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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:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
31,108 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.

2016 Ford Focus fuel system problems

fuel system problem

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2016 Ford Focus Owner Comments (Page 4 of 8)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #83

Oct 272020

Focus

  • 90,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My car continually shuts off while driving, Ford acknowledges the recall but refuses to provide any assistance claiming the part isn't ready. The car will turn off in the middle of a highway, or at a light with no warning. Ford is telling us that they can't help us but it isn't safe to drive our car and nobody has helped us. This started in August and continues to nearly daily

- Voorheesville, NY, USA

problem #82

Oct 092020

Focus

  • 35,000 miles
The car is jumping a lot.

- Hollywood, FM, USA

problem #81

Apr 042019

Focus

  • 62,000 miles
Car will not start after fueling. Car shakes and shutters and takes multiple cranking attempts to start car. This only happens after fueling. It also does not matter whether the tank is almost empty, half-way full, or 3/4 full. The same thing occurs everytime. This started happening after the dealership updated my software per the recall. Contacted the dealership and they wanted to charge me $100 just to diagnose a problem that started after they updated my software.

- Sulphur Springs, TX, USA

problem #80

Oct 072020

Focus

  • 81,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I took my vehicle to Ford for a recall on the canister purge valve in the fuel system. They previously fixed it on April 16, 2019. My fuel tank imploded and my car was stalling out and eventually would not start. Now it's out again and my car is stalling out while driving, having issues with starting and my check engine light is on. This has all happened on both city street at lights and highways. Mainly when I am stopped at a stop light it will rev up by itself and then stall out when I start accelerating. I've almost been rear-ended due to this issue. I was told there was no such recall on my vehicle for this matter and when I tried to show them the document I have for the recall they still deemed it incorrect. They refused to fix my car because of it previously being fixed and sent me on my way. I have had many issues with the car resulting in it breaking down multiple times due to recalls. The transmission itself has been replaced twice and the cpv once and now it needs replaced again. I called Ford corporate and they would not do anything for me, only kept repeating that it's a one time fix. Ford simply put a band-aid on the issue rather than solving the issue.

- Overland Park, KS, USA

problem #79

Sep 282020

Focus

  • 97,700 miles
It is hard to start after refueling. Starter keeps trying but unless you press the gas pedal, it will not starts. Then it sputters when it starts. It has also sputter a couple of times when running (but it never stalled)

- Fishers, IN, USA

problem #78

Sep 042020

Focus

  • 49,925 miles
Was driving on city street and the check engine light came on and immediately the car started to shake and vibrate, was making a clicking sound, RPM's we're going up and down and the car didn't want to move. Was able to get it off the road and even in park the RPM's kept going up and down and car was shaking and vibrating still

- Marmet, WV, USA

problem #77

Oct 292018

Focus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I bought a used 2016 Ford Focus 4dr SE at autocity el cajon on May 21, 2018 with odo: 45,141 and was under the manufacturer's warranty upon purchase for the price of $15,164.23. October 29, 2018- I received a mass email reminder from auto city to check if there are any known recalls under my car. December 2018- I received a recall notice from Ford via snail mail and called a Ford dealer to submit a ticket. I was told that the parts were not available to fix the recall and will be notified once available. No response back regarding the issue till this day. Safety recall notice 18S32/ NHTSA recall 18V-735 was advised and complied with always leaving my fuel level to 1/2 tank of gas until the recall gets resolved. August 2019- received recall notice via snail mail. Same issue. Same procedures: Called Ford dealer, left a ticket/request, no resolution. August 10, 2019-went to get oil change and alignment. Started to notice jerking while driving, acceleration issue, car start troubles and engine light turning on/off. December 2019-got an initial check from North park auto repair due to engine light on. Dtc description: P219A- air/fuel ratio imbalance -I was referred to autocity to get it fix under warranty December 9, 2019- I reached out to autocity via email and telling them my concerns about the engine light and that I have not been using my car for 2 weeks. December 19, 2019- I got an appointment with autocity and got a resolution under their warranty: Portfolio service warranty which left me to pay $100 copay. Receipt shows the fault code: P1294 the engine light issue was fixed, however, I am still experiencing jerking, acceleration lag and trouble starting while using the car till this day.

- North Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #76

Aug 162020

Focus

  • 80,500 miles
Car engine completely stalled while stationary on a street at a red light, the engine would crank and the car shook aggressively but would not start. I was stranded a busy road until someone could push my vehicle out of the way of traffic while in neutral. Eventually after several tries and called tow, the car did start up after about 20 minutes of stalled time. When car started, oil and engine lights were lit up on dash. The fuel level was at 88 miles to empty. When car was brought to dealership, dealer evaluated the vehicle and diagnosed that the freeze frame data showed no fuel pressure at start. They suspected fuel pump failure, there was tank deformation and the strap retainer popped off showing tank flex. Fuel tank was replaced, and fuel pump and all related hardware, evap canister, evap purge valve. Invoice expenses totaled to $1070.67. Called Ford directly to file complaint regarding safety recall 18S32 and was told because the vehicle was inspected in 2019 for these symptoms that it was not covered under recall 18S32. Recall states: "the engine may stall due to a stuck canister purge valve (cpv) within the fuel vapor system. A stuck cpv can lead to excessive vacuum in the fuel vapor system, causing the plastic fuel tank to deform, resulting in an inaccurate or erratic fuel gauge indication, inaccurate distance to empty (dte), and/or other drivability concerns. The vehicle may also exhibit an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #75

Aug 012020

Focus

  • 103,000 miles
My gas tank is starting to implode

- Georgetown, TX, USA

problem #74

May 182020

Focus

  • 57,000 miles
During early lockdown for pandemic I allowed a local Ford dealership to valet service my car for oil change, inspection, etc as well as a fuel tank recall 18S32. Car was showing no recall symptoms before the service but was returned to me in very poor condition. Engine seems to vapor lock at the most inopportune times with no power to accelerate into traffic and wants to stall out, then it catches its breathe and wants to take off out from under me. I'm a 62 yr old woman who trusted a local dealership and now I have a car that is extremely unsafe to drive. The service writer could care less and wants to claim that I now need a new transmission. Just did a shoddy job and want more money from me. I'm so disappointed.

- Dallas, TX, USA

problem #73

Jun 242020

Focus 4-cyl

  • 74,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My check engine light came on and I took it to a local mechanic. The codes were P1450 and PO456 which are associated with the safety recall of the canister purge valve. The fuel tank is also deformed. My cars VIN is not associated with the recall so they will not cover it and I am expected to cover it. My car also has vibration at idle and has clutch shudder over 250 RPM. Ford fixed my transmission module in 2018 with a previous recall after it stalled several times. Now I am having issues again. The service advisor said they updated the transmission module in 2018 but the customer care agent tried to tell me they replaced the parts entirely in 2018 and not just updated. I notified her of the service advisors statement and then she went back to saying my VIN wasn't part of an open recall. My vehicle is at 74,563 miles and has already had several major issues regarding transmission and canister purge valve.

- Fountain Hills, AZ, USA

problem #72

Jun 232020

Focus 3-cyl

  • 40,257 miles
This is the second time this car gets a P0299 failure. I was on the freeway, trying to speed up, when the engine revved up quickly, but did not change gear. Instead, the car started slowing down. After a few seconds, the car started speeding up at a sluggish rate. The car now has a wheezing noise when in operation as it accelerates.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #71

May 132020

Focus 4-cyl

  • miles
I just recently bought a car and it has been stalling while driving and having difficulty starting/revving itself up after I fill the gas tank. I have taken it to a shop to get a diagnosis and they said that it might have been the recall for the gas tank. Well, I looked up to see if my car had already gotten fix for the recall and it said that it did. So it might have happened again, and I'm not quite sure what to do. It happens every so often. As the engine light also comes on and off. When the light is off, the car is perfectly fine, but when it's on, it tries to stall.

- Fort Wayne, IN, USA

problem #70

Apr 202020

Focus

  • 88,504 miles
The purge canister valve had a safety recall last year, which the dealership stated they performed and marked the recall as completed. However, the part was never replaced, and is in fact defective. When filling the car with gas, it does not want to start and stalls out multiple times. When it does start, it runs rough for about ten minutes. The dealership is refusing to fix the issue without charging me, despite the fact they never replaced the part. They also refuse to repair the transmission shudder that is a known issue because it's no longer under warranty, even though they said that Ford was covering that issue up to 100,000 miles.

- Hickory, NC, USA

problem #69

Jun 042019

Focus

  • 81,000 miles
Car jerking after fueling gas, the shuts off. Have trouble restarting. Brakes went out while I was driving almost crashed into someone. Ecoboost worked very few times

- Livingston, TX, USA

problem #68

Dec 152019

Focus

  • 40,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving, the check engine warning light illuminated and remained illuminated. Additionally, after refueling the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact indicated that the vehicle stalled several times before starting to operate as intended. The vehicle was taken to riser Ford Lincoln located at (4201 central ave, hot springs ar) where the power train control module was reprogrammed under the NHTSA campaign number 18V735000 (fuel system, gasoline) however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,000.

- Hot Springs, AR, USA

problem #67

Feb 082020

Focus

  • 97,000 miles
Has recall for fuel pump deformation. And also transmission fault service soon light. Shifts weirdly and when coming to a stop the transmission shutters and brakes abruptly.

- Riverside, CA, USA

problem #66

Feb 012020

Focus

  • miles
Same issue with fuel tank deformation. October 2018 was the recall. About 1 year ago greenway Ford had the car for the whole day and stated they fixed it but now I received a letter stating the recall fixing was incomplete and the recall states it is increased risk for a crash due to stalling of the engine. September 2017 shifting clutch failed and was not informed August 7 2017 transmission shuttering now there is a fuel tank deformation the car shakes alot

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #65

Feb 112020

Focus

  • 1 miles
Car stalled multiple times 3 days in a row

- Syracuse, NY, USA

problem #64

Jan 242020

Focus

  • 39,000 miles
Car check engine light came on and car stalled when approaching a stop light on city road. Took car to mechanic who ran diagnostic and found code P1450 stating unable to bleed up fuel tank vacuum which is related to PCM memory. Stated that this is a known issue with this make and model. Was told PCM needed to be reprogrammed to latest calibration using ids release $99.05 or higher. We feel that this is a known safety issue that should require a fix by Ford

- Myrtle Beach, SC, USA

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