’s gotten more frequent over time despite my adjustments in driving. Last year a Ford dealership looked at it and we thought the recall they fixed might fix it but it did not. Now they’ve reproduced the issue and diagnosed DTC P07E6 referencing TSB 23-2249 and saying the transmission needs replaced. I am aware of NHTSA Recall 26V402 (Ford 26S48) involving similar vehicles with transmission/park system concerns. Although my VIN is not currently included, the similarities prompted me to submit this complaint in case my vehicle represents the same or a related safety issue. I don’t have the official diagnostic report yet as the dealership still has my vehicle but I’ll include a photo of my conversation with the dealership,

NHTSA complaint #11750488 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2000 Ford Expedition Cedar City, UT Fire

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

On XXX my 2000 Ford Expedition caught on fire at around 2am. It had not been driven or turned on since XXX, and was sitting parked that whole time. It was parked in the parking lot of my apartment building, right outside of my unit. I was woken up by a loud pop which I believe was the tire exploding, and the flames were tall enough to see outside my second story bedroom window. My entire apartment building was evacuated by the fire department, and some doors were kicked in by them, including mine. After they put the fire out, the fire inspector looked for two hours to determine a cause and were only able to determine that the fire started under the hood, on the drivers side, close to the dashboard area. The vehicle was completely totaled in the fire, and my other car parked next to it was damaged from the fire as well, and the apartment building had a lot of damage from the fire and heat spreading to it. Multiple residents were displaced for a few days at the advice of the fire department, to let units air out from the carcinogenic fumes. The vehicle has been towed and signed over to AutoMoto Salvage yard. I was researching what could have started this fire and found this article where the NHTSA investigated over 600 spontaneous Ford vehicle fires including year 2000 Ford Expeditions, caused by cruise control deactivation switches, which are located in the same place under the hood that the fire department determined my fire originated. [XXX] My vehicle was not listed in any recall, but that article states that over 200 vehicles that caught fire were not either. I'm unsure if the salvage yard still has it available for inspection. It has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer. It was inspected by the fire department and police department - insurance did not do their own inspection. There were no warning signs and the vehicle was running like normal. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11748008 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2019 Ford Expedition Katy, TX

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Multiple times we have received Powertrain Failure warnings. These warnings typically happen when driving in cruise control but also happens in normal driving. The car has trouble shifting gears, gets stuck in gears, and has trouble downshifting. This creates unsafe and unstable driving especially at high speeds. Repeated visits to the dealer have yielded no results and the dealer has not mentioned transmission work one time despite a clear issue and widespread issues with this transmission model. This issue has been persistent since the car was bought.

NHTSA complaint #11743193 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Ford Expedition Edmond, OK

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Vehicle suddenly shifts to 1st gear while travelling at 45MPH or more causing immediate jerking and slowing of vehicle, placing driver, occupants and other drivers at risk of crash. In this condition, the speedometer reads 0MPH while still travelling and other warnings on dash are: Airbag Failure, Blindspot system fault, Cross traffic system fault, and See manual. Vehicle then appears stuck in 3rd gear until pulling over, stopping the engine and restarting. All warnings clear after restarting. This has occurred many times without proper diagnosis from Ford service. Now vehicle is doing this two to three times weekly and is currently in Ford service. Now diagnosed as Lead Frame Failure. Estimated cost is $1,523.38 and Ford refuses to pay for repair due to no active recalls on this specific vehicle, however the same transmission issue is in recall on same year model F-150's with the same transmission.

NHTSA complaint #11741968 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2026 Ford Expedition Brighton, MI

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

With speeds in excess of 70 MPH, the car have a violent shake. The shake gets worse as you approach 80 MPH. This is in both the 2025 and 2026 Ford Expedition models. This put drivers at risk, as they must keep control of the car at all times on the highway if they are in excess of 70 MPH. The car has already been inspected by Ford and they did a road balance test and replaced one tire. The car still shakes at high speeds. Ford is looking to bring my car in a 2nd time to look at the issue again. No warning lights came on. This appears to be a driving issue not related to anything that would come up electronically.

NHTSA complaint #11738134 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2014 Ford Expedition Athens, AL

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

While driving on interstate at highway speeds (70mph), the transmission experienced sudden downshift, which increased the engine RPMs to redline and rapidly decelerated the vehicle. Occupant safety was put at risk while other drivers were forced to quickly avoid collision due to our much slower speed. Transmission would not select proper gear which made it difficult to proceed to a safe pull-off point. After restarting the vehicle, the situation repeated itself several times while attempting to drive home. Reoccurring problems include rapid deceleration and high engine revs when transmission suddenly shifts at high speeds, or stalling & lack of acceleration when transmission shifts improperly at low speeds (which makes moving the vehicle safely from the roadway difficult). Researching the problem, it appears to be an issue with the leadframe internal to the 6R80 transmission. Apparently there are safety recalls for other Ford SUVs and trucks with the same leadframe part all related to unexpected transmission shifts.

NHTSA complaint #11733946 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Ford Expedition Indian Harbour Beach, FL

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Sudden and severe downshifts occurred at roadway and highway speeds resulting in sudden speed decrease. Also revving and loss of power occurred. Problem codes P0706 & P0707 were logged which point directly to the Transmission Range Sensor (TRS), which is integrated into the molded lead frame. This sudden and uncontrolled loss of speed caused significant danger to vehicles, ocupants, and other vehicles.

NHTSA complaint #11733139 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2018 Ford Expedition Rockwall, TX

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

"Verified internal hydraulic cross leak due to CDF drum bushing movement. Transmission has delayed engagement in 4th, 5th, and 6th gears. This is a known manufacturing defect in the 10R80 transmission."

NHTSA complaint #11726870 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2014 Ford Expedition Pearland, TX

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

While driving the truck will shift into 1st gear. It will also shift back and forth between gears randomly. When this happens, the wheels may lock up or just skid. The service engine light will come on, the speedometer will drop to zero while still moving and the "miles to empty" will show at zero miles. Sometime the tire indicator will turn on as well. This may/may not reset when the vehicle turns off and back on. Other times the vehicle will stick in first gear when leaving from a stop. It will also stick in 3rd or 4th gear as well. There have been times where it seems to stick like it was on cruise control but will disengage when the brake it tapped. This all occurs anywhere between a stop position and 50 MPH. The problem has been confirmed by a shop as the "Molded lead Frame" in the 6r80 transmission.

NHTSA complaint #11726391 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2024 Ford Expedition Palos Hills, IL Crash 1 injured

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

My wife tried to move my expedition from spot to another in our parking lot During that maneuver the gas pedal assembly broke down and the car in high speed created some personal and property damages I have the part handy and ready for inspection up on request The insurance knows about it And I had a police report No warning prior to the incident

NHTSA complaint #11707227 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2023 Ford Expedition at 38,000 miles Pierre, SD Crash

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

The contact owned a 2023 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while his wife was occupying the vehicle at the residence and attempting to park in the drive postion, the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the garage wall, causing damage to the garage wall, refrigerator, and storage cabinet. The brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle was in full throttle and failed to stop. No warning light was illuminated. During the failure, the contact's wife was the only occupant inside the vehicle. In addition, the display screen went blank. The contact's wife had not sustained an injury, and no medical attention was needed. No police report was filed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 38,000.

NHTSA complaint #11705302 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2012 Ford Expedition Kingman, KS

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

The speedometer will quit working and the vehicle will not shift out of 1st gear, if you can work through it it will start throwing error messages such as zero miles to empty, tire moniter system fault, etc. This is a very dangerous situation especially in high traffic areas. There was a customer satisfaction program on it but only up to 150,000 miles. This program should last the life of the vehicle, also, if it was fixed before ownership, why did it go bad again

NHTSA complaint #11699752 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2019 Ford Expedition Rosemount, MN

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

My 2019 Ford Expedition started making some loud noises while accelerating and wouldn’t accelerate as usual when I pressed the gas pedal — there was a noticeable delay in gear shifting and acceleration. Often when I did shift gears, there would be a very loud clunking sound. It got much worse over the course of several days. At one point, I was on the highway and needed to accelerate quickly to maneuver around other vehicles —I pressed the gas and there was no acceleration— the vehicle just stayed at the current speed and it was a couple beats before the vehicle responded to me pressing down hard in the gas pedal. It did finally accelerate, but it was very delayed. It was a very unsafe experience. I have since learned there is a known issue with the transmission on these vehicles that causes this issue.

NHTSA complaint #11699564 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Ford Expedition Etters, PA

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

When the vehicle starts, two error messages appear. The first one is "Pre-Collission Assist not available" and the second one is "Front camera fault - Service required". Due to these errors, I have no collission assist and cruise control does not work and cannot be enabled. I have taken it to the dealer 3 times (Since the summer) to be repaired and they have reloaded the software each time. This has not fixed the problem and they refuse to replace any hardware. They have stated that it is a software issue and that a fix will be forthcoming but they have no fix or timeframe as to when it will be fixed.

NHTSA complaint #11697375 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Other Ford Expedition problems