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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
85,253 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2010 Ford Focus engine problems

engine problem

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2010 Ford Focus Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #30

Jul 152015

Focus

  • 57,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Just after I left home two wednesdays ago; after about 1/4 mile, my car suddenly started to decelerate and the wrench light immediately came on. I drove it to my repair shop (about 14 miles away including a highway) and although it never stopped, I had to keep hard on the accelerator to get just over 50mph. They said that there was nothing wrong, it was due for an oil change. When I picked it up, it did drive normally. However, the next time that I drove it (the following evening) the same thing happened (at the same location from my home). This time both the wrench and engine lights came on. I stopped and turned the car off. I started it after a minute and the speed dropped to zero after a few yards. The next morning on the way to the repair shop, it again decelerated to zero. The shop said that it was a throttle sensor and I paid almost $200 to get it fixed (I had to wait until Monday). Two days later, last Wednesday, at the same location, the car decelerated again to zero (three times). I had an emergency appointment that day so I had to drive it. That night, I had just gotten on the highway to come home when the same thing happened. Thankfully, it was very late and no one was behind me because there wasn't a shoulder on which to pull over. The next morning, I was taking it to the Ford dealership when the same thing happened twice. The soonest appointment available was this morning. According to the Ford service rep, this is normal; all cars suddenly stop even on the highway. This does not appear to be normal to me. I would think that suddenly losing control of one's car, especially on a highway, is very unsafe. Sometimes, I've driven without incident and sometimes, I have this problem. The only thing that I can in common is that when it occurs, it's always within a couple of minutes after I start driving.

- Vernon, CT, USA

problem #29

Jul 062015

Focus

  • 82,490 miles
Going down highway and engine stopped dew to throttle pedal position sensor no throttle response at all

- Independence, MO, USA

problem #28

Feb 192015

Focus

  • 140,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would suddenly lose power and failed to accelerate. During the failure, the check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the throttle body was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 140,000.

- Deerfield, NH, USA

problem #27

Feb 192015

Focus

  • 123,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When I drive my car it jerks when I drive a certain mph.. I was on the free way and it felt like I wasn't going to be able to stop or didn't no if my car would stop... my power steering is not working when I turn a corner it makes a grinding noise and when I found out what the problem which was my power steering pump I got it fixed an now the power steering leaks out an still makes the noise.. I feel really unsafe in my car an am afraid to drive with my son in it.

- Maple Heights, OH, USA

problem #26

Feb 052015

Focus

  • 86,000 miles
When driving this car and the speed reaches about 40 mph the traction control light comes on and the car reduces speed and you can push the pedal all the way down and it will go no faster than 30 mph. The only fix is to hit the traction control switch on the dash and this turns the traction off and allows you not to get killed. I took it to the shop to see if any trouble codes would pop up and the scan said the car was fine no issues. When you drive the car it tells a whole different story.it will not be long until some one gets to an intersection and a truck is barring down on them and the car will not safely accelerate to get you out of danger. I have found nothing that will fix this problem so I will try to sell it back to a dealership. Sad thing is we still owe $5000. On it but don't feel safe in it. New car time, skipping Ford this time until they take some accountability and try to fix this issue.

- Saint Cloud , FL, USA

problem #25

Apr 172012

Focus

  • 36,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Focus S. the contact stated while driving 70 mph, the vehicle would decelerate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the throttle body was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 32,000 and the current mileage was 68,000.

- Romeo, MI, USA

problem #24

Aug 282014

Focus

  • 58,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2010 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while traveling at any speed, the vehicle was idling rough. In addition, there was a loss of power and the wrench warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.

- Glade Spring, VA, USA

problem #23

Aug 212014

Focus

  • 28,800 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Focus. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle decelerated on its own and the check engine warning and maintenance wrench indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing, but was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 28,800.

- Bridgeport, NE, USA

problem #22

Aug 072014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 30,526 miles
Similar to man of the complaints on this vehicle; it ended up being the throttle body issue. My mother-in-law was driving and it suddenly wouldn't accelerate. A car almost rear-ended her. She was able to coast to the side of the road. She noticed that the "wrench" light was on. She started it up and "limped" to the Ford dealer. About $700 later, the throttle body was changed. There is only 30,000 miles on the vehicle and she bought it brand new. She is quite upset about having to pay for the repair, and I don't blame her. This should be part of the power train, or under the extended warranty coverage that was applied to some of the other Ford and Mercury vehicles that had the same throttle body issue. How many incidents or complaints does it need to take to have Ford apply the same coverage to the Focus" do they have to wait till people get badly hurt" this is ridiculous. Please take care of it.

- Lynnwood, WA, USA

problem #21

Oct 182012

Focus 4-cyl

  • 33,000 miles
I first started to notice a problem about 2 years after owning this car. Bought it brand new from the dealership. One day after an oil change I was sitting at a stop light and the car felt like it was about to sputter and die out. I revved the engine and once I started to move it didn't seem to be an issue. I took it into Ford and they told me it was the A/C unit circling on and that this was normal. I thought it was weird since this was not something that happened since day one, but instead started happening after 2 years of owning the car. I went back and forth with the dealership that there was definitely something wrong with the car. The guy that was working on my car told me at that point that he thought it was the throttle body and at that point it was still covered under my warranty but that if he were to replace it and there was nothing wrong with the one that came out of my car, I would be charged for it. So, being someone that doesn't have an extra $700 laying around, and believing the dealership, I chose to go on driving my car as it was. Today was the most recent incident. I was driving down a very busy highway, going close to 60 when my car decided to turn off today. This has now happened 5, yes 5 times. The first time it happened I was slowly turning a corner and my car just died. Completely died. Check engine light came on, wrench light came on, and oil light came on. I pulled over to the side of the road and started my car again. How many complaints need to be filed before action is taken"???? there is obviously a problem not only with the Focus models but with all of Ford throttle bodies! is this going to be another Chrysler monstrosity"

- Lake Stevens, WA, USA

problem #20

Oct 052013

Focus 4-cyl

  • 55,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

This has been a re occurring problem that the throttle body sticks causing my vehicle to go into "limp mode" causing the car to almost loose power. This has had several close calls now, it does get better when cleaned but is needing cleaned more and more often.

- Xenia, OH, USA

problem #19

May 082014

Focus

  • 38,000 miles
I was driving on the freeway when my Focus suddenly lost power and speed despite my foot remaining on the gas pedal. I had to get over to the shoulder suddenly and narrowly missed being hit by a semi. The car would not start back up immediately and a check engine / wrench light appeared. I lost power several more times on my drive to work. It was a nightmare. The car would not accelerate beyond 55 anymore until fixed. It turned out that the throttle body assembly went on the car. It cost $700 to fix the issue despite the car having only 38,000 miles. This problem should not occur on a car with such low mileage. This was a very dangerous problem!

- Troy, MI, USA

problem #18

Mar 302014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 88,000 miles
My wife was driving on the freeway, and the car stopped responding to the gas pedal suddenly. The light with the wrench image came on also at that time. Somehow she was able to pull over safely on the shoulder. She turned the car off and after she turned the car back on the warning wrench light was gone. And the vehicle responded to the gas pedal fine. She had to drive in the right lane cautiously with the emergency lights on...

- West Bloomfield, MI, USA

problem #17

Feb 212014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 81,227 miles
Driving on the freeway is most left lane and completely lost accelerator power, check engine light came on. Had to cross about 3 lanes to get to the shoulder before complete loss of momentum.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #16

Jan 022014

Focus

  • 82,000 miles
Experiencing rough idle and complete loss of power at normal speed, engine check and wrench light comes on at time of issue. Had a diagnostic check at advance auto and error code P2135 throttle position sensor/switch A/B voltage correlation and also error code P2111 throttle actuator control system stuck open. I believe this to be a safety issue due to complete lose of power at normal driving speed and just enough time to pull over or almost getting hit from behind.

- Williamson, NY, USA

problem #15

Nov 152013

Focus 4-cyl

  • 13,711 miles
I drove with several friends for over an hour to a football game. As we were approaching the stadium going 35-40 mph, the car suddenly lost acceleration and a wrench light and check engine light came on. We pulled over, turned the car off and on again and were able to go about a half mile before the same thing happened again. I had it towed to a Ford dealer where they found that the throttle body had failed. I was very grateful this happened on a residential street and not on the very busy highway I had been driving on for the last hour! from looking online, I found that this is a common issue with late model Ford and that an investigation had been opened by the NHTSA at least for Ford escape and Fusion.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #14

Nov 022013

Focus

  • 56,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to independent mechanic for diagnosis. The technician stated that the accelerator switch would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure.the approximate failure mileage was 56,000.

- Manteo, NC, USA

problem #13

Sep 102013

Focus

  • 74,099 miles
Error codes coming up P2135 and P2111 loses power and runs rough.

- Burgaw, NC, USA

problem #12

Oct 052013

Focus 4-cyl

  • 77,000 miles
While driving my car, I was stopped at a red light and when it turned green I was unable to accelerate. The wrench light was on and I couldn't move my car. I had my grandchildren with me and it was very scary to say the least. It has happened on the highway where I was unable to accelerate and had to put on my hazard lights and reset the car. I have seen online there are similar issues with the Ford Focus and there should be a recall. I am lucky that I and my grandchildren didn't get seriously injured.

- Quincy, MA, USA

problem #11

Jul 012013

Focus

  • 43,325 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving 50 mph. The failure recurred several times. The wrench and the check engine warning light illuminated after the failure occurred. The contact was able to restart the engine and the vehicle resumed normal function. The contact performed a diagnostic and located the failure at the throttle control position sensor. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 43,325 and the current mileage was 44,000.

- Stanwood , MI, USA

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