CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2015 Ford Focus & its "Powershift" transmission has a defect trend where the car shudders when accelerating, especially when starting uphill.
Most owners have reported their Ford Focus remains driveable while the vehicle is still at low mileage, but the shuddering is annoying & unpleasant & may reduce the resale value of the vehicle.
However, owners of higher-mileage vehicles from earlier 3rd generation Focus model years report transmission failure & a host of other major & expensive transmission-related problems. Potential buyers beware.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
38,441 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 transmission has been repaired only to have worse problems surface. Overnight, I lost my Reverse and a week later the Drive function stopped working. It placed me in a dangerous situation. I was at a gas station, suddenly no Reverse. I was wedged between cars. I had to push it backwards to give room for the car in front. I took it to Ford and they wanted $3000 for a clutch, they made me pay $210 diagnosis fee at Gene Butman Ford. I was angry. I went to a part store, the part was $245!!! I told Ford this car has been in for recalls with transmission and evaporative system. This is at least the third time for the transmission. It's a 2015, only 115,000 miles on it and it already is a piece of junk. I'm never buying a Ford again. The dealership folk were rude and offered nothing even when I mentioned a recall on the transmission.
On August 14th at approximately 2 pm my Ford Focus came to a complete stall at the intersection of Seymour Hwy and Brookes Ave in Wichita Falls, Texas. After several failed attempts to restart the vehicle it was pushed into a saver location and towed by Mike's Towing in WF to Quality Lube on Pearlie Drive also in WF. Fuel gauge was sitting at a little over 1/4 tank and panel was reading 78 miles to empty. I ran the VIN and pulled up a recall from 10/22/2018 that Ford neglected to contact me the owner of. The mechanic at Quality Lube would not touch it because of the recall. On August 15th I put gas in and the vehicle started right up, I drove the vehicle from Quality Lube straight to Pruitt Ford (location of purchase) located in Burkburnett, Texas. Left the vehicle and my mother called the next day and explained the problem and dangers improper vacuum through the fuel tank could cause and recall was pulled up. Pruitt Ford failed to run diagnostic to insure their fix actually fixed the issues, stating that they performed the recall and the check engine light was no longer on so they were done on their end. Picked up the vehicle from Pruitt Ford midafternoon on August 18th. August 24th the Check Engine Light came back on, Pruitt Ford was called and stated I would be responsible for $135 to run a diagnostic. I had the code pulled up and it stated P1450 Unable to Bleed Up Fuel Tank Vacuum. Pruitt Ford failed to repair the vehicle to a safe condition. On the 25th the vehicle was taken back to them after being supplied a case number to get the vehicle properly repaired through Ford Motor. CAS-38298302-J2R8C6 This morning I get a call from Pruitt Ford stating that Ford Motor will not honor the recall due to the mileages on the vehicle. This is a 2015 with 65,844 miles on it, there is no mileage limit on a recall and recalls have no expiration date. Ford Motor states it is not a warranty problem therefore the dealership is responsible recall repairs.
Car turns off after filling with gas. Does not start properly after refilling tank. If I stop sometimes even in traffic it-??ll automatically turn off.
Vehicle stalls & shuts off during use with zero warning, both while in park and while car is running and stopped with foot on brake at a stoplight, and also seems sluggish and straining during active driving as if it wants to stall and shut down. When car stalls, a warning displays (System Start Fault) when attempt is made to restart vehicle and the vehicle WILL NOT restart for anywhere between 45 minutes to 4 hours (so far). The vehicle will then go through varied reactions to attempts to restart when ignition key is turned... ranging from the dashboard warning of System Start Fault with no success at restart to absolutely NO response of dashboard or other lights/warnings/electrical (completely dead). When this stall/complete shut down occurs, it also becomes locked in whatever gear it was in (Park or Drive) when the stall & immediate shutdown occurs and the gearshift locks in place and you're unable to shift into park or neutral as needed for tow or to move the vehicle off the roadway without the tow driver or other person dismantling the area covering the gearshift to access the hidden pin to shift into neutral to move the vehicle from the roadway. After the first complete shutdown during use occurred, it was taken to a local Ford dealership who was "unable to find the cause" at that time. Since that time, this complete shutdown while in use has occurred another four times within the 3 months following, resulting in either towing the vehicle or waiting 1-4 hours where the vehicle stalls/dies (parking lot, stoplight, etc) until the vehicle decides to restart. I have become terrified of driving this only means of transportation as I don't know when or where this vehicle is going to shut down without warning and fear I will be struck and killed by another vehicle or someone else killed when it shuts down again on the active roadway.
- Las Vegas, NV, USA
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I had a ford certified tech work on my Ford Focus and after my recalls were supposedly repaired my car is doing worse than ever, if I stop on a hill I will sometimes roll backwards due to apparent engagement issue, and after a new tcm to fix that my car now displays -??transmission overheating stop safely-?? after a few miles on the highway. it shifts really rough and I haven-??t ran the risk of stopping on a hill. Not what I would expect coming from a family who has over 100 years put into working at ford motor company.
after fueling the 2015 ford focus.Car is very hard to start and when it does start engine runs rough spits and sputters.Check engine light is on had diagnostic done, code was evap problem. was told problem was canister purge valve. no recall that i know of on this issue. this is very concerning because my wife drives this car hauls our grand kid and very elderly mother this should be a recall. THIS IS ALSO A VERY SERIOUS SAFTY ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you.This is not the first time this has happened. fifth to sixth times. ford needs to man up on this issue.
I received a P1450 Code on my Ford Focus ST Accompanied with a CEL, after researching there seems to be a issue with the purge valve and not displaying gas levels correctly. It is available for inspection, I am concerned regarding this issue because I want my fuel levels to display correctly, and if I stall on the road I want to be able to reactivate my car without any issues. The issue is reported on a engine code recording device. There was a Check Engine Light.
My car-??s check engine light came on, then the whole car suddenly shut off while I was driving down the highway. After getting it restarted, I filled it with gas and after beginning to drive it, the car shut off again. I have run a code on the check engine light and it stated that the EVAP hose needed to be replaced. I called the dealership and they said that it was likely the CVP as this caused the same issue and multiple vehicles were having to have them replaced.
Vehicle looses all power while driving on freeway. Gas guage inaccurate, after filling gas and driving 150 miles it is out of gas without warning and will loose power under any operating condition. This has happened numerous times.
Check engine light went on 2 minutes later a notification came on dash saying transmission hot safety pull over for 5 mins. Sat there for an hour scared to drive it cause I didn't want to make worse. When I went to drive home it struggles shifting into 1st and not even 3 mins after it shakes into 2nd gear it notifies me that transmission is hot to pull over. I will not drive it afraid it could catch fire and won't shift Car in a shopping plaza waiting to tow to house. Called 2 shops in Canton Ohio and they both said not a shop in town would touch the dual clutch transmission to take it to ford.
My 2015 ford focus has continually stopped in traffic causing a safety risk to other drivers and myself. I've taken it in for recalls and repairs but the problem still exists. The front rail hp switch was replaced and the hp fuel pump was replaced too. I'm afraid for people and my life. I have googled the problem and I see thousands of people have the same problem and can't get it fixed without dumping thousands of dollars into it. This has gone too far. I need help. Please. I'm old and not rich.
The engine on the car stalled shortly after the vehicle purchase from a local dealer (within less than two weeks), The dealer claimed that he never had a such issue, I had to get the car towed to a local Ford dealership then they found out the issue was the purge valve sticking causing negative pressure in the gas tank, so they ended up replacing the purge valve and updated the PCM which should have been addressed by the Safety Recall 18S32 & Safety Recall 19S22. What makes me confused is that when I did VIN lookup, my car was not affected, however the issue I had seems to be the exact match of those two recalls I mentioned. I nearly paid $800 after tax and this seems quite upsetting after I found out Ford had to recall nearly 1.5M cars for the same issues which excluded my vehicle. Is there anyway appeal this issue? I highly believe that Ford is responsible for those two issues I had to pay for. I attached the dealer invoice that explained what they did to fix the car.
My car has a check engine light with code P1450. This problem occurred in 2019 and was addressed by reprogramming the PCM. In 2021 I got the same code and now the purge valve is stuck open. I noticed that after adding fuel the car had trouble starting up until I gave it a little extra gas. I was advised not to drive the vehicle as it may stall, suddenly go into limp mode, or the fuel tank may collapse. I would like to note that all other focuses of this generation have received a recall on the purge valve, but excluding my engine the 1.0. a lot of digging into forums has shown me that many 1.0 owners have had this problem with their Focus. Quite shady to recall only some of the focuses when it seems that it's a common problem with all engine variations.
Engine stalls while driving it and won't start back without warning it use after putting gas in it I seen where they are recall 2012-2018 Ford Focus cpv but when I put the VIN in it doesn't show up but my is doin the same thing
Car will not start after gas is put into the car. Takes a few times to start it back up and will stall if not thrown into drive real quick and speed off. RPM's will constantly run up. Takes a lot of power to pick up speed or go up a hill.
I started through a busy intersection on a green light. The car lost power stealing in the intersection. I blocked traffic for several minutes before I could get assistance to move the car out of the way. No one hit my car but it was a dangerous situation.
This car cut off while driving it has been taken to the Ford place in covington Georgia the problem is still here almost cost me my life cut while entering into traffic it happen often I am paying on this car my job close do to covid I need this car to run better so I can work
Driving engine will stall and engine won't start if you get gas. Purge valve is not working correctly and there isn't a recall currently on this car but on others 2012-2018 focuses.
While driving my car or even allowing my car to idle it starts shaking and will shut off. Once it is off it is very hard to get and keep it started. Once I do get it started I have to rev the engine between 3K and 4K RPM just to get it to stop doing this. I first thought it was only when putting fuel in or idling but it is happening all the time. I used injector cleaner and octane booster to try to help but it is not working. It is throwing a fuel issue when put on the diagnostic. It happens to the point where I cannot safely drive my car. The dealership stated it is probably the canister purge valve but my VIN is not listed although if falls within the year of the recall.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Carbondale, PA, USA