Hi guys! This is my first post, but I’ll try to be descriptive. I just bought a 2014 Dodge Dart SXT this month, neither my dad (an avid Dodge owner) nor I noticed this during the test drive, and within 3 days of driving the car, there is a hard downshift around 16mph that shakes the car for a moment. The transmission is 6-speedautomatic and I’m not using the +/- autostick. If I keep the car below about 25mph then the hard down shift never occurs. Whether I just started her up or have been driving the car for a while, from as low as 30mph, I’ve tried coasting to a stop, I’ve tried gradually braking, and even abrupt braking, and in all situations, the hard downshift occurs around 16mph. The dealership’s service center technician test drove it, acknowledged the issue, didn’t find any error codes, reset the transmission (not sure what that means), test drove again, then told me that this is normal operation. I’ve been driving a variety of automatics for 15 years, am not an aggressive driver, and have never experienced this before. I cringe every time I see stop signs or lights now, and I’ve only owned the car for 2 weeks. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it “normal operation” as I’ve been told? Or should I take it back to the dealership and demand a better solution?

 

Just wanted to provide a quick update in case anyone else runs into the same issue. It was a defective transmission. Nothing changed when they replaced the valve body, but once they replaced the transmission, now my Dart shifts wonderfully smooth and still has the power I've come to appreciate.

 

cfluharty,

I'm sorry to hear about the shift issues you encountered. Thanks for following up with the resolution and I'm pleased to hear you're enjoying the ride!

I can also suggest looking into http://www.dodge-dart.org which has a lot of activity among Dart owners.

 

Yes, We have had a few problems with the duel dry clutch transmission. But also had some problems with the new 9 speed automatic transmission. Resetting the transmission is what we call the Kiss test. That's were we go thru a long list of procedures to reset the clutches. That if you are driving the 1.4 turbo?