CarComplaints.com Notes: For the third year in a row, the 3rd generation Focus is experiencing massive transmission problems.
Most notably owners keep complaining about how there's bad hesitation and jerking when starting from a stop. This isn't the result of an old, worn out part. In fact, the average mileage it's reported to us is just over 15k miles.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
22 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
9 / 0
Average Mileage:
39,086 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.
Transmission jerks and I think this is caused by fuel system cars got p1450 code unable to bleed fuel tank vacum this code was in the system august 24/2021 this vehicle has all the symptoms of a recall on these cars of recall 18s32 but this cars vin does not show up and it has been a problem since 62000 miles
My car kept stalling with service engine soon light. Took it to a ford dealer and had a recall for the tcm. Upon them doing a diagnostic on them they stated I also needed a clutch on it but because I was just a little bit over mileage it was not covered under warranty. I never received a notice in the mail for the recall or I would of definitely took my car knowing that it in the transmission. I feel this is unfair to those whom have experienced this and there should be an extended warranty on this particular part.
Transmission control module failed after I got gas. Part is under recall by FORD. Ford does not have the part. 6-8 month wait. I need my car so I had to purchase a used part. Cost of part $486. Then I had to pay for labor. Ford charges $580 to install and program used part. I could not afford this. I had to pay another mechanic to install. Currently waiting for repair and paying for a rental car. It-??s been 2 weeks.
Put car in gear and upon take off the car shudders and shakes and then loses power and doesn't shift into higher gears. It's like it slips into neutral and will not go into reverse and the car has 90,000 miles on it and I am the second owner. It belonged to my mom who passed away 2 years ago. She had the same issues with the transmission. I called a Ford dealership and they told me to drive it like I stole it to help with the shudder and shifting issues, instead of trying to help resolve the issues. Has almost caused me to get re- ended several times and twice but emergency vehicles on a two lane road because of the shifting issues and loss of power. Ford needs to recall and fix the transmission issues before it gets someone killed.
I purchased this vehicle in March, 2022 knowing it had been bought back by Ford from the original owner under the Lemon Law because of repeated issues of balky transmission performance or no drive and time out of service. I purchased this car from the second owner in Georgia. According to the Ford service documents obtained with the vehicle, several major repairs were performed. The vehicle performed well the time of purchase. I had confidence that Ford Motor Company had corrected the original defects.Now, 4 months after purchase, the transmission control module failed, resulting in a no drive/no start condition, two tow truck calls to remove the vehicle from precarious traffic situations adjacent to busy major highways. The Ford service writer indicates that while my vehicle is covered under Ford 's extended powertrain warranty as a result of the class action lawsuit concerning the DPS6 transmission, the current TCM replacement parts backlog is 45,000, with vehicles out of service sitting at my dealer since February, 2022. There is no question that Ford dodged the bullet by skillfully avoid a full recall to replace these failed DPS6 transmissions. What good is an extended warranty if no replacement parts are available??
- Easley, SC, USA
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Bought this car in May 2022. After about 2 weeks the car was slipping gears and would not reverse in some cases. Had it diagnosed by the Ford dealership and was told it needed a new TCM. After a few months we managed to get the part ourselves and replace it. Now the car is shifting roughly and says complete transmission failure but will still drive. I cannot believe Ford didn't recall the part, but rather issued an extended warranty on a part that is otherwise impossible to get ahold of.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train). The contact took the vehicle to local dealer and had the recall repair completed. The contact stated that two years after the recall repair, while driving at an undisclosed speed speed, the vehicle independently shifted into neutral(N). The contact stated that the transmission was hot and a message to -??Pull Over-?? was displayed. The contact was able to park on the side of the road for 15 minutes and then continued driving to her destination. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the clutch plates and an unknown sensor to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but experience the failure two years after the second repair. The contact took the vehicle a third time to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the sensor to be reset. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the failure. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing an unknown sensor replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the failure 15-minutes after the repair. The contact continued to drive to her residence. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.
The transmission shakes violently at take off and while driving it accelerates and acts as if the transmission is slipping. It has gotten worse since I bought it. The shimmy at start up was brought to the attention of the dealership at the time of purchase but I was told there was nothing wrong it was just a common thing with this transmission. The message center says Transmission fault and the dealer says it is a covered problem TCM but the part is not available due to being back ordered. It has been parked fir 5 weeks and have been told to expect a year before the part is available
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH, after coming to a stop, the vehicle started jerking and sputtering. The contact stated that she thought the vehicle was going to lose motive power however, the vehicle remained running. The contact stated that no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle had been repaired under an unknown recall 2 years ago for the fuel injection or fuel tank. The contact stated that recently while driving, the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle was sputtering. The contact stated that she had to depress the accelerator pedal for the vehicle to remain running. The vehicle was taken to an Auto Zone to be diagnosed. The DTC reading stated power train system and reprogram transmission control module. The Auto Zone employee advised her to contact a Ford dealer. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
On June 27,2022 I was running errands w my car. After filling the tank w fuel my car would not go into gear! I had a hard time getting it to go into drive then it finally started to move. The car was shaking and shuttering when I tried to Accelerate. The car would not shift gears and was reved very high. It would start to drive then it wouldn-??t kick into gear and was jerking all over the road. I was able to get home and call a Ford dealership. The service department said that it was probably the transmission however they couldn-??t diagnose it until the end of August! I started googling issues w ford 2014 transmission which is when I found out about the class action lawsuit and issues with the faulty transmission. Apparently Ford had installed these transmission knowing that they were faulty and could cause issues while driving. Rather than issuing a recall and noticing customers of these hazardous issues they instead extended the warranty to 10 years or 100,000 miles. My cars vin number is part of the cars that were installed w faulty transmissions however Ford has so many service issues my car cannot be diagnosed for at least a month and I was told that the part is on back order and will take several months to replace. I am now making payments on a car that will be out of commission for months. Had ford issued a recall I would have been able to replace this part before this issues happened and would not have lost control of the car while driving! Ford did not notify me of the issue and even when I called to explain what was going on the did not tell me of the lawsuit or the extended warranty. Had I not been off that day and running errand around the neighborhood I typically drive the highway 40+ miles to work. If I would have lost control of the car on the highway rather than a side street I would have almost certainly had an accident and possibly lost my life !
The "automatic" transmission jerks you forward as it switches gears. Makes the car slow down rapidly and jerks itself into gear which could cause a driver behind to rear end you. If this were to happen on the freeway, a major accident could occur. Problems diagnosed by transmission shop is actuator motors needing replacement along with the TCM. No one with any official capacity has inspected the car but this can be accomplished. An engine light came on after the transmission failed. Just purchased this car on April 5, 2022. Within one week of purchase this problem began. This car is available for inspection upon request.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Over the years, the contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer for multiple repairs; however, the failure persisted. The contact was informed that the transmission control module was the cause of the failure. The dealer then informed her that parts were on back order and that due to a limited amount of parts available, the transmission control module might never become available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. The manufacturer offered no further assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
On 3/18/22 while driving on I-95 in stop and go traffic the the car shuddered, shook, lurched, lunged from a compete stop and the RPM needle was going crazy. Then an emergency message came on my dashboard telling me the transmission was overheating and to pull over immediately in a safe area. I had the car towed from a shopping area parking lot to Apple Ford in Columbia Maryland. They had it for two weeks, told me they road tested it and found nothing wrong. Meanwhile I researched and found reports all over the internet about these faulty Powertrain transmissions and TCM's Ford knew about from 2014 on in those cars that they rolled out anyway. When told them what I found, out after two weeks they said they couldn't replicate the problem and come get the car off their lot. I said they had to drive the car in high traffic and they'd see, but but they were done. They were rude and dismissive. I previously reported this to you in Complaint #1147296. I picked up the car and because I'm retired don't drive much it wasn't until stuck in another rolling backup on I-95 on 5-26-22 it did it again. I managed to make it home and the next day took it to AAMCO in Laurel, MD. They confirmed an internal failure in the Dual Clutch, Actuators and TCM module. The exact problem that's going on with all these Ford Focuses nationwide. Total cost of repairs $3,626.61 and a 4-8 week wait for parts.
I took car the get it service at Ford dealer In Nov 15 2021 after many months and many car dealers refusing or not having time to look at car and a few stalls. This being the second Ford focus same year and same problems that left us with bills that ford Corp refused to honor. Have names off peole but will leave it out. The advisor whom I was given and appt was made for transmission testing Ford said that iif I had it tested they would cover cost due to no parts to fix it due to shortages and backorders. The advisisor refused to have it tested since she said she tells all customers not to have them inspected I asked her what would be beneficial to that she got upset and limited any questions. I reported issue bt service Manger was gone for the day at 230pm. The latches and valves for tank deformations had not been started yet. Next morning after a messege and assurance issues would be dealt and advisor had said she would not deal with me service Manger tried to bully me into staying quiet. He said he would make sure advisor would help she didnt and very short time to do work which the fuel readings were worse then before. Shop foreman gave me his word that he woukd get transmission to be tested to keep agreement which he didn't follow thru after several messages and calls. And after car began to stall. Zero help from service dept. Ford Corp makes excuses never one solution to get it seen. Said i had to pay to have it seen. Zero help with dealers that refused to do recall and ford Corp work. After over 200 days and after reaching to owner of dealership that promised to make it right but service Manger refused to follow thru and after he told me to move on and go elsewhere. I got another dealer to check it but they only wanted the most expensive non covered work so I would have to say so. Not the top issue car went in. after 4 days and after ford Corp again making promises with worker not involved at all. So far 3500 bill Ford wants time but said
Transmission fault. Shuddering, entered highway and vehicle became unresponsive. Sat in highway lane with ems flashing lights to keep me from being killed.
My 2014 Ford Focus is having issues with the clutch and powertrain. This is the same issue that the PowerShift transmission lawsuit describes here ( fordtransmissionsettlement.com/ ). I had problems with this before 100,000 miles and after 100,000 miles. Currently, it needs another clutch and the total price quoted by Future Ford of Clovis, CA is $2,355. I feel it is ridiculous that Ford and their dealers are making profit off of products that they put out for sale. The Ford rep said that since the car has over 113,000 miles, that it is over the 100,000 limit and there is no assistance available. This is very frustrating and is something that I cannot afford. Any help you can offer would be appreciated. The vin is 1FADP3K29EL238082.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle started to shudder. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the transmission sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000. Consumer purchased the car in July 2020, an was not notified of any recalls when car was purchased. Consumer was not notified of any recalls when car was purchased.
a degraded or detached bushing connecting the transmission and shifter cable may prevent proper gear shifting, and the vehicle may also roll after being put into -??Park-?? position; either scenario can increase the risk of crash or injury.
The transmission will slip at times especially when accelerating. It-??s dangerous when pulling into traffic. Also the transmission overheats The transmission is known to slip and go out. The warning light for transmission overheating comes on.
My car is coverd under the extended warranty for TCMs and Clutch parts resulting in the decision in the powershift class action lawsuit. My TCM has now failed, and Ford can not fix the car for up to 6 months, and will make no form of compensation. I don't understand how a car with a known defect like the Focus can still be allowed to plague owners like this while Ford escapes all responsibility.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Canton, GA, USA