I am aware this vehicle is equipped with a dual clutch automatic transmission, though the behavior of this vehicle is outside the bounds of safety and acceptability. The car acts, at random intervals, like a vehicle with a manual transmission in which the driver "popped" the clutch, to cause the drive wheels to spin in place. This Ford Focus does this, randomly, at traffic lights. I have nearly smashed into the car in front of me four times. Also, at the ripe old age of 18,500 miles, the clutch slips, and will need to be replaced (under warranty). This is covered under warranty, but clearly there is a serious design flaw, creating multiple safety concerns in the transmission of this car. In summary, these are: Randomly revving high and popping the clutch (think drag racers) and premature wear and slipping so bad I am unable to safely merge into traffic. Ford must be held accountable.

- Portland, ME, USA

Dps6 transmission contains one or more design and/or manufacturing defects that cause problems and unsafe conditions, including, but not limited to, sudden lurches forward, delayed acceleration and sudden loss of forward propulsion from 16 Sep 14 to 25 Aug 15 we brought vehicle 5 times into first Ford fall river, MA service department. After having the vehicle for about 10 months, and numerous car issue appointments, we were told by first Ford technicians that the issues with the car are a result of our driving habits, and gave us instructions on how to drive differently, and to accelerate differently. Those instructions are not possible to follow, because to quickly accelerate is not even possible in stop and go traffic without hitting the vehicle in front of you. And its also not possible to do that in heavy traffic conditions, or speed bumps. Those instructions, along with the problems/defects of the car, have caused it to become a hazard on the road, and we are often just trying to avoid accidents. It is an unsafe vehicle to drive. There were no issues with the vehicle until Jul/aug14, and yet the first Ford technicians tell us that it is completely normal for this type of transmission. According to them, it is completely normal for this car to shudder and feel like it's going to stall, and normal to feel like it's in the wrong gear, and feel like it's not accelerating forward. No one would think that is normal. It's important to state, that the first Ford service manager, handed me the instructions given to service departments, on how to handle customers when they come in with these problems. It is called, ?Ford powershift 6-speed automatic transmission (dps6) service customer handling guide?. handling the customer does not solve the problems with the car. Fmc instructed ff on what to do with the car, but ff ignored it, no call back.

- Taunton, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at any speed, the vehicle jerked forward and intermittently stalled. The dealer informed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V514000 (steering). The vehicle was repaired under the recall but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 23,000.

- Manassas Park , VA, USA

The 6 speed dual clutch transmission is becoming very troublesome over past 3000 mile.it shudders when taking off and grinds when shifting gears.it sometimes gets lost between gears when shifting down and will lung when it finally catches gear.I do have an appointment with my local Ford dealership in regards to this issue, but everything I have read concerning this problem does not sound to encouraging.sounds like Ford is in denial over this issue but the problem with this transmission has been going on for 5 years. Its time for Ford to do the right thing by either coming up with a permanent fix or recall these cars.

- Modesto, CA, USA

After completing a stop, when pressing gas pedal, car/transmission stutters then jerks forward. I've tried accelerating more slowly and then tried it faster with more gas, but it makes no difference. The car won't accelerate fast enough to safely make turns before oncoming traffic. I've had this new car 11 months.

- West Saint Paul, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. While the vehicle was parked on a hill, the brake pedal was released and the vehicle rolled backwards. The failure recurred multiple times. While in the stop position, the vehicle started to vibrate. The failure recurred multiple times. While driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle made a jerking motion and hesitated to accelerate. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.

- Johnson City , TN, USA

Vehicle shakes, shudders on acceleration. Also, bogs down on take off from a stop. This car shakes so bad it knocks coffee out of my cup. Also, pulling out into oncoming traffic is almost impossible. When you put your gas pedal to the floor and get almost no response you fear for your life.

- Chagrin Falls , OH, USA

September 10, 2015. 2014 Ford Focus SE. Transmission slipping, grinding, hesitating and making loud noises.very unsafe driving conditions. Had the Ford dealer service department look at it and they made an update to the programming. It was worse after this so I took it back the same day. It was even worse after they worked on it the second time. I ask if I could leave it with them until they could fix it and the service advisor said, "my mechanic says there is nothing wrong with the car so there is nothing I can do. I ask if he had driven the car and he said he did and noticed the issues I was talking about but Ford says that is the nature of this transmission.

- Jackson, TN, USA

While pulling from a stop sign, in the process of the dct transmission shifting from 1st to 2nd gear, the engine speed abruptly jumped to 7,000 RPM as the transmission behaved as if a missed shift had occurred or the clutch was slipping. This was the worst such incident involving many missed or erratic/searching shifts that can be disconcerting or dangerous depending on traffic conditions and situations. Even though I understand the operational characteristics of the Ford Focus dct is different when compared to a traditional automatic transmission, the erratic and anomalous operational performance of this design is poorly executed.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

The car is unsafe to drive and it has gotten worse since I purchased it new. As I pulled out into traffic the car suddenly lost power requiring me to quickly push the gas peddle to the floor to avoid getting rear-ended. The car only slightly accelerated, then jerked forward into a hard acceleration and sounded like the engine was going to explode. Even though I know about this behavior, (and try to take steps to avoid scenarios like this), the occurrence of this behavior it is very regular, (several times a week), yet erratic and unpredictable, meaning I can not take measure that guarantee it will not happen, nor should I have to. I have spoken with the dealership about this erratic behavior only to be told it will get better as I drive it as the transmission learns my driving habits and will adapt. I have driven many cars and trucks for over 40 years and have never had a problem driving any type vehicle. I can emphatically state that this transmission has not adapted to anything. At all. My concern is that the more miles I put on the car waiting for it to adapt, as per the dealer, the further away I get from being protected by any type lemon law. My basic complaint is that this car is unsafe to drive because of the transmission and it has gotten worse since I purchased it new in February 2015. And, I am told by Ford to just drive it because this is normal!?!

- Leesburg, VA, USA

The transmission shutters and shakes and doesn't go into gear smoothly. When pulling out into an intersection is very hazardous because it doesn't shift properly to accelerate. It is a constant problem not intermittent. There is usually a loud clanging from underneath the vehicle. It was taken to the Ford dealership and the service bulletin was performed which did not help and they ordered a new clutch. With the enormous amount of these same issues I have been waiting 7 weeks for a clutch to come in and it doesn't appear that it will be arriving anytime soon. Being a police officer for over 23 years I can recognize this issue as causing fatalities, if it has not happened already. I deal with inattentive drivers on a daily basis and this is a prime recipe for someone not focused and pulling out with a hesitant transmission which would cause a deadly accident. I hope you gather enough information to reach a remedy to this potentially fatal cocktail. Thank you for your time.

- Jefferson, MD, USA

Vehicle stumbles when attempting to accelerate on to a freeway. By "stumble" I mean lost power as I pressed on the accelerator. I came inches from being rear ended by a semi tractor trailer. This incident has happened 4 other times since. Very, very dangerous.

- Escondido, CA, USA

When pulling out into traffic from a stop, I signaled and started to pull out. While pulling out, the car jerked backwards and hesitated. A car behind me was a few inches away from hitting me. Due to the transmission hesitating it almost caused an accident. In my 2 years of ownership, I have had the transmission repaired twice and will be contacting the dealership asap for a 3rd repair.

- Watertown, NY, USA

This car is just over a year old. We have been back to the dealer four times to remedy the problem. The problem persists. The vehicle bucks, shutters and looses power while trying to accelerate. While on the mass pike, this occurred while in heavy traffic. (stop and go). The vehicle was almost rear ended and the vehicle almost struck the car in front on many occasions. The hesitation, then sudden acceleration is not safe.

- Medway, MA, USA

I recently purchased a 2014 Ford Focus with 33000 miles. Immediately the car started displaying what a mechanic described to me as transmission issues. To include, shuttering, delayed response, jolting, hesitating when taking off, slipping, stalling, and going backwards on a hill. This became a real concern when I was turning, the vehicle started taking off, it bogged down, lost power and responsiveness and then jolted. This occurred while in an intersection. The delay was significant enough that the vehicle common towards swerved out of the way. There was no accident but could have gone a lot worse. Second the transmission had the same action when passing on the interstate, bogged down after its started going and the person came very close. I just bought this car, and am concerned. I contacted Ford, no response. I took it to a dealer phil long Ford in Colorado springs, they initially said its suppose to do that and its normal. I had to explain the safety issues and what was going on before they would schedule someone to look at it. The first time they will look at it is in two months. Now am in a problem, because I either don't drive the car and pay rental costs or drive something that could cause an accident. I just bought this, and I showed it to two people today to try and sell, both experienced the transmission issue. One didn't even offer, the other gave such a price that they could replace the transmission. I feel I'm getting nothing from the companies that are suppose to care about this dangerous issue

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

Vehicle shudders, shakes and hesetates on acceleration. Vehicle has also lurched forward when coming to a stop. Transmission sounds like it is coming apart and ready to fall out of the car!

- Visalia, CA, USA

Transmission stalled as I was entering highway, was almost hit. Transmission shifts hard, transmission light has warrned of overheating. The car has been to the shop several times, but it still runs badly. My daughter also has the same model and year. Her car runs worst than mine. Ford has refused to help us with the problem. In fact thay have refused to talk to us at all. Someone at Ford needs to be held accountable. It only a matter of time before someone is killed.

- Canton, GA, USA

I purchased my 2014 Focus Dec 2013 with 44 miles on it. At around 6200 miles it was running rough and would hesitate upon acceleration. It also would shutter upon takeoff, like it was having a hard time getting into gears. I took it to a Ford dealership and they told me they knew about the problem and has numerous cars in for the same problem. Upon putting it on a machine they said it wasn't bad enough to repair to keep driving it. I took it back several time for the same issues until around 7800 miles they supposedly changed the gears. It was ok for a little while, but then it would act like it couldn't come out of low gear when I was going about 65 on the highway the shuddering was also getting worse than before. I took it back to the dealership at 14500 miles and they drove it for a mile and did nothing to it. Said I need to treat it like a manual transmission and give it a little gas then lift up and repress the accelerator. At 15000 miles it was back in the shop for the same problem. All they did was recalibrate the transmission, which didn't fix a darn thing. This was right before I went on vacation. I had been calling Ford Motor Company about my concerns with this car. I felt very unsafe driving it on vacation. We almost got rear ended 3 times because of this problem. At 15200 miles it was back at the shop again for the same problem. They just keep wanting to re calibrate the transmission and not really fix the problem. I feel that someone will have to get killed before they finally address this problem correctly. At 17600 it was once again at the garage for this problem. My car has been in the shop a total of 26 days and it still has the same problem as it did from the start. The transmission is a piece of crap and needs to be replaced with a better working transmission. Ford needs to own up to their mistake and make it right for the consumers.

- Colliers, WV, USA

After driving approximately 250 miles that day, we pulled into a gas station for gas. Once fueled and leaving the car started to bog down at about 5 mph. The gas station exit ramp was inclined, when I took my foot off the break the car rolled backwards approximately 3 feet. The car has an automatic transmission. I was in total shock. Getting home the problem grew worse. Crossing the Ohio river into Kentucky, on I-75 South, there is a major hill climb. The car barely made it up the hill, the tachometer needle jumped all around. When I called the dealership they new all about the issue and told me it would be two months before I could bring it in.

- Florence, KY, USA

This vehicle should be deemed unsafe. I bought this car last year and from the get go, the transmission just didn't seem right. The car would jolt unexpectedly and would have issues going through gears. I was told to just let the car break in more and finally after about a year I have had enough. Now when I try to push the gas, there is a delay for the gears to engage, which have almost resulted in 2 car accidents. This car should be taken off of the roads immediately. Going on the highway seems to be ok, but your lower gears the car jolts, makes loud sounds, and will randomly accelerate and go to high RPM's. I was told I needed a new clutch and seals and that the parts would take over 30 days to arrive on 08/24/2015. I informed the shop that I did not feel safe driving this car, and they informed me a rental would not be supplied for the nature of this issue. This could potentially lead to deaths so needs to be addressed immediately.

- Ofallon , MO, USA