New member, please forgive any errors.

I have a 2007 Expedition EL LIMITED, with 55,675 miles
I love this car


5 months ago it started shuddering or dragging occasionally and at random. Everyone said it was in my head, well it finally got to the point that it was noticible to others and so I took it to the dealer for an estimate.

Dealer 1...... need to replace torque converter and computer chip $4500

I'm still stunned I'm having transmission issues...the response was its old when I asked why.

I went to a transmission place for a 2nd opinion......with out a doubt it's the transmission....he reccommended a transmission flush as it wouldn't hurt and then to just have torq converter replaced if there was still a problem. It was also mentioned that they mostly do older transmissions so it would be best to do this at a dealer.

Dealer 2.......mentioned that they were flushing many of these vehicles around 40k miles due to similar issues, so we flushed the transmission, it was a little better but still there. I called the dealer and he was surprised it didn't work said that I would need to decide between replacing the transmission or trading in on a newer vehicle. I asked what he would do.....sell it.

I decided to let it sit.

Last week my husband drove it to work, well he was going to drive it to work...it ended up getting stuck in 1st or 2nd gear (15 mph) so he took the train to work. He drove home that evening without any problems.

I called dealer 2 and asked for a estimate to replace transmission $4774.59

It is just sitting.

The main question is Why? what could have prevented this?
Is it worth it to repair and is the estimate reasonable?

Aside from kid dirt and a chip in paint on the grill, the only other problem I have experienced is the ac not blowing cold in the Florida heat (this has happened 4 times in 2 years) I just turn off car wait and restart and it works. Granted dealer 1 has reccommended repairing all sorts of imagined problems that other places can't seem to find.

Thanks for suggestions and opinions

 

There's no way for any of us to know for certain what caused the transmission to fail or whether there was anything you could have done to prevent it. There's also no way for us to know if the transmission could be repaired/rebuilt or whether it needs to be replaced (or whether it would even be cost effective to repair/rebuild). The 6R75 (your vehicle's transmission) is not a particularly good transmission imho, but you don't hear about them failing at 55K very often. Maybe you got a lemon. Maybe someone was hard on it (Are you the first owner?). None of it is really relevant now.

Whether or not it's worth repairing is up to you. You said you love the vehicle and it's been mostly trouble-free. You barely have any miles on it so, theoretically, it should have many more years of life left in it. Of course if you sink $5K into it, you're talking about over 1/3 the value of the vehicle. Of course the dealer wants you to sell it. He'll take it on trade - making it a point to explain how he's doing you a favor because the vehicle needs significant repairs and giving you next to nothing for it. He'll then give you a hard sell on the price of the new ride because he knows you're stuck. And when it's all done he'll dummy up the transmission on your Expedition and flip it for a $5-8K profit. The bottomline is: What is the vehicle worth to you? And what would it cost you to replace it if you decided to go that route?

My advice: Forget about the dealerships. In the unlikely event you get someone working on your car who knows what they're doing (and this is rare at dealerships), their approach is always going to be replace, replace, replace. Dealerships throw parts at a problem and hope that the problem is fixed by chance - all at your expense. Find a reputable, independent transmission shop and have them take a look at it. They know transmissions better than a dealership shop and they will do the work for less. Perhaps look into having a 6R80 transmission dropped in there (the improved tranny used on 2009+ Expeditions).

 

Original owner, I ordered SUV in 2006 and took delivery in November of 2006. always maintained- it still smells like a new car. I will look into finding a transmission shop and thank you for your honest opinion.

 

You took delivery in the future?

 

Thank you, I have corrected post.