CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2016 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:
8 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
43,947 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 started failing in 2020 and part of it was repaired on a recall and part we had to pay out of pocket. The entire steering rack failed in July of 2022 requiring replacement. Reports suggest this is a known issue yet Ford offered nothing. Now the transmission is slipping and failing again less than two years since being repaired by Ford. This is a critical safety issue and they can't diagnose the car for 4-6 weeks and are offering no rental assistance for a known factory defect. These cars are dangerous and the fact that Ford won't do anything to jump on the problem when it happens means more liability for the drivers of these vehicles.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the RPM started fluctuating and the vehicle started shuddering. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road before continuing to drive to his destination while continuing to experience the failure. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The dealer picked up the vehicle at his place of employment. The vehicle was diagnosed with needing the clutch pack to be replaced and the TCM updated. The vehicle was repaired but experienced failure for a second time on January 15, 2023, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the clutch pack to be replaced again. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shuddering. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 89,000.
Both servos on the dps6 dual clutch transmission have failed at 2 different times causing the transmission to give an in dash transmission overheating message and stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road. This happened the 6 year mark and 7 year mark after the standard 5 year warranty. The vehicle has 26k miles and is not used stressfully. This issue occurred on January 24 2021 and Dec 22 2022. Different servo affected each time. Cost for consumer repair $600 each. Same issue was found in same year model focus vehicles but my VIN was apparently not included.
- Ray City, GA, USA
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The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal whining sound while shifting into gear. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer, where the transmission was replaced; however, the failure reoccurred while driving. The transmission was replaced a second time; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that he had to pay out-of-pocket for the repair because the vehicle was no longer under warranty. The failure mileage was 10,000.
The contact called on behalf of her husband who owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 10-15 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. Additionally, the transmission was slipping while driving. The check engine warning light and the battery warning light were illuminated. Additionally, the message -??Transmission Overheating-?? was displayed. The contact was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring increasingly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the Transmission Control Module (TCM) and the transmission clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was undrivable. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V845000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The manufacturer also referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.
I feel vibrations when I accelerate. Very severe when the car is warm. I feel unsafe if I drive it (not accelerating correctly). I brought the car to a repair shop. They told me that this problem is well known by Ford for my car. Ford did receive several claims and lawsuits regarding this issue. The repair shop told me the cluck could cause a fire too. Another repair shop asked me $2,623.78 to repair the car on 11/11/2022.
I believe the power train and some component with the fuel system. Yes it is available for inspection. The car shut off in the middle of traffic. This has happened multiple times. It has not been confirmed by a dealership or service center. The vehicle has been inspected. No warning lamps or messages.
The vehicle began to slip gears after only accruing a little more than 70,000 miles. I will slightly accelerate using the foot pedal, and the gear will jump from 1 to 4/5 quickly, causing a severe jerking motion in the vehicle. The vehicle also jerks when decelerating. This has put me in several dangerous situations, such as when I enter a new roadway and need to accelerate to meet the rate of oncoming traffic. This is also an issue when slowing to stops, as sometimes the gear will jump to a HIGHER number as i take my foot off the pedal. I have an automatic transmission I am using. The check engine light has come on, but only after the issue began. I have been told by an auto service center that this is a transmission-related issue.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that upon turning the key in the ignition switch, she then needed to hold the key into position for a longer period in order to start the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle would hesitate to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that upon attempting to reverse, the vehicle failed to respond. The message "Transmission Overheating" was displayed. The contact then parked the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed and the failure was associated with Ford Technical Service Bulletin Number: 20B23 (Replacement of Clutch Actuator Motors). The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the clutch shuddered. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the clutch and transmission seals needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000. The contact stated that the transmission is known to be faulty and Ford has extended warranties on them but for other model years of the same model. The shuddering problem happens in first gear and is particularly dangerous when trying to operate the vehicle among traffic. The TCM module was replaced to try to remedy to the issue but it has not worked.
Vehicle shudders and shakes due to transmission slipping at many speeds. Slow is the worst and even at a speed of 70 MPH the vehicle will shake and shudder from transmission.
I purchased a 2016 Ford Focus in September of this year from a used car dealer. I drove the car back and forth to work approximately 10 miles each way, per day. I took a day off before Thanksgiving and drove my vehicle longer than usual. Holiday traffic was bad and there was a lot of stop and go traffic, my car sputtered and shook and stalled on a busy street. Luckily, I was close to my house and was able to pull over. Again, a few days ago I drove for about an hour and the car again sputtered when moving from a complete stop. I went online and googled "Ford Focus transmission issues" and saw that there has been a lawsuit and settlement. I called Ford and was told that it was not under recall and that I would have to take the car I just purchased, to be fixed and I would have to pay for it. Please recall these transmissions before someone gets killed.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle was shuddering. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that a clutch replacement was needed. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer who replaced the clutch but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed her a clutch replacement was needed and the repairs were not covered. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed her that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic who informed her that the failure was due to the clutch. The contact called the manufacturer who informed her that the repairs were not covered and referred her to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle made chugging sounds and was jerking. Additionally, while accelerating, the vehicle took an excessive amount of time before reaching the desired speed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The failure had increased in frequency. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the clutch pad needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 18V845000 (Power Train) nor 18V169000 (Power Train). The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 18,600.
Driving up a hill car started rolling backwards. Warning light came on saying transmission fault service now. Still sitting in my driveway because I can not find a transmission to replace it.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle began to shake. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to her place of employment. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the clutch to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 18V845000 (Power Train) and 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle independently shifted to another gear or would go into neutral. The vehicle also revved abnormally without the vehicle responded or accelerating as intended. The contact stated that the check engine and a transmission overheating warnings were illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the clutches needed to be replaced and that the failure was caused by wear and tear. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train). The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Yuma, AZ, USA