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:
11 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 0
Average Mileage:
47,425 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 vehicle stalls while driving, and shakes when I press on the gas. I have to drive my car extremely slow or else it will shake. Sometimes it gives me a problem when trying to start my car.
Power steering has gotten stiffer in the last few days. I believed it may just be fluid but I came to find out the steering is electric once the car would absolutely not move after being parked. I am glad it did not go out while driving because the system had begun to fail as I was making a 15 minute commute. Definitely will never buy a Ford again. This is the second expensive fix I have had to endure and have only had this vehicle a little over 2 years.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that at vehicle start-up the power steering assist fault message was displayed in the message console. The contact stated that the steering became difficult to operate. The contact recurred several times. The vehicle was turned off and back on and operated as designed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic for a diagnostic. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
The car was difficult to drive from day one, hard to steer and keep on the road, along with the transmission problem, had it checked several times and told there wasn't a problem with the steering, then it it started making a grinding sound when the wheel was turned, kept getting worse until the car was not drive able, and it was stored. The transmission was recalled, but told the steering is not. Ford says it needs a new rack and pinon but is now out of warranty, as our complaint we turned in when it was under warranty had been wiped out, due to a new computer system. It only has 32,000 miles on it, and now they want $2200 to replace the rack and pinon.
Recenltly without prior notice of symptoms, my Ford 2014 Ford Focus displayed steering assist fault when attempting to start the car and leave the office. The car lost all power steering. I shut off the engine, and restarted the car. The power steering was restored and I was able to make it home without further issue. The car perfomed fine for the next week. The following week, the car displayed the same fault, but this time the restart trick did not work. I tried many of the supposed fixes discussed on the internet, but none of them worked. I had to have the car towed to the shop as I was unable to drive the car. Further investigating on the internet revealed numerous other complaints of this same nature. I reached out to Ford customer service, and was hung up on each time. They people at the call center are like robots repeating the same line over and over regardless of my question. Then they hung up on me. I was made aware of a service bulletin that was for problems with the steering assembly, but apparently it only applies to a small number of vehicles. Ford customer service is a joke, and they refuse to take responsibility for selling a faulty product. I will never buy another Ford vehicle. I have been quoted a repair price of $2500 to replace the rack and pinion system, as the component parts are unavailable for purchase.
- Magnolia, TX, USA
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Sometimes when I'm backing up, the power steering quits and I can't turn the wheel, which can result in a crash. I have to turn the car off and back on again, one or more times before it will work. So, while I have no power steering, I'm in the middle of road, blocking traffic, and hoping I don't get hit from another vehicle. This is a serious issue.!
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the gear shift selector was placed in reverse however, the vehicle failed to respond. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to norris Ford dealer, (901 merritt blvd, baltimore, md 21222, (410) 285-0200) and was diagnosed. The contact was informed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the transmission was replaced previously, however the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not assist and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was 96,000.
While driving the vehicle, the steering became almost impossible to turn cause me to hit a curb in a city and then a light came on the dash saying power steering failure. The steering is very hard and sticks then release. Unsafe to drive. Scared to ever drive this vehicle again.
Without ant kind of warning in went into the store for 10 min got into the car and the steering wheel was upside down I turned the car on and no power steering and and power assist code came
My 16 year old daughter was driving in her 2014 Ford Focus SE on the interstate. I was a passenger as she only has her learners permit. All the sudden she complained the vehicle was hard to steer. I saw her having a physically hard time steering the vehicle. I looked at the dashboard and saw the power steering assist failure indicator icon (electronic power assist steering - epas)activated on the dashboard. My daughter continued to struggle to maintain the vehicle safely due to the power steering issue. She drove to the nearest exit which was even worse than the highway. She had trouble steering through the "S" turns on the exit ramp. She came to the intersection, luckily the light was green and she didn't have to stop to turn right, but it wasn't much help. While turning onto another two lane highway she almost hit the concrete medium due to the epas failure. Watching her drive the vehicle reminded me when I drove my grandfathers old Dodge dart; no power steering. I understand
Car received a steering assist default service required code. Left us with ni power steering. Car only has 50,000 miles on it. Warranty expired due to having car over 6 years. Ironically the warranty expired the same day the power steering went out. Did not have any issues like this until Ford mechanics worked on the transmission recall a week prior and then got this code the very next week.car was stationary in a walmart parking lot. Code is continuous on car and we are now afraid to drive it.
Today I was dropping my daughter off school after I dropped her off as I'm backing out the car would not turn left, the light came on and it said steering assist fault.. repair required, I had to have my husband pick me up because I can't drive it home.. it just seems to me that Ford cars are not very reliable, I just had in issue with it last month. And a few months before that it was something else.
My transmission stopped engaging as I was turning into my parking space at home after a 150-mile trip.I was in motion. The engine raced. I let off the gas pedal. I turned off the engine, thinking it might be a software glitch. When I tried to restart the engine, nothing happened. I had to push the car into the space with the transmission in neutral.
'power steering assist fault' came up a few weeks ago. I shut it off and turned it back on and it cleared. Went to start it up today and the fault was on as I pulled out of the garage. Stayed on stopping and starting 5 times. Also drove it and was very difficult to steer. This will be a safety issue for my 16 year old daughter who is supposed to drive this car.
My family was leaving a parking lot and when the car was started up the steering would not work properly. It would not turn without a lot of difficulties. A message came on that said: Steering assist fault. Service required. We had to get to an airport and we were stuck in a parking lot. We went online to see if others had this problem and if there was a solution. We saw that others had this problem. One solution we read was to let the car sit a bit and then try again. We did this and each time it was still very hard to turn the steering wheel. Finally, after waiting a little longer I started the car and it seemed to be able to move but was still very difficult to steer. After circling the parking lot a few times we decided to try to get to the airport on time. I drove and it was very difficult but I was very careful and we got there and then home, several hours of driving. I took the car to a local mechanic who said that with only 58,000 miles on the car it should not have that problem and that he could fix it for up to $2,000 but that he would recommend that Ford should pay for it and that I should take it to a Ford dealer and contact Ford to pay for it. I took it to the local Ford garage who was very accommodating but were unable to pay for it. I then called the Ford company phone and the person told me they would not pay for it at all but that I should keep my receipt in case they later would pay if many were affected. I got the car fixed for $2,155. That was for: 1 hv6Z 3504 ep gear asy - steering, and also for an alignment which they said was needed because of replacing what they had in the steering. I had tried to start the car at various times and the error message always came up and it always steered hard. I'm glad it didn't go out on me when I was driving as I see has happened with some people. Ford should pay for this.
Power steering failed while driving. Nearly caused an accident. Lucky there were no others on the road. Ford dealership said rack and pinion needed replacing. 2 weeks later the transmission completely failed. Had already been re-programmed as part of the 14M02 program. This didn't fix the juddering and poor gear performance. Dealer says transmission is broken and none of the customer programs apply.
52,000 miles - 2014 Ford Focus manual - while running errands, during car startup the error message "power assist malfunction - service required." The power steering was deactivated and made very difficult to steer. Turned the car off and restarted after 5 min. The error message disappeared and power steering came back. From others with similar issues, this error could occur while driving and seems to be costly repair for a low mileage vehicle.
Noise coming from steering wheel when turning; shuttering; struggling to accelerate; transmission stalled out on a hill; remote lock button found non functional at times; bluetooth non functional.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Philadelphia, PA, USA