Ford Territory Gearbox & Transmission Problems

All of the things you mention are common problems with the Territory, and the failure of the transmission at 120,000 km is a major one. Having to spend such a large amount of money to repair a car that has only done relatively few kilometres is unacceptable, so I would urge you to persist in trying to get Ford come to the party to cover at least part of the cost of repairs.

Having replaced the transmission it’s perhaps best to keep the car, particularly as it’s been a good one to date, but if you were concerned about the possibility of future costly repairs it would be best to get out of it.

It would be a good idea to fit a transmission cooler, particularly if the caravan is a weighty one and the Territory will be working hard.

It’s hard for mechanics if they can’t observe the problem themselves. If it doesn’t make the noise when in their presence they really are in the dark in trying to find the cause. It could be in the front-end, perhaps bushes.

The transmission probably needs servicing at the least, perhaps even rebuilding. Have a mechanic check it.

Ford has a responsibility to repair any faults found in their cars, so you do have a case for some assistance in locating the cause of the downshifting problem and fixing it to your satisfaction.

You could visually check the transfer case and CV joints, but I doubt you’ll see anything that might tell there’s a problem with them. It could also be a diff. Get it to a specialist mechanic and have them check it for you.

The idle speed is possibly too low. Take it to a mechanic and have it checked.

It's not uncommon to hear of transmission troubles with the Territory. I'd suggest you get a second opinion by taking it to an independent automatic transmission specialist who should be able to diagnose the trouble and suggest a fix.

We'd like to think that our cars would last longer and not give us trouble, but the reality is quite different to that. The ZF 6-speed gearbox is a troublesome one that can fail, as yours appears to have done. But as Ford has pointed out to you your Territory is out of warranty, although that doesn't end Ford's responsibility to back the product. You could pursue a full payment for replacing the transmission from Ford, but I doubt you would have any success. Should you choose to do that contact your state Consumer Affairs people in Perth for advice and support. But in my view your best course of action would be to accept Ford's offer of part payment.

The auto transmission is a fill-for-life unit, which means that you don't have to have it serviced for the life of the vehicle, whatever that means. For mine the auto should be regularly serviced, particularly when the vehicle is being used for towing, as yours is. There is no hard and fast rule, but in your case I would have it serviced annually.