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:
46,400 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.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while the contact's mother was driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering assist fault warning light illuminated. In addition, the steering wheel did not function as intended. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently at first; however, the failure became persistent. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. In addition, the contact was advised to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while turning the steering wheel in either direction there was a grinding noise coming from the steering column. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V514000 (Steering). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 107,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would shake uncontrollably, and the vehicle was hesitant to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact also became aware that the clutch was slipping. Additionally, the vehicle occasionally failed to start with a clicking sound coming from the engine compartment. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was 135,610.
The power steering went out while driving it. She could hardly turn the vehicle to get it to a parking spot. Vehicle needs a new steering assembly. My daughter drives this. So many other concerns about steering issues on this type of vehicle.
Unable to control vehicle in light rain conditions. Steering took me straight off the highway into a steel wire fence. Totalled the car with massive front end damage. Seat belt did not lock. Knocked window out with head during impact. The ONLY airbag to deploy was the knee airbag, shooting the hard plastic straight into my kneecap.
- Pontiac, IL, USA
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AsI drive down the road my car swerves back and forth hard to control the steering wheel. This has happened several times and gets worse every time. Very scary to drive down the road I took it to a mechanic he said that it was the rack and pinion part on the car. He also said that there was a recall on it in 2014, I have only had this car since 2018 so I don't know if it was fixed in the recall. This car is very dangerous to drive. The traction light came on and has not gone off since, also a message comes up that Hillside assist start not available. Would like to have this problem fixed if it a recall. I don't feel safe traveling in it.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the -??Power Steering Failure" message was displayed, and the steering wheel was very difficult to turn in either direction. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 147,000.
POWER STEERING ASSIST, FAILURE: ENGINE FAILURE TO START: POWER BRAKE ASSIST, FAILURE: TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE, FAILURE: CLUTCH FAILURE AND SHIFT ROUGHNESS:. CAR UNUSEABLE FOR THREE YEARS WITHOUT BECAUSE OF PARTS INAVAILABILITY: This type even happened mutiple times because of the transmission control module failure. The first sign of problems was shuddring and rough shifting beginning with about 30,000 miles on the vehicle Multiple trips to the Ford Dealerships resulted in Unsatisfactory action by Ford Motor company to repair the problem The result was safety problems like stalling and losing power steering and brake assist in traffic. It displayed multiple system failure warnings when it failed, Steering asist, Brake assist, ABS, transmission position light was in park while driving. We tried to get repairs done but they just kicked it down the road till we fought with the car to get 160,000 miles out of it because there was no other choice and they denied there was a problem. It was completely unserviceable beginning on the shown date because the clutch control and transmission control module have been faulty, It has started a few times but will not shift properly and the clutch is faulty because of the control module being bad. We paid to have the control module replaced when it became available, but the vehicle is not servicable because the clutch and flywheel are damaged from the module being faulty. This should have been a safety recall as soon as the problem was discovered, but it was hidden and the owners of these vehicles have had to deal with it over the last 10 years. Any of these cars on the road are just as dangerous as this one It.is still at the shop 4 months after they tried to patch it awaiting the determination of whether a clutch recall will fix it or not. These owners of these cars are driving time bombs if they are not able to react to the problems listed in traffic.
The steering assist went out at approximately 27000 miles without any warning. I was heading out to work and the steering locked up and I had to manually turn the wheel but I needed a lot of strength to get it to turn. The vehicle went to a mechanic to be diagnosed, and I was told the steering rack and pinion had failed and needs replacing.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became slightly difficult to turn. The following day after starting the vehicle the steering fault message was displayed and the steering wheel was extremely difficult to turn in either direction. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V514000 (Steering). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure stated in the recall. The failure mileage was 76,000.
The steering gear assembly fails making a grinding noise. Is an internal issue and is not covered by recall 14S18. Arms are intact but steering assembly failed internally. Can feel gritty vibration from concerned part as I turn wheel
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the steering wheel was loose. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000. The VIN was not available.
May 7th, my car a 2014 ford focus se lost all function of power steering. something else may have happened to the steering as well, because the steering wheel will not turn at all, not even one inch. I've driven cars without power steering and u can still drive them, its just hard to do so. the car was dinging while i was driving, when i looked down at the instrument panel "power steering warning service soon" that went away and this one replaced it "steering warning, service NOW!!!! after stopping the car and turning it off, the car could not be driven again. it had to towed from its spot. this malfunction is not in the recalls for my car. there was also a clicking noise in the front drivers side wheel area when i would turn a corner. luckily i was in a parking lot and no one was injured. thankfully there was a parking stall straight head because the power steering had locked up and i was unable to turn the wheel. had i been out on the open road, there could've been an extreme tragedy for my family and children and maybe others as well. i would like for y'all to include my car for the ball barring/steering recall, as well as all 2014 ford focuses. when the made and model are typed in to this website and immediate warning pops up saying to stop driving this vehicle due to the steering.
I was driving from Missouri to Michigan when my power steering failed. I was unable to operate my vehicle and 95 miles from my destination. My car was towed to Preferred Ford in Grand Haven, MI. The problem was diagnosed as a power steering module failure which is unable to be replaced in this model and requires replacement of the entire steering rack. My car gave no indications of any problems and is serviced regularly. My car also has less than 25,000 miles on it.
At 153,000 Miles my car began to slip gears in the third and 5th and the transmission and a week after that started happening I lost complete steering all steering went out the ball joint had sounded rough for a couple of days and then and just went out the car was stuck at the hospital then I was at luckily I wasn't on the main road when it happened I was in a parking lot otherwise that could have been very very bad however my car doesn't fit in your little spectrum of August 8th to whatever it was August 15th of 2014 for manufacturer date for the steering and obviously my car is over $150,000 for the powertrain either thing could cost a collision and the steering thing I could have been majorly hurt but the recall doesn't include my car
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized and the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed nor repaired and remained with the independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Paducah, KY, USA