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.
My 2014 Ford Focus hatchback has had concerning safety issues due to the dual-clutch automatic transmission since I bough the car brand new in January 2015. When I try to accelerate driving down the street and on the highway my car lurches multiple times and I'm unable to accelerate. This has almost caused many car accidents and terrifies me every time I drive.the lurching has also loosened parts of my car and feels like parts of my car could fall off at anytime. My engine also has issues and I've had to stop on the side of the road at least twice now due to the engine overheating. I have never felt safe driving this car. I've taken it into the dealership many times since the first week I bought the car complaining about the transmission and the employees kept telling me that they couldn't do anything about it. I never would have purchased this car if I had known about these issues and I will never purchase a Ford car again.
I started my car and began to drive. Two minutes after driving I was going 25 mph on a town street and my transmission fault light came on. I lost power and control of the car, almost getting hit by a large truck.
While driving on a level four lane road (at 45mph), the car shook and transmission started slipping badly. Luckily I was close to home. Changed the transmission fluid and only got 4 miles down the road afterwards and it shook violently and the transmission completely went out. Had the car towed to the dealership and told us the tcm (transmission control module) was bad and replaced it since it was covered under Ford 150.000 mile extended warranty but after replacing that they done more tests on the car when they said the whole tranny also had to be rebuilt. Ford extended the warranty to 100,000 miles on the parts in my tranny but mine had 13,000 miles too many to qualify for be covered. So now I'm stuck paying $2500 plus taxes!!! I paid $6,000 for the car and 1 week later, I have to pay almost another $3000. I've always been a Ford lover but not after this. I'm done!
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated the while the windshield wipers were activated on the high setting, there was a 5 or 6 second delay. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to al packer's white marsh Ford (9801 pulaski hwy, middle river, md 21220, (443)777-5000) and the contact was informed that the vehicle was working as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was contacted however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
- Dundalk, MD, USA
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I have a transmission problem, the car stopped while I'm driving and I get a warning message to check the engine. The automatic shifting is hard and not smooth. It became not safe to drive weather in a highway or on a city street with this problem.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 55-60 mph and accelerating, the vehicle failed to shift to the next gear. The contact pulled over. Additionally, while at a stop, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate or accelerated and decelerated independently. The vehicle revved up with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact called keller motors (700 Cadillac ln, hanford, ca 93230, (559) 582-1000) and was informed that there was no transmission technician at the location. The vehicle was taken to will tiesiera Ford (2101 E cross ave, tulare, ca 93274, (559) 688-7471) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission clutch and module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 103,772.
While driving my car it would not pull hill when driving, had to pull over and add transmission fluid because it was low. This is the second time I had to add fluid to this vehicle. Is there a recall on this problem or not. Vehicle do not have the power it had when I first bought
Problems I have had was slipping, bucking, jerking, and suddenly accelerate. In addition, the transmissions caused delayed acceleration and delays in downshifts, cuts off in traffic.
I found out that Ford admitted their 6 speed sport transmission is faulty. There is a class action suit against Ford for this, but when I notified Ford of my intent to join the class (which was required), Ford did not respond. When I contacted the class lawyer, they said they could not include me because I had only had the transmission calibrated twice before the deadline. (3 times were required) it is still running poorly. I bought the car from carmax in Dec. 2018, so it is very likely that the previous owner had taken the car in for the same transmission problem at least once between (new) 2014 and 2018. I am wondering, "why" when multiple models over several manufacturing years have this same transmission, has there not been an official recall?
The car want start it will turn on then when trying to go the car stalls out and the car keeps acclerating. It reads engine failure and I havent even had this car two years yet and aint even finish paying I off. I had to get tolled off the highway with my kids do to the car want start and when got it home it started but keeps accelerating. I need this car to get checked or something this is unsafe for my toddlers when I have to use that vehicle to get back and forth to work and take my kids to daycare..what am I suppose to do with a vehicle im still paying on and want start. I have been researching and seen that multiple people been having problems with there Ford Focus the same problems im having.
I was driving down the street, and my car lost power in the middle of traffic. I couldn't do anything except let the car coast to the nearest side street. This is the first time it has gotten to this particular degree. Before this happened, I was on my way home and as I was leaving the stop light, the car hesitated and took a while before the speed would pick up. It also did some weird things that I can't explain, but know that it shouldn't have happened. After this first incident, I immediately contacted Ford and complained about the problem. I was advised that the car had two extended warranties and I should take it into a authorized dealer and have the vehicle diagnosed and that if it was a transmission module issue or something to that effect, it would be covered under the warranty and the repairs would be done at no cost. I took the vehicle to a Ford dealership in Tennessee and was told that my vehicle had an branded title and the dealership refused to put the car on the machine unless Ford corporate called them directly with an authorization code. I called Ford corporate back and explained to them what the issue was and the agent put me on hold and called the dealership and gave him all the information he needed to start the work on my vehicle. About three hours later, I was contacted by the dealership and was told to pick up my vehicle because someone from Ford had contacted him and said that my warranty was no good. I emailed the CEO at Ford corporation, and after two weeks, still haven't heard back from him. I called the corporate office again and was told the same thing as before, which is that my car has two extended warranties and the work should have been done because one warranty covers the transmission whether it has a branded title or not. Now, I have a car sitting up, unnecessary expenses and a dent in my back bumper.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled and would not properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to autonation Ford located at 2525 34th St N, St. Petersburg, fl 33713 who replaced the dual clutch shifter but the failures continued to occur and the message transmission failure was displayed. Additionally, the sunroof would not completely close causing rain to leak into the cabin of the vehicle, all 4 doors would not shut properly, the tire air monitoring system malfunctioned, and the catalytic converter failed. The cause of the failures were not determined. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 63,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving or while the vehicle was idling, the vehicle shutoff without warning. The contact shifted into neutral and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to parks Ford of gainesville (3333 N main St, gainesville, fl 32609, (352)372-4251) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The dealer was contacted and informed of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle needed to be taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed at the owners expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact back to the dealer for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000. The consumer stated the vehicle mold growing on the passenger side carpet. The engine would rev up when depressing the gas pedal, but would not move. The car door would unlock independently and fly open while driving or stopped. The transmission/etc experienced a failure.
I want to fine a complaint against the Ford dealer. I have approximately 3 months with problem. It's because of gas evaporations. I had with me a latter that Ford send me to me for recall which I had to have it repaired and they want to charge me for it. Supposedly they repaired that, when they never did and proof of this is that there is the problem as well as the transmission they just marked done and they never did I, because I don't have the problem before and now I have it. They don't want to repaired those 2 factory failures. I want to see what can I do to they fix it at not cost since. It's a factory failure and I'm not the only one with that problem. That is a serious problem they said that in the latter they send me. I send you a picture I had. They took the another one.
About two weeks after purchasing my pre-owned 2014 Ford Focus, I started to experience some slight jerking whenever I pressed on the accelerator pedal. The jerking gradually got worse and I continued to drive to my home. My car stopped suddenly when I was traveling uphill on a highway. I had to sit and wait for a few minutes before I was able to keep driving. When I finally arrived home, I turned my car off and went in. I came back later to go somewhere and my car wouldn't start. I resolved to leave it be since it was the weekend and dealerships were closed. The next day my car started, but the jerking remained and now my check engine light was on. I drove with it for the time being because the dealership (Toyota) that I purchased it from said they couldnt look into my possible transmission issues because I didn't purchase the extended warranty. I finally looked pretty deep into the issue and found there was a recall on the car I purchased and that many people experienced the same exact problems as I have.
3 times car would not start. All lights wipers radio and all gauges worked when turning key but car would not turn over. Happened when shopping had to have car towed home. After sitting for a day car would start
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a failure with the clutch and was taken to deacon jones Ford (3301 mclain St, goldsboro, nc 27534), and was diagnosed that the clutch failed and needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the dealer previously performed field service action number: 14M02 (transmission control module extended warranty repair) and the clutch was replaced twice. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kannapolis, NC, USA