10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
30 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
15 / 2
Average Mileage:
59,238 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #323

Jul 282014

Focus

  • 3,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated slowly on occasion. Other times, the rpms would race and the vehicle would jerk forward. The dealer stated that the body control module needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the dealer was not able to reprogram the computer to install the new part and had to re-install the old part. The manufacturer was notified and the vehicle was taken to the dealer a fourth time to have the new part installed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The sensors intermittently illuminated for the brake assist and parking aide. In addition, while making a right or left turn, the steering wheel locked intermittently more than once. The contact also stated that the clock intermittently shorted out and the time display was incorrect. The dealer provided an interim remedy and suggested that the contact turn off the gps. The interim fix remedied the failure as long as the contact used the feature to disable the gps auto clock manually each time. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000.

- Edmonds, WA, USA

problem #322

Oct 052014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
For several months I noticed significant shuttering of the transmission when accelerating from a stop into low gears. Took the car to dealership for repair, per warranty extension provided by Ford (field service action number 14M01). Several days after that completed service, the engine light turned on -- and was on and off over a period of approximately one week. The car also periodically jerked forward unexpectedly while accelerating in low gears, and the same unexpected movement happened occasionally when in reverse. I made a follow up service appointment during this time. Then two days before the service appointment, after filling the car with gas, the engine would not start. When turning the key in the ignition, the car shuttered violently with a great deal of noise. After calling a tow truck and resting the car for approximately one hour, the tow truck driver was able to get the engine started -- commenting that first and reverse gears felt unstable and unsafe. Car has since been towed to the dealership for a second round of service. Problem and solution are yet to be determined.

- Wilmington, DE, USA

problem #321

Aug 072014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 29,550 miles
This was the first time my service engine soon came on. The transmission was slamming into every gear. I was stuck in 3rd gear revving at approximately 3500 RPM going 30 mph. I was able to drive the car home. The day after I took into spikes Ford where the problem was then fixed on 08-11-14. I picked up the car and drove home. 2 hours later as I'm entering a highway to go to wal-mart, the car lurched forward, RPM's flew way above 6000 and car sped up for a second then slowly declined down to 30 on the highway!! the check engine light came on again. I drove the car to the dealership and they felt the problem so they took the car yet again. Next day they called and said they fixed it. Another 3 hours later, check engine light came on and they reflashed it for the 3rd time in a 4 day period. Check engine light came on again so I decided to take it to boggus Ford. I took it to boggus Ford and within 3 days the car was out from the shop. All was well until later on in the night, the check engine light came on. I took it once last time furious already with the car and once again said it was fixed. I drove to school and as I was finding a parking spot, the check engine light came on. Right after, a message said, "transmission hot" pull over safely. Another message came on and said, "wait 7 minutes". embarrassed that my brand new Focus was doing this I let it cool off. A salesman we worked with, was kind enough to pick up my car and I from school. We took it back to the dealer where we then talked to a service manager. The service manager, laughed about our situation and said as long as we drive slowly the car will continue to heat up and said that Ford knows about this. I told him, I almost ran over other students, and he just continued to say as long as you drive slowly, it will keep doing that. The check engine light comes on and off now, but transmission still shifts hard.

- Mission, TX, USA

problem #320

May 012012

Focus 4-cyl

  • 500 miles
Transmission shudder. Rebuilt 3 times. Software reset 5 times. Transmission computer replaced 1X. Still shudders, drifts back when on a hill, jerks into gear suddenly. Service station advised me when they replaced the computer (not under warranty) that the shudder and other characteristics were normal for the transmission and did not do anything about it. This began when I purchase the car in spring of 2012 and is still an issue now at about 82,0000 miles. Most of the work was done while under the normal warranty. The last service, when they replaced the computer was done in September 2014. The transmission is not operating normally and seems dangerous at times when it jerks into gear or rolls back when at a stop.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #319

Feb 042012

Focus 4-cyl

  • 1,000 miles
Transmission malfunctions causing long delay/hesitation when shifting and slow/delayed acceleration. Noticeable shuddering and vibration when shifting between gears and occasional hard, pronounced shift changes causing driver and passengers to lunge. This creates very dangerous driving conditions mainly because it's difficult to control the acceleration of the vehicle. The check engine light comes on and a warning message appears in the dash stating 'transmission malfunction service now' this event occurred the first week of vehicle ownership (I purchased the vehicle brand new January 2012). At that time the dealer recalibrated the transmission and it's been performing satisfactorily until recently. This event has now occurred on four other occasions with the most recent event occurring on 9/30/2014. The 9/30/2014 event was the most dangerous and severe so the vehicle is now at the dealership for service.

- Cypress, TX, USA

problem #318

Sep 122014

Focus 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 86,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 40 mph, the automatic transmission was unable to shift into different gears. The vehicle was towed and taken to an independent mechanic. The technician stated that a part known as the "fork" fell within the transmission and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 86,000. Updated 12/17/14

- Katonah, NY, USA

problem #317

Sep 022013

Focus 4-cyl

  • 32,000 miles
The automatic transmission shifting is horrible with excessive shuddering and lurching.

- El Paso, IL, USA

problem #316

Sep 222014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 55,000 miles
I purchased a used 2012 Focus recently and a few days later on 9/22/14 I was driving around 50 mph when the rpms just shot up. I let off the gas and pressed down on it again and the engine revved up but again the car did not respond. I pulled over to the shoulder and tried to change the gear to neutral, then reverse, then back to drive and each gear did not respond to the gas. After shutting the car off I tried to start it up again and the car would not start. The traction control light and the message "hill start assist not available" came on. After letting the car sit for a few minutes it started up and drove fine for the rest of the day. Two days later the same thing happened on the freeway and I had to cross three lanes of highway traffic without being able to accelerate. After letting the car sit for a minute the car started back up and drove for about a minute and then the same thing happened again. The check engine light also came on this time and stayed on. I managed to get to school although a little late. On my way home the issue occurred multiple times. The first time the car was jerking forward and loosing the gear and then jerking forward again. The issue occurred a few miles from my house and this time the car would not start up on multiple attempts like it had previously. I disconnected the battery thinking that would help reset whatever was stuck but when the battery was connected back up the car still would not start. After looking over fuses and disconnecting and reconnecting the battery multiple times the car finally started back up and I was able to make the last few miles to my home. The car is very unsafe to drive and I was almost rear ended on the freeway when I had to pull off to the shoulder without power to the drive train. The car has also been making a grinding noise when shifting between gears since the first day.

- Antelope, CA, USA

problem #315

Aug 052014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 42,000 miles
Car stutters and does not shift. Severe shaking and loss of cruise speed is effected. The car does not accelerate properly and seems to lose speed while driving. I am scared to let my daughter drive this car and only have owning it for several months it has been in the shop once and going back again. There is no apparent fix for this problem and they will not do anything about it. The clutch was replaced and reprogrammed and this did nothing to fix the issue.

- Walnut Creek, CA, USA

problem #314

Sep 202014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 58,000 miles
At a stop light car in drive brakes lock, shift gear locks. Message appears transmission not in park. Car takes at least 5 to 10 minutes to turn back over to start up. Car stalls to go into different speeds, accelerates when turning a corner.

- Irvington , NJ, USA

problem #313

Aug 232014

Focus 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 40,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 70 mph, the check engine indicator illuminated and the vehicle went into neutral gear. The contact heard a loud banging sound from the undercarriage before the vehicle went back into gear. The failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was brought in for repair and service updates were performed for the transmission, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,000...updated 10/15/14 the consumer stated the vehicle was not repaired because the problem could not be duplicated. Updated 4/1/2015

- Montgomery, NY, USA

problem #312

Sep 122014

Focus 4-cyl

  • miles
The engine light came on while driving, saying check transmission. The transmission is not shifting the car shakes or vibrate when the peed change.

- Branson , MO, USA

problem #311

Jul 142014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 46,000 miles
At random times the car will just shut off leaving a coasting vehicle down the highway, or leave you stalled out in the middle of an intersection. If you leave it sit for 30min-1hour it may restart. If you press the accelerator it was not respond. After a couple minutes the vehicle will recover from a rough idle and try to lunge forward even when vehicle is in park. Problem: Transmission control module.

- Jennings, OK, USA

problem #310

Jul 192014

Focus

  • 53,683 miles
It does not shift correctly. Slow and sluggish to shift. Very jerky. Especially at lower gears. Jerks forward when not expecting it. Have taken it back to dealer twice. Had a new clutch put in. Was good for a day or two. Doing it again!!!! this car should be recalled & returned to owners only when this is fixed. Ford knows this experiment did not work & it is time to make it right. I work hard for my money & this experience has left me very unhappy. I was sooo happy to get a new car. Now I am left with this. As a single working mother, I was appalled that I was not informed about this transmission being manual hybrid until I took it in for service. This is fraudulent salemanship from Ford.

- Wichita, KS, USA

problem #309

Aug 242014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 44,000 miles
On August 24th, when driving on a major houston highway at 64mph, I lost all drive-train power. My check engine light and drive status indicator immediately started blinking, and I had no response from my throttle. I was simply coasting. Thankfully, I was able to safely take an exit ramp and pull into a relatively safe location off the major highway. I waited some time with the car shut off, and after starting it back up, the cel cleared itself and car was functional again after leaving my car at tomball Ford for a week, the dealership was unable to duplicate the issue, and found no record of the cel in the system. I was forced to pick the car back up from the dealership, and upon repeated inquiries from my wife as to whether or not the car was safe to drive, the service technicians would not tell her it was safe. On September 7th, only a few short days after picking the car back up, the same thing happened again during busy weekend traffic with my pregnant wife and baby daughter in the car. I had the car towed to my house, as the dealership was closed (it was a Sunday). Upon starting the car later that day in my driveway, the cel again, cleared itself. I dropped the vehicle off at the dealership again, and the service adviser informed me, that once again, they are unable to duplicate the failure. This car has now shut-down twice on me, with my family in the car, on very busy houston highways. I feel incredibly unsafe driving this vehicle, and question my dealership's ability to fix the issue after they willingly admitted they've "never seen this failure before." I managed to record the transmission failure on video, which can be seen here: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=jhxelgqmk1M.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #308

Sep 102014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 54,125 miles
I was driving home when a light message on my dash came on saying "hill start assist not available" and the car lost complete power to the wheels, motor revved but I wasn't going anywhere. I tried putting in a sport mode to see if could shift via toggle switch, but still no gears. I got to the side of the road and my check engine light was on and traction control light was on. I shut the car off hoping it would reset something, but once did that the car wouldn't start, I had power and all but when turned key to start nothing happened. It's sitting at the dealer now. I check some mark II Focus forums and this seems to be a very common issue and when taking to dealership nothing is being done.

- Suffolk, VA, USA

problem #307

Sep 042014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 56,000 miles
Driving in heavy traffic on a limited access highway, the transmission apparently shifted into neutral, and would not respond to shift level action [shifting from 'drive' to 'sport' modes]. I was able to coast to a stop on the shoulder. After shutting off the engine, and waiting a few minutes I restarted and the car drove normally. The car drove normally for the next two days. On the third day, the same failure. After restarting, I turned around and it failed again [200 yards from the previous failure]. the car was towed to a dealer's service department, and is waiting for inspection.

- Mastic, NY, USA

problem #306

May 012014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 71,000 miles
My car shudders very bad taking off from a stop and almost comes to a complete stop then takes of like you have jerked it into gear its makes a horrible noise in and out of the car and will continue to do this until you let the car cool down for a long time. Its been repaired once buy Ford and now there telling me there's nothing else they can due for me because its in spec.

- Fayetteville , TN, USA

problem #305

May 142014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 34,161 miles
Ford Focus titanium hatchback (2012) has transmission/clutch problems. Ford service dept. Has "fixed" over three times with no result. Leak between engine and transmission, als leak. At one point the service change was put on hold due to parts being unavailable. Ford refused to provide rental car or and extras to help with the inconvenience.

- Groveport, OH, USA

problem #304

Nov 262012

Focus

  • miles
Multiple instance have occurred starting in 2013 regarding shuddering with the car on acceleration. It happens when starting from a stopped position or even just trying to accelerate while driving. It has caused some dangerous situations, the latest occurrence was when I was trying to get on the freeway and the car wouldn't accelerate. The person behind me was really upset about it and started tailgating me. He was so close we could have reached out and touched his car. I could not go faster, as hard as I tried by pushing on the gas. When I was finally able to get up to speed, the car continued to follow me way too closely for several miles before finally turning off the freeway. The clutch assembly on my car has been replaced twice for two different issues. The last time I took the car in ( April 2014), I was told that the shuddering is occurring but does not fall in the parameters set out by Ford, so there was nothing they could do. They said if it got worse, to bring it back. Every time I have taken it in, it has been a hassle and very stressful for our family.

- Puyallup, WA, USA

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