The new 5.0 Mustang was unveiled to widespread praise and accolades. Now, the Mustang’s halo may be drooping as transmission issues come to light.

A few months ago, there were mumblings on the internet about transmission problems that included grinding gears and expensive sounding noises. Ford said everything was “ok” and recommended a fluid change. However, the problem has become large enough to attract the attention of the NHSTA.

They describe the problem as:

ODI has received 32 complaints alleging an unexpected inability to shift into gear on model year (MY)2011-2012 Ford
Mustangs equipped with manual transmissions. Some reports allege incidents occurred while merging into high
speed traffic and others allege that incidents occurred while turning left across oncoming traffic. Some complainants
allege that the erratic shifting behavior almost caused a collision with adjacent vehicles.

One rumored reason for these problems is Ford’s decision to switch production to China for the Getrag transmission.

After the NHSTA investigation is complete, they will conclude on whether this is a true problem, or just a bad batch of transmissions.

A reputation blow like this, to Ford’s flagship model, cannot happen while they are trying to show buyers that they are just as reliable as the Japanese.

Source: Detroit News, NHSTA