10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 2
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 37,875 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Car will start surging and then will stall out. First noticed when car was purchased, but was told it was normal for the car to do. I will start the car and it'll run for a few seconds then die. Sometimes for only a couple times and then the car will run okay. There are times it'll surge then die up to 7 times in a row. Only a couple times it has surged and died while out driving. The car would die in the middle of the road. Car started up with issues almost 3 weeks ago and is progressively getting worse. Sometimes the engine light comes on then it will turn off. 2 different dealerships, Jess Ford, in Pullman Washington and Joe Hall Ford in Lewiston Idaho, both have done inspections and claimed to have fixed the transmission, but the issue has continued to be an issue. It has happened over 15 plus times of stalling and surging in the last week. TCM replaced, clutch replaced, fuel purge valve has been replaced. We were told it was a one-time fix, but it has been a nonstop issue since. The technicians informed us that it would fail again, and it did. Car is a 2015 Ford Focus, under 94k miles.
- Lewiston, ID, USA
Transmission control module, transmission clutch
- Washington, DC, USA
While driving vehicle on highway the Ford Focus started down shifting while accelerating. This caused the car to not be able to reach sufficient speeds on the road and could have caused an accident. With my family in the car I exited the highway and drove the vehicle home, with the car continuously down shifting and not being able to accelerate as designed. The transmission has known problems and model recalls. I brought it to the dealer for repair but the dealer would not honor the recall. I also called Ford customer care and they were of no help in covering this known issue.
- Mount Holly, NJ, USA
While sitting at an idle my car killed. Tried to restart and it sounded like the starter was spinning. Trailered it to a garage and was told the engine had no compression on any of the cylinders. Garage told me the wet belt most likely snapped and wrecked the engine! Car has approximately 170,000. Heard there was a ongoing law suit for these 1.0L ecoboost engines. Also have researched issues and saw there was a good will they are doing for this issue. 10 years or 150,000 miles and they would replace the engine. Don't understand the 150,000 cause most cars are not even broke in at that mileage. I think ford should have to repair or replace these engines, cause they have admitted the internal wet belt is the issue with so many failing engines at such low mileage!
- Osseo, WI, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The failure occurred on several occasions and the vehicle was allowed to cool down for approximately 15 minutes before returning to normal operation. The check engine warning light along with several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer twice where the vehicle was diagnosed and received several unknown repairs. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, Bob Maxey Ford (1833 E Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI 48207) twice where it was diagnosed and received several unknown repairs; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 123,676.
- Detroit, MI, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The failure occurred on several occasions; the vehicle was allowed to cool down for approximately 15 minutes before returning to normal operation. The check engine warning light along with several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer twice where the vehicle was diagnosed and received several unknown repairs. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, Bob Maxey Ford (1833 E Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI 48207); twice, where it was diagnosed and received several unknown repairs; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 123,676.
- Detroit, MI, USA
While driving down the highway the vehicle all of a sudden made a long depleted noise and then the vehicle shifted into 1st gear and wouldn't come go faster then 5 or 10mph. Check engine light came on and had to immediately put hazard lights on and get onto feeder to then drive the vehicle home at a very slow pace. Vehicle no longer shifts into higher gears. Got home and had family member test drive vehicle and vehicle would only go into 1st but with issues. Then tried reverse and the vehicle wouldn't shift into reverse, sounded like it was in neutral, would rev but not shift into Reverse gear. Managed to turn around and parked it back in driveway. Found in glove compartment the last inspection performed on the vehicle on September 24, 2023 which was done by the dealership I bought the car from. On the back of the inspection report it lists 2 recalls for power train issues on clutch shudder and clutch control module. However, both say something about warranty, and when I took the paper to the ford dealership I was told that's not a recall it's an extended warranty and it expired in 2022 for the clutch shudder issue but the module one they would replace for free. I would like to understand about the first one regarding clutch shudder and the warranty part. The ford dealer service tech was very unconcerned about this and pretty much says it's only a 7 year warranty on that issue so it would have needed to happen or be brought in 2022. Basically saying I'm out of luck with my problem. This seems like a very dangerous problem with this car and I would think was an actual recall item not just an extended dealer warranty item. I also had a auto mechanic test drive and look at the vehicle and they also confirmed this was a clutch issue. Can someone explain and verify this information?
- Katy, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch assembly and flywheel had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
- Kimball, MI, USA
There was already a recall performed on the vehicle for the purge valve being stuck open and a gas tank deformation. fast forward a few years and now the same issue is happening to the "repaired" parts. What are my options to have this recall correctly repaired?
- Penns Grove, NJ, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that for approximately two years while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the vehicle jolted forward and lost motive power. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure for five months. On another occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the PCM needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch assembly, clutch lever, and cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
- Hartford, WI, USA
It was mainly the clutch, apparently, but the work order includes a lot more. Yes, it is available for inspection. The car was difficult to control. It was slipping and was having trouble getting into gear. I was driving on a winding mountainess road, parts of it are along a cliff with a reservoir/lake below. Just my usual drive to work here in the Sierras. It go's without saying that others were put at risk since the car was difficult to handle. Yes, the car needs a new clutch and other stuff to the tune of $5,000 up. The car has less than 80,000 miles on it and has had two transmission replacements and a prior clutch replaced a little over a year and a half ago. I was unaware of these prior problems as the car was purchased by me one year and a month ago. The Ford Corporation was part of a class action suit and it was settled a few years ago, unfortunately, I did not own this 2015 Ford Focus at the time. No, the car has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representative. But, yes, by a Ford Dealership mechanic here in Sonora, California. The extended warranty for the clutch has expired on this car not that long ago. The extended warranty for the transmission has not expired. I wonder if the problem is the transmission since the transmission light came on but then I would'nt have to pay them anything. The independant garages around here won't work on this car. The first time the car engine light came on the car died. I went to the nearest repair shop and they put in a new battery but that was not the problem. So, the next day I'm driving to work on the winding mountainous road and a light came on, it said transmission overheating.
- Sonora, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. The contact stated that the engine power was reduced. Additionally, the contact stated that while making a turn, the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with clutch failure. The contact was informed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the clutch had previously been replaced twice. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown,
- Ontario, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated before accelerating. Additionally, while shifting the gear shifter, there was a delay before the shifter would move to the desired position. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch had failed. The clutch was replaced. After having the vehicle repaired, the failure persisted. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the engine revved; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended and failed to exceed 2 MPH. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the transmission failure was confirmed. The dealer had stated the transmission and the clutch might need to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and it was confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 67,000.
- Jamison, PA, USA
Clutch issue. When the automatic transmission shifts between 1st and 2nd gear and then 3rd and 4th gear, the vehicle pauses and revs at very high rpm's. When placing the gear shifter into reverse gear the vehicle, at times, does not go into gear and stays still without reversing. After further research, I found documentation related to the Ford PowerShift Transmission Settlement which my 2015 Ford Focus is included in.
- Peoria, AZ, USA
I recently took my car to the dealership for a recall or what they are calling an extended warranty (19N08 Transmission Clutch Shudder- Transmission Clutch Warranty Extension). Unfortunately, my car does have the recall/extended warranty issue. The issue is it is outside the 7 years of 100,000 miles warranty. I have called Ford and opened a case # with them. I am begging you guys to extend this warranty to 10 years or 150,000 miles. I am a single parent and this is my [XXX] son's car. We bought it at 103,000 miles. The older gentleman we bought it from told us about the shuttering, but he did not realize that the shuttering was due to a recall. Please extend this warranty/recall parameters as from my research others are having the same issue still. Thank you for your time!! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Moss Point, MS, USA
Stopped to get gas. Turned off engine. After filling up gas tank, car would not start, or crank/turn over. No check engine light has been on, no warning lights. Disconnected battery for about fifteen min. Car started up. Took it to shop, they changed out the evap Purge system. It failed when they tested it so they changed that out. Car did not stall when they test drove it. Car stalled two more times. Once when accelerating from a red light, and second time when just sitting in idle. Car just shuts itself off but the radio stays on. This is such a safety hazard because of the fact that not only does it stall in the middle of me driving But I-??m very lucky I didn-??t get rear ended or T boned because of this. So I thought this issue was fixed but obviously not. After the last time it stalled after getting it fixed, I then had it towed to a Ford dealership. I know this has been a recall on other Ford focuses. For some reason not mine which is a 2015 Focus. Last year I had to have the TCM fixed which was a recall so that was free however then they tell me that my clutch went bad at 60k miles" I shelled out almost $3k for that nonsense. Now This stalling it constantly Day after day at 75k miles" Thanks a lot FORD. Take your piece of [XXX] back and issue this a recall. Either way it-??s Ford-??s fault and should pay for this safety issue for free. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Washington , NJ, USA
It-??s a 2015 ford focus 1.0 eco boost 6 speed manual. It studders and shakes and stalls at random while driving. It only has 78000 miles on it and I just bought this car from some punk kid. Shakes the car violently as well.
- Smithville, MO, USA
Studdering, won-??t shift, stalls out, recall repaired still does the same thing, transmission doesn-??t shift right and stalls out in traffic.
- Brighton , IL, USA
The engine failed while driving on a state highway. No one was hurt and the driver was able to get the car off the road. The only indication was the check engine light came on and the car lost all power. My local mechanic confirmed the issue being the oil pump drive belt tensioner arm broke and as a result the engine would need replacing. The engine was replaced with with a Ford remanufactured engine and the faulty engine returned to Ford for the core fee. Ford Focus' built between March 24, 2015 - May 4, 2018 are covered under NHTSA Recall No. : 23V-905, Manufacturer Recall No. : 23S64. The bulletin states 1.0L engines paired with 6F15 automatic transmissions. My car was built on March 19, 2015 with a standard transmission. It has the same engine as in the NHTSA and had the same issue with the 1.0L engines had.
- Keymar, MD, USA
- Shepherdsville, KY, USA