2012 Dodge Challenger Transmission Shift Quality Issues

A harsh 4-3 downshift or other shift quality issues may develop. Revised transmission control module (TCM) software has been released to address these concerns.

Affected Model Years

This issue affects Dodge Challenger model years 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, .

98 people reported this problem

  • 2012 0 Miles
    Ever since I got the car at 30 miles the 2nd gear has been exceptionally sticky and makes a metal on metal noise (not grinding) everytime I shift. Sometimes car will not go into second gear with clutch all the way down and I have to let go of the clutch and press it down again and try shifting into 2nd again. It doesn't grind but it feels like the 2nd is totally blocked from going into 2nd. This happens under 2000rpm so it is not the skipshift. This seems to happen more frequently when the car is colder. I swapped out the shifter with a hurst shifter at 11k miles but problem still exist. I also lose a lot of speed shifting into second and usually have every car on the road pass me on the shift to 2nd gear. I seem to go faster going 1st to 3rd gear than 1st to 2nd. Dealership says its perfectly normal but I'm

  • 2012 19 Miles
    Bought a brand new 2016 dodge challenger automatic, when I put it in drive, park, or reverse there's a slight punch coming from the transmission and it drives me insane, only driving it for 2 days and I have to take it back to the dealership to see whats up, hear it's a software issue which is stupid for a brand new car.

  • 2012 15,000 Miles
    Happened twice during exceleratin when i let off the throttle the transmission tries to do a quick down shift and then the engine light comes on and the transmission has completely stoped working i have to pull the car over and place it into park then it starts working again. Both times it happend it was a moderate exceleration was not WOT

  • 2012 15,459 Miles
    Transmission stuck on first gear. Auto shift doesn't work. Check engine light in on.

  • 2012 0 Miles
    Hard shifting from 1st to 2nd gear and from 3rd to 2nd gear. Dealer says there is no problem.

  • 2012 850 Miles
    My R/T has a sticky second gear. Sometimes when I shift to second, I have to let off the clutch and then try again or wiggle the shifter in neutral then try. It's also started making a rattle noise when I let off the clutch. Can hear it mainly when it's idling. Dropped by a dealership and they said it could be the throw out bearing. I have to make an appt. to get it checked out next week.

  • 2012 5,600 Miles
    Rough shifting between gears... Actually got stuck in second. had to pull over put in park to reset it. Have had quite a few problems with the transmission and the car repair shop tells me everything is fine and that I just don't know how to drive and I am probably putting the car in manual. Even with the check engine light on they claim they find nothing wrong with the car. I don't want to die in an accident due to unexpected down shifting or something

  • 2012 110,546 Miles
    Transmission is having problems shifting gears !

  • 2012 400 Miles
    Same issue as others a metal type rubbing sound when shifting into any gear.

  • 2012 5,800 Miles
    Down-shift transmission does not shift how it's supposed to and engine light turns on stalling the car.I have to place car on stop, turn it back on and wait about 15 seconds until transmissions starts working again!This is completely unacceptable!!!

  • 2012 72,000 Miles
    I noticed at 30000 miles that the car stalled when shifting from 3rd to 4th gear I was told at the dealership that nothing was wrong. Now at 72000 miles the clutch is burned out. How does a new car that I am the only owner of have so much cluth damage especially when I told the dealer. Every time I took my car on for service the clutch was fine but it never stopped stalling. I'm so upset.

  • 2012 43,000 Miles
    Traction control indicator came on, while driving at 30 mph. Noticed that it was not shifting properly. Pulled the car over , placed shifter into park turned off . Tried to restart, there was a hesitation in starting. Placed the shifter in reverse, the car responded like I had stepped on the accelerater . Placed the shifter in drive, slow in response. Car would not move into 2nd gear or any other. I drove 10 miles in 1st gear at 25 mph to Dodge dealership. They have had the car since Oct. 31 2015. The service Dept. the service dept tells me it is a shifting module is bad. They won't have a part for the car till the 1st of November. So I make a car payment for my car that I havent driven in a month. You think you have problems.

  • 2012 2,700 Miles
    Check engine light came on my 2014 RT Dodge Challenger, at 2700 miles - barely 3 months old. Took it to the dealer because my car has the warranty, they told the cylinder misfire code was due to "bad gas". Total BS 10 days later check engine light comes on again, with surging during deceleration, again, misfire code present - their response - "you might have had some water in the gas - make sure you are using brand name gas" - are these guys serious?! THIRD TIME THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON 15 days after just being in for service. Currently the car has been at the dealer since Tuesday morning - it's now Thursday afternoon. The advised me yesterday it was a bad PCM, and they would replace it first thing in the morning. Likely story, as I still have not heard anything about my car. Malfunctions on a brand new car + Bad service at the dealer is making me think twice about buying American. :(

  • 2012 18,000 Miles
    I have a similar issue with my '14 RT. automatic with hard (knocking) downshifts between 2-4. When I decelerate it drops to 4 Cylinder then stalls when I hit the gas between 4th and 2nd. Car now has 18k miles. Been in and out of the shop and am told "no abnormal knocking". On fast decelerate in auto stick you can see it skips right over 3rd gear. Not to mention the 16 times I've taken it in for constant pull to the right.

  • 2012 73,000 Miles
    During exceleratin when i let off the throttle the transmission tries to do a quick down shift and then the engine light comes on and the transmission disengages. I have to pull the car over and place it into park then it starts working again. Both times it happend it was a moderate exceleration was not WOT.

  • 2012 45,000 Miles
    hard shift wont reverse ....constantly cutting off in traffic after car is warm

  • 2012 7,000 Miles
    Automatic Transmission has Very hard shifting and slipping when transmission is shifting up in gears. This started at about 6k miles. There is also a "clunk" noise in front passenger side area when pressing on break and almost at a complete stop. This clunk has been happening since I bought my Challenger brand new from Dealership. This is totally unacceptable! There are so many complaints about this hard shifting issue with the transmission and nothing is being done except for a software update that Doesn't work! We need to get a class action lawsuit going and make Dodge correct the problem instead of denying it!

  • 2012 100 Miles
    1st to 2nd and 3rd to 4th and back.

  • 2012 44,000 Miles
    Car is shifting rough feels like it is stuck in the gates. Dealership bought from said it was fine. Nothing has been done to fix the problem

  • 2012 0 Miles
    My 2013 Dodge Challenger R/T only has 40,000 miles makes a rattling noise when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. I can also feel these slight jolts when I'm driving. It hare shifts out of 1st. It's gotten stuck in 1st gear several times and gad to pull over and turn it off/on to get it to work. I took it to Dodge for service on these issues and I just received ta call from them that nothing is wrong but I know there is.