I just changed my battery, which died two weeks ago. This was normal and not the main issue. I mention it because it could have played into the problem...I don't really know.

So...I'm driving down the road and all of a sudden I get a notification that says "engine fault service now", and then it stops in the middle of the road. Now I am in the left lane of traffic during rush hour on a busy road. Someone almost hit me, but they swerved out of the way at the last second. When they swerved they almost hit the car in the other lane. This was a really dangerous situation.

I tried turning the car back on a couple of times, but nothing would happen. I was stuck in the left lane of traffic!!! ahhhh!!! I called the cops of course to set up flares, but I had to wait for them to get there. I towed it to a mechanic, and he is suggesting I take to the dealership. It might be the electrical system, or transmission failure. Just looking at the other complaints online, I am not the only one this has happened to. How can Ford allow people to ride around in these cars. It not only puts the person driving the vehicle in danger, but it puts other drivers in danger too.

Now I have had several recalls on this car, and even recalls on the transmission. I always get that taken care over at my dealership.

This is the fourth time this has happened. I will be driving without any problems and the car will completely die. You have to wait about 10-15 minutes before you can start it again. I had the wiring harness checked by a Ford dealer the first time and they could not find anything wrong and of course they could not duplicate the problem. Another local repair shop did find a kink in the wiring and straightened it. This time the same repair shop replaced a part but I do not remember what it was. We were commenting that this seems to happen about every six months.

This was the first time this happened. Luckily I was in a parking lot when the car just died. It would not turn over or anything. After waiting about 15 minutes it finally started. Local Ford dealer could not find the problem even though I suggested it might be the wiring harness since I had seen similar complaints. I took it to another repair shop and they said there was a kink/pinch in a wire and they "fixed" it. They explained they were not sure if that would fix it. ( I had NOT told them about checking the wiring harness) It fixed it for about 6 months.

At start up one day "engine fault service now "message shows on dash. Asked to reply OK. Did not ,just shut off car. Good thing I did. Seems to be an ongoing problem with this car(and not only this year). Other owners have reported that when brought back to dealer the only fix that has seemed to have any success is replacing the wiring harness. Others have had a few relays replaced ,all with no success.When taken to dealer no codes are in the computer. If you answer OK to message car goes into limp mode,and has almost caused an accident,according to one owner. I have had this message a total of 2 times with no limp mode but have heard 3rd time Is the charm. Feel this is a Ford problem not an owner's . Has anyone heard of a 100% cure? Did Ford cover it even if out of warranty?

Randomly, the car would die and not re-start for an undetermined amount of time. Sometimes it would start again after 15 minutes, sometimes not until the next day. "Check Engine" light would illuminate when the problem presented, but go back off shortly after it started again. Two separate Ford dealers failed to diagnose or fix the issue. I actually traded it in for a Toyota after not having any luck with Ford service. I would have paid to have the problem fixed and kept the car if only a Ford dealership could have resolved the issue.

I traded the car several months ago, but noticed a couple having a similar problem in a parking lot near my work. That inspired me to post this message (one of many I've posted on a variety of sites). If you want a dependable car, don't buy a Focus - maybe don't buy a Ford at all. Quality is definitely not Job #1 any more.

I brought my car to dealer due to transmission slipping. They "fixed" it. (I received a notice that the warranty on the transmission was being extended. The transmission started slipping again several times, but when I shut off ignition and restarted the car the slipping was gone. Yesterday (9/26/15) the transmission started to slip. The car stalled and wouldn't restart. It was a good thing that I was going very slow. I had to get the car towed about 100 miles to my home dealer.

This morning, I opened yesterday's mail. There was a RECALL Notice from Ford about the same experience I had yesterday. The notice was NOT going to fix the problem. It was to turn ON the Engine Trouble lamp to indicate a problem is imminent. Why doesn't Ford just FIX the problem????

Second of two identical incidents, this one resulting in a minor crash:

After having the car die on the highway and restart 30-40 minutes later, I drove home.

While parallel parking, the previous incident occurred again. I was backing into a parking space and attempting to pull back out, going uphill, the exact same sequence of events occurred: "Hill Start Assist not available" came up as a warning, all warning lights on the dash came on, the engine stopped entirely, complete loss of power and loss of power steering. This time the vehicle coasted backwards into another car. No injuries or damage.

The vehicle computer reported it was in "Drive" even though I placed it in park. It would not allow me to restart the engine. Turning the vehicle off and letting it sit for 30-40 minutes seems to reset the transmission control and allow the vehicle to restart normally. This was the second incident in one day; I had it towed to a dealership because I do not feel safe driving this car.

The 2013 Ford Focus cannot be trusted to be driven on the highway. I have read many reports online of other drivers having a cluster of similar issues with Hill Start Assist/transmission/traction control errors, loss of power, loss of power steering, and inability to shift gears or restart the car, with this error sometimes happening WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS resulting in loss of control of the vehicle.

I do not feel safe driving this car. I do not feel safe knowing that Ford cars with this problem waiting to happen are being driving every day by unknowing drivers. This is a safety issue of the highest magnitude. It is absolutely outrageous that Ford has issued no recalls.

Stopped in stop-and-go traffic on a major highway, when I attempted to accelerate again the vehicle flashed a warning which said "Hill Start Assist Not Available" and the engine died completely. I lost all power to the wheels and lost power steering, was able to coast to the shoulder, where the car would not start. All warning lights appeared to come on, including seat belt, check engine, traction control, etc.

The car indicated it was in "Drive", in spite of the fact that I had the gearshift in park. It would not shift gears or allow me to start the engine. After sitting for 30-40 minutes waiting for a tow truck, the car allowed me to shift into park and start, and then functioned normally for 10 more minutes (at which point it happened again, and I struck a car while parking due to sudden loss of power).

Note that this is COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER and INABILITY TO SHIFT GEARS OR RESTART ENGINE while driving on the highway. This could easily have happened at highway speeds! This is extremely, extremely unsafe and there appears to be no recall or acknowledgement of the problem.

My car came to a complete stop on one of the busiest intersections. I was almost hit smack dab in the back with a new born and a 5 year old in the back seat. The wheels also locked up which caused me to stay put in that dangerous highway. The dealership that I purchased it from was not willing to help. Needless to say my car is in the shop, they do not know when it will be ready and I am without a vehicle until they finish. I'm glad I didn't get seriously injured or I would be the new owner of Ford dealership!

The car now has a rough idle. Took it into the dealer to see what caused the problem but the dealership said that no one else had reported this happening "while driving the engine stalls and cannot restart" but on review other drivers have experienced this. We were in the fast lane on the highway and could not even pull over. We could have been hit in the rear but a kind driver pulled over and waited with their flashers on while I tried to restart the car. After several minutes, it started on the three time.