The transmission is one of the most critical components in any motor vehicle. It’s the mechanical bridge between the engine and the road. If it starts to fail, the entire driving experience can easily fall apart with it. A slipping, shuddering, or hesitating gearbox doesn’t just make a daily drive miserable. It can strand you in traffic or cause sudden power loss at high speeds. 

It can also be a safety hazard. When Consumer Reports made a list of the least satisfying cars to own, most were SUVs, and some were there because of the transmission. An expensive family hauler that lurches through gears poses a serious risk of rolling away or unexpectedly shifting into park because it feels like it has fundamentally broken its promise to the driver.

Moreover, transmission repair bills can easily run into the thousands — and in some cases, owners have needed multiple replacements on the very same vehicle. The worst part? Some of these issues were known to manufacturers long before customers started complaining about them. Here are five SUVs that have notoriously bad transmission problems.

The Grand Cherokee — the worst Jeep model in terms of resale value — experiences transmission problems that are anything but anecdotal. They are documented across multiple recall filings. One of the most consequential is NHTSA Recall 16V-240, issued in 2016. Per the notice, certain 2014–2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission and monostable gear selector were prone to dangerous rollaways. FCA’s own defect description states that the spring-loaded shifter, which returns to center after each selection like a joystick, led drivers to incorrectly believe the transmission was in Park.

NHTSA (PE15-030) identified 306 rollaway incidents from this defect, resulting in 117 alleged crashes and 26 injuries. This wasn’t the only time the Grand Cherokee faced a rollaway threat. In November 2024, Kelley Blue Book reported that Jeep recalled another 206,502 SUVs — this time 2018–2019 Grand Cherokees — over a faulty ABS sensor that could allow the vehicle to start and shift out of Park without the driver pressing the brake pedal. These problems extend to the Grand Cherokee’s plug-in hybrid, too.

Consumer Reports noted that in 2023, Stellantis recalled 12,458 4xe SUVs after a fault caused the transmission to shut down the engine. NHTSA campaign number 25V-576 later expanded that recall to nearly 92,000 models from 2022 to 2026. A more recent problem involves the 2021–2024 Grand Cherokee. TSB 21-009-25, issued in 2025, documents D-clutch failure in this transmission, triggering DTCs P0733 (third-gear incorrect ratio) and P1DA8 (clutch defective). Owners reported the transmission slipping, failing to move in reverse, and not shifting above third gear.

The Nissan Pathfinder’s CVT problems are documented in Nissan’s own filings with NHTSA — and the timeline is notable. In 2013, Nissan issued a TSB (NTB13-002) to reprogram the TCM on 2013 Pathfinders to “prevent a CVT belt slip condition from occurring.” The bulletin was dated the same month the 2013 Pathfinder went on sale. A second TSB followed in September 2013. Neither fixed the problem, and the situation turned to legal means. 

According to ClassAction, the class action alleged Nissan began reprogramming software in undelivered vehicles five weeks after the first sales. By the time Nissan issued a voluntary service campaign (PC500) — covering 2013–2014 Pathfinders and filed with NHTSA — the repair tree had three branches: reprogram the TCM, replace the valve body, or replace the entire CVT assembly. That a full CVT replacement was a documented option on vehicles still in their factory warranty window tells you everything about how far the defect had progressed.

The ClassAction page includes verbatim NHTSA complaints from owners — one driver described losing power while merging onto a freeway with a semi behind them; another reported the shuddering occurring on every drive. Nissan did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to a $277.7 million settlement covering 2015–2018 Pathfinders. The problems were severe enough that Nissan ultimately abandoned the CVT. In our own review of the 2022 Pathfinder, we noted that the switch to a 9-speed automatic was a major improvement over what we called the “unlovable old CVT.”

The 2020-generation Ford Explorer’s transmission problems aren’t singular — they are a cascade of different defects. Ford Safety Recall (23S05), issued in 2023 and covering 2020–2022 Explorers with the 10R60 transmission, documents an unintended PCM reset that could occur while driving. Per the dealer bulletin filed with NHTSA, when this happens, the park pawl engages unexpectedly. This leads to grinding noises, a loss of drive power, and the vehicle either rolling while in Park or becoming completely stuck in Park.

Another defect involves the rear axle horizontal mounting bolt fracturing under heavy torque loads, disconnecting the driveshaft, and eliminating transmission torque to the rear wheels. Consumer Reports reported that Ford recalled 238,000 2020–2022 Explorers under NHTSA campaign 23V675 after 396 reports of bolt failures. Critically, Ford had already attempted a fix on this same defect under a prior recall — and it had not worked. The 2020 Explorer accumulated 33 NHTSA recalls in total — seven directly related to the parking brake. 

This earned it a spot on Consumer Reports’ list of used cars to avoid. A separate TSB (22-2428) documents harsh and delayed shifts caused by sticking valves in the main control valve body, with the repair escalating from reprogramming to a full overhaul. The 2020 Explorer’s CarComplaints page shows over 1,000 NHTSA powertrain complaints, earning it a severity rating of 10 out of 10 — “Really Awful.”

The Chevrolet Tahoe’s 10-speed transmission has a documented paper trail stretching across two safety recalls, multiple TSBs, and nearly 1,900 field reports of rear wheel lockup — all filed with NHTSA. NHTSA Recall (24V-797), in 2024, covers 461,839 vehicles — including 2021 Tahoes — and stems from 1,888 lockup reports, 11 road incidents, and 3 injuries. NHTSA Recall (26V-085), issued in 2026, covers an additional 43,732 2022 vehicles (including the Tahoe) after the first recall’s software fix missed vehicles built with unique internal hardware.

GM’s own remedy for both recalls is a software patch, not a physical replacement of the defective valve. A separate GM TSB (22-NA-182) documents harsh shifts, shudder, surge, stall, neutral flare, and transmission overheating as known conditions. Another GM TSB (PIP5893) covering 2021–2023 Tahoes documents a broken or damaged park pawl actuator piston servo triggering a “Service Transmission — Unable to Shift Soon” dashboard message.

The Consumer Reports 2022 Tahoe reliability page lists rough shifting and slipping transmission among owner-reported problems, with one subscriber writing: “Shifts rough, and there’s a lot of slack in gears… I fear transmission will go out next.” As was the case with the Pathfinder, these problems have also attracted legal attention. ClassAction documents an active lawsuit investigation into GM’s 10-speed transmission covering the Tahoe, Silverado, and Sierra. Beyond the recalls, common problems with Chevrolet’s 10-speed transmission reported by owners include rough shifting, gear slippage, delayed engagement from park to drive, and overheating under towing loads.

Spending a better part of six figures on a luxury SUV should buy refinement above all else. However, nothing undermines that promise faster than an unexpected transmission stall. NHTSA Recall (24V-118), issued in 2024, covers 105,071 model-year 2020–2023 GLE 450 and GLS 450 vehicles equipped with the 9-speed 9G-Tronic automatic. Per the filing, the transmission software fails to complete a downshift from 7th to 6th gear under certain braking conditions, causing the engine to stall.

Mercedes opened its investigation in March 2022 after receiving stall incident reports, but didn’t succeed in replicating the fault on a test vehicle until May 2023 — more than a year later. By the time of the recall, the manufacturer had logged 261 field reports and 730 warranty claims related to the condition, per Autoevolution. The stalling recall isn’t the only transmission-related issue on record. On MBWorld forums, owners report harsh, unpredictable downshifts from 5th to 4th during every deceleration.

One owner even described the 9-speed as a “trashcan transmission” that clunks on the 3-to-2 downshift across multiple vehicles. Consumer Reports named the GLE the least reliable mid-size SUV for 2025, with transmission listed among the problem categories driving that ranking. The 2020 GLE’s broader reliability record is so poor that it earned a spot on our list of used Mercedes-Benz models to avoid, which cited up to 36 NHTSA recalls for that model year alone.

Vibe coding just got a whole lot more adorable. OpenAI introduced AI-generated pets to the Codex app, its agentic tool that helps with coding. These “optional animated companions” don’t do any coding themselves, but serve as a floating overlay that can tell you what Codex is working on, notify you when Codex completes a task or whether it needs your input on something. The new feature lets developers see Codex’s active thread, without having to switch away from your current open app.

Users can type “/pet” in to the Codex app to summon or dismiss the companion. There are eight built-in pets to choose from, but you can also generate your own with the help of AI with the “/hatch” command, like a cute goblin companion. Early adopters have already uploaded a bunch of options and there are even some versions of Microsoft Clippy.

The pets are already available on both Windows and macOS versions of Codex. For a limited time, OpenAI is also offering 30 days of ChatGPT Pro for 10 of their favorite generated companions.

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Ryobi is a consistently high performer when it comes to pairing low prices with high quality. As such, it’s often hard to find great alternatives that match or surpass the lime green option’s value. Users tend to rate Ryobi gear highly, although some performance issues do seem to persist with the brand’s batteries. And digging a little deeper into the market of quality cordless drills, there’s actually a wealth of options that blend great prices with high power output and potent, additional features.

The drill is a basic piece of equipment that no tool user can do without. This must-have home improvement item offers a powered approach to one of the most fundamental tasks you’ll face during renovations, repairs, and beyond. Plenty of toolmakers offer numerous drills in their catalogs, and these seven options are all from high quality brands and have plenty of potency on tap. All of them feature at least one important aspect that surpasses the output of Ryobi’s flagship 18V ONE+ HP Drill/Driver, a tool listed at Ryobi for a favorable $97 for the bare tool or $139 as a kit. It delivers 450 in-lb of maximum torque, a two-speed gearbox with a top speed of 1,700 RPM, and a 2.1-pound weight, with a 24-position clutch. These are all solid features and make for a robust drilling tool, to be sure, but there are some better options out there for users looking to veer in a different direction.

The Ridgid 18V Hammer Drill/Driver offers heightened power production and far more robust capabilities in denser material thanks to its hammer action. And yet, the tool is priced like a standard drill. It’s available from Home Depot as a kit, including a 1.5Ah battery and charger for $80 and Amazon in bare tool format for $75. The drill delivers a significant, 800 in-lb of maximum torque, far outpacing many of its direct competitors in the low price category. It’s also 2.8 pounds, making for a relatively lightweight and serviceable tool that won’t drag you down over a lengthy day of use.

The drill offers a 2,100 RPM maximum speed with a variable speed trigger and a 24-position clutch. The tool delivers 3,200 beats per minute when the hammer mode is activated, offering an added depth of power that many other drills in this price range can’t match. The Ryobi model certainly falls short of the power output provided by this Ridgid model while also ringing up at a higher price. While you might find the tool outside of Home Depot, it’s worth noting that the two brands have an exclusivity deal (rather than Ridgid being owned by Home Depot). This means the orange retailer is often going to be the best source of Ridgid gear: Case in point, the Amazon offer is a worse deal, sure, but it also comes in bulk packaging rather than the manufacturer’s box.

Makita is known for innovative technology, with upgraded features often found exclusively on the brand’s equipment. The brand’s power tools are widely available, and it makes a substantial range of options in the drilling category. 

The 18V LXT Driver-Drill is a frontline power tool operating on Makita’s primary battery system,  delivering compact performance with plenty of heft. The tool weighs 3.3 pounds with a battery included, offering a mobile drilling tool that’s easy on the arms and shoulders. It also generates 480 in-lb of maximum torque, eclipsing the output of its Japanese compatriot’s offering. The tool also delivers 1,900 RPM no-load speeds, further surpassing Ryobi’s model.

This drill is adorned with a ratcheting chuck, allowing users to set their bit more firmly in the jaws for a solid lockdown and confident operation. It can be found at Home Depot as a bare tool for $124 and Acme Tools for the same (with an additional 12% off), which is not a better price than the Ryobi solution. However, it’s also available at Amazon for $90, suggesting that a patient buyer who shops around can find an excellent deal on a great power tool.

For many years the Craftsman name carried a legendary tool warranty, and even though things have changed more recently, the brand’s power tools are covered under a three year limited warranty that still delivers plenty of support. The Craftsman V20 Max Cordless Drill Driver is a solid option for buyers seeking a basic DIYer’s support tool. It offers a 2.67-pound weight and 23 clutch positions. The drill delivers a 280 UWO (unit watt out) power rating, which admittedly isn’t very helpful and doesn’t translate to standard torque ratings in any meaningful way. The tool also produces 1,500 RPM maximum rotational speeds. It’s available as a kit solution with a battery and charger from Lowe’s for $99, but this isn’t the best bargain you’ll find for the power tool.

The primary reason for the Craftsman V20 model’s inclusion on this list is because it can be found as a two-tool bundle alongside the V20 Max Impact Driver. This bundle kit is available from Amazon and includes two batteries (rather than one), a charger, and a canvas tool bag. The whole package is priced at $99, adding far more capability to your tool collection for the same price as the single drill kit elsewhere. The impact driver delivers 1,460 in-lb of maximum torque, offering superior driving power when necessary to compliment the drill’s functionality. For this price, it’s hard to beat how much capability you’ll add to your toolbox, making this bundle a solid option for early career DIYers, renters, and others who might be seeking additional bang for their tool buying buck.

Milwaukee gear has accumulated plenty of fans of the years, and there are lots of reasons why people love the brand. Among some of the more interesting tools offered in its catalog are the M12 portable productivity tools. 

Unlike the full sized 18V tools that form Milwaukee’s frontline solutions, the M12 range is incredibly lightweight, and features small tool bodies as a standard, without losing too much power. A wide selection of M12 tools also bear the Fuel moniker that indicates upgraded performance, as well. The M12 Fuel Hammer Drill/Driver is one of those tools, and it delivers plenty to like in a perhaps surprisingly cost effective package.

The tool can be found at Amazon for $104 as a bare tool, placing it slightly above the Ryobi model in price. It’s also available from Home Depot, but retails for $159. It can be found reconditioned for $95 at Factory Authorized Outlet, offering a refurbished model for less than Ryobi’s drill for those willing to go that route. Red Tool Store also sells the drill (new) for $149. The tool itself offers a 6-inch long build, making it one of the smallest drills you might bring into your collection. The tool weighs 2.6 pounds and delivers 400 in-lb of torque and a 1,500 RPM maximum speed. 

Size is the primary appealing feature here, but the drill’s output is nothing to sneeze at, even if many of its performance is slightly behind Ryobi’s. The fact that a subcompact option is in the same conversation as a full sized alternative is a feat in itself.

Skil branded tools offer solid performance at a competitive price. There are high-end Skil tools to consider if you need professional-grade precision and performance from your equipment, but numerous Skil tools are also ideal for more moderate needs. A great option is the Skil PWRCore 20V Two-Tool Drill Driver and Impact Driver Combo Kit. The set of power tools is available with a battery and charger from Amazon for $79, making it a massively cost effective choice for renovators on a budget. The drill kit on its own (including a battery and charger) can be found listed at Lowe’s for $109, but it’s currently out of stock and also lacks the added impact driver to sweeten the pot.

The drill offers 450 in-lb of maximum torque, matching the Ryobi drill. It’s 6.06 inches long, and weighs just 1.92 pounds. Combine all that with a maximum speed of 1,800 RPM, and you get a solid drilling option. However, what sets the PWRCore range apart though is its battery technology. The Skil power packs feature the brand’s PWR Jump capability, offering a 25% recharge to a dead battery in just 5 minutes. If you have a few in your arsenal, even a set of spent batteries can be quickly juiced up to deliver enough runtime to allow one power pack to gain a more substantial charge without having to wait.

Many DeWalt tools are priced a bit higher than other competitors like Ryobi as a result of the tool brand’s premium positioning in the market. Yet, its 20V Max Atomic Compact Drill/Driver breaks the mold, coming in at a price of $99 at Amazon. That’s roughly in line with the Ryobi model, but Amazon’s pricing history checker notes that it’s been listed as low as $74.48 in the last 30 days at time of writing.

DeWalt’s parent company, Stanley Black & Decker, has opted to deliver power ratings for many of its brands in an alternative format, using unit watts out (UWO) instead of the standard inch-pounds of torque and RPM ratings. The Atomic model offers 404 UWO, though the Amazon product page reports a torque rating of 160 in-lb, which may or may not be accurate. The drill is rounded out with a 5.88-inch head length that’s ideal for tighter environments, and at only 2.75 pounds it ought to be easy to hold up for a long time. The drill also offers 15 clutch settings and a 1,650 RPM maximum speed. 

DeWalt is known for its high quality gear, and its Atomic series is among some of its highly acclaimed power tools that offer smaller units for more comprehensive coverage of difficult working requirements.

The Bauer 20V ½-Inch Drill/Driver comes from Harbor Freight’s low cost brand offering. The tool is available from Harbor Freight for just $40 as a bare tool, making it definitively the best-priced option on this list. And it’s certainly not the weakest performer by any means. The drill delivers 575 in-lb of maximum torque, far outpacing the Ryobi HP model, while offering 1,900 RPM maximum speeds and a 22-position clutch. The tool weighs 2.7 pounds and measures 8.25 inches, making it a bit heavier and  offering less clearance for use in tight spaces. However, for standard drilling tasks this model far outshines its Ryobi competitor.

The tool offers a brushless motor and ratcheting chuck, both of which are typically reserved for more premium tools. It is also available as a kit option from Harbor Freight for $55, bringing a 1.5Ah battery and charger into the equation alongside the tool, though this is listed as an in-store only item for the time being (with no additional note about when it might be available online). Bauer is a low cost tool brand, but it’s a great option for novice users, light duty DIYers, and others. If you plan to really put the drill through its paces, a more premium solution may be warranted.

All of these drills are priced virtually the same or better than Ryobi’s high output (HP) 18V flagship model, and each one also sports at least one feature that outperforms it. Many of the drills featured offer numerous advantageous points of comparison, usually with the torque rating acting as the first point of superior performance. This makes each one worthy of consideration for a buyer in the market for a new brand or coming to the power tool space fresh, without existing brand and battery ecosystem allegiances. 

The heightened performance and low price tags of each drill also make for a notable draw for buyers who may already have one or more tool brands in their arsenal but are seeking a new experience for their next purchase. This is especially true for the supreme cost effectiveness of the Craftsman and Skil options that bundle additional tools into the set for a price that remains on par with Ryobi’s bare tool.

Rewind back to 1961. Pontiac’s V8 program was in full swing thanks to pioneering engine builders like Clayton Leach and Mark Frank, filing patents that laid the foundation for high-performance eight-cylinder engines throughout the next two decades. The Pontiac V8 wasn’t a new concept by this point, having been introduced in 1955 as the 287 cubic-inch Strato-Streak, producing a humble 180 hp. But this year, Pontiac released a new engine attached to its full-size vehicle line-up: the “Trophy V8,” the first 389. Unlike the Strato-Streak, this engine produced a hearty 303 hp in high-compression trim, based on the NASCAR-winning powertrain (hence the name). But the engine was the same physical size as the Strato-Streak, meaning Pontiac could theoretically swap them over into smaller cars.

That idea got Pontiac’s engineers into gear. In the spirit of hot rodders of the day, imagine taking a car with a smaller engine — let’s say the newly redesigned 1963 Tempest, fitted with a 326 (still the same external dimensions as a 389). Why not just put the 389 in it and see what happens at that point? The engineers asked that very question, and we got our answer in 1964 with the birth of the Tempest GTO — and yes, “GTO” stands for something, by the way.

In short, Pontiac’s identical engine block dimensions provided a level of flexibility in engine development that spurred the dawn of the Muscle Era. It allowed not just the manufacturer but the engine builders themselves to effectively select which displacement (thus, horsepower and torque output) would best suit their needs. Moreover, its simple, modular construction improved reliability and likely service turnover. There’s a lot of benefits to break down here, so let’s get into it.

First and foremost, let’s discuss what made these engines special. There are several patterns of Pontiac V8, differentiated by era and the size of the main journals on the crankshaft. These are the polished rounded surfaces on the crank that it rotates on within the engine block — in Pontiac’s case, you have small and large main journal types. In either case, both engine configurations retain that same exterior dimension, which is accomplished by modifying the engine’s bore and stroke.

Imagine you have a glass of water with vertical sides, but you want to pour more water in. That means you need a bigger glass, and there are three ways you can do this. You can make the glass wider, taller, or both — the same is true of engines. Making the glass wider is called increasing the engine’s bore, whereas increasing its height modifies the engine’s stroke.

Engineers at Pontiac did both, beginning with the original 1955 287: This had a bore of 3.75 inches and a stroke of 3.25 inches. The largest displacement achieved (from the factory, at least), was the 455, appearing in 1970 with a bore and stroke of approximately 4.15 x 4.21 inches, respectively. In other words, the pistons were almost a half-inch wider and traveled up and down almost an inch farther within the confines of the same engine block. These represented some of the most powerful Pontiacs ever to hit the road, including the SD 455, the various Ram-Air 400s, and the 428 High Output.

It’s difficult to understate the impact the original Pontiac GTO had. This was essentially the car that brought the idea of “cheap, little car with a huge engine” into the wider public consciousness. Sure, such vehicles existed before then, but they were generally pricey sports cars like the Corvette or niche enthusiast machines. The GTO’s formula was special because it married this performance to a relatively unassuming body, unintentionally giving rise to the muscle car. And none of this would’ve been possible had the famous Pontiac 389 not been able to fit under the Tempest’s hood.

This sort of setup worked wonders in a number of ways: Take logistics, for example. Whether you’re an engine builder or a parts shop, Pontiac V8s offer an extensive list of interchangeable parts, with many major components being shared between displacements — something that’s not true of small block versus big block designs of other companies. As they all have the same external dimensions, Pontiac’s engines effectively have no such distinctions. This also means they’re much easier to modify, since you could theoretically take any Pontiac engine and turn it into something producing big block torque with the right parts.

Lastly, there’s the level of refinement. All initial engine development is almost invariably plagued by teething issues as things like long-term reliability and manufacturing defects come into play. But Pontiac’s design was generally regarded as highly reliable by the time the big boys like the 389 and 400 debuted. After all, if you want to build a pioneering muscle car, it has to be durable enough to not just blow the doors off its competition but also get you home.