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:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
34,295 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 electronic steering rack has locked up and the vehicle will not turn with out forcing the steering wheel. This happened luckily as we made a sharp turn into a parking spot and not driving down the highway.
Hello, my car lost the ability to steer while driving at highway speeds and in a turn. It went out like a light bulb would. No warning. I was luckily as no traffic was coming when this happened and the arch of the curve was favorable for this situation. I noticed the warning light came on power steering assist fault. God forbid if I would have had my grandchildren with me and there was traffic!! this has been identified as an issue before with earlier models and a recall was issued but the issue still remains with the newer models as well. Someone will have a terrible accident soon with the possibility of loss of life. Please look into this as it is just a matter of time before something unfortunate happens. Thank you! :-) [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Engine caught fire 2 weeks after service dept at vic bailey Ford replaced. Incident report. Total loss and lawsuit coming if not compensated for property damage and emotional distress. Engine ignited with me in vehicle! service bay released car to me 2 weeks ago. Told them was not fixed for 2 weeks waited on appt. Oil light came on after dropping of daughter to school. Multiple witnesses and videos of fire under car and then blew due to heat source which was all supposedly fixed. I was driving the car and pulled over as soon as oil light came on and I smelled smoke. Turned into nearest parking lot off highway 221, spartanburg SC. Roebuck fire dept responded. Will not driver a vehicle from Ford ever again!
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the steering malfunctioned when attempting to pull out of the driveway. The steering wheel was almost impossible to turn especially when the vehicle was in a stopped position. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified. The contact had just purchased the vehicle three months ago from Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram of winter haven (299 cypress gardens blvd, winter haven, fl 33880, (888) 612-3182). The contact suspected that she was sold the vehicle with the steering condition already present. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 69,000. The VIN was unknown.
- Haines City, FL, USA
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Went to start car in driveway, received a steering assist fault. Turned car off for 30 seconds started car again with no fault, was able to drive car home. Next day tried to start car in driveway, same fault (steering assist fault) vehicle had lost all power steering. If this had happened when my 17 yr old daughter was actually driving, when this fault occurred, it could of caused a very serious accident as my daughter was unable to turn the wheel without the electronic steering assist. Called dealer said I could bring it in a week (their first appt). Called Ford corporate received case # cas21959134. I've researched and seen this to be a long time problem with the electronic steering assist in Ford Focus cars. This vehicle has only 33627 miles on it.
Turned vehicle on, there was no power steering. Turned vehicle off and turned it back on. Still, steering wheel felt like it was locked. Thankfully we weren't driving. With much difficulty, was able to get vehicle down the street to Ford dealership. Ford says complete replacement of power steering unit is required to fix the problem. 35K miles on vehicle.
There are class action suits over the transmission/clutch recalls for the Focus. Ford dealers chapman Ford, horsham and hoffman Ford, harrisburg, pa, are refusing to repair the Ford Focus 2016 clutch that is slipping (about 48,000 miles) with their reason being that the car has a branded title. The car was in a minor accident that only affected the side opposite the transmission, and any dealer can clearly see that all the transmission and surrounding areas are not damaged and are original Ford parts. It was really a small amount of body work on the opposing side. If a clutch 'blows up', the driver can have serious leg damage, and also this is a safety issue and crash possibility. Since the transmission was not affected at all in the branded title, Ford should repair it for free. The transmission/clutch issues are all over the internet and since Ford has quit making the Focus, it is evident that Ford knows they have created the clutch issue. This and the canister purge valve recall are very dangerous.you would not want your daughter driving this car, and it needs repaired this week. Ford needs to take care of the situation they knowingly created. The branded title has nothing to do at all with the transmission issues. Even the dealers have admitted that. Chapman Ford, horsham has diagnosed a slipping clutch. I have paperwork.
Recently when starting my car I received a "steering assistant failure service required warning" I turned my car off and restarted it and it went away. This happened again when I went shopping and came out to my parked car. This time the warning would not go away. I tried disconnecting the battery to disconnect power and it did not work. I was able to drive the car (with no power steering) to a dealership. This appears to be a common problem in some models of Ford cars and believe it should be investigated.
Driving to work all instrument lights came on, RPM and speedometer dropped to 0, milage turned to -----, followed by message steering assist failure, followed by transmission failure service now message, I pulled over to the side of the road. Turned off the engine to see if messages would clear. Would not restart, not in park message came on. I disconnected the battery to try to reset the car, car started and allowed me to shift into park, but would not shift into drive. I turned off the car and disconnected the battery a second time. Started the car put it into drive the car moved all instrument lights except the engine light went off. Drove the car to the dealer. The dealer found the following codes U1013:00:68 & U0101:00:68 replaced the tcm all codes were cleared. They road tested it to verify it was fine. A week later this all happened again, except I was stopped. I turned off the car, it would not start a new message ignition failure came on. I had to have the car towed to the dealer where it has been for 2 days. No update as to what is wrong.
Was driving home lost power steering.. pulled in my driveway thank god...steering wheel got seized..called Ford they would not help only to say there was no recall..my car is a 2016 Ford Focus S..the car is almost 2 years old should not if happened
I drove the car the morning of the incident, no problems occurred. I went to a gas station later in the day. When I came back out and started the vehicle it said steering assist fault service required. Steering wheel locked up.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. While operating the vehicle, the "steering fault" message suddenly displayed and the driver noticed a slight difference in the steering ability. After parking, turning off the engine, and restarting the vehicle, the "steering failure" message displayed and the steering wheel could not be moved. The vehicle was towed to wichita falls Ford (5401 kell blvd, West wichita falls, tx) where it was diagnosed that the steering rack was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,000.
We were driving appx 57 mph on a two lane highway, when an information warming came on saying steering assist fault service required and my boyfriend said all of a sudden the steering got extremely hard. He managed to steer it home and we read the manual about it, then tried to restart the car about an hour later and it was ok at first then about w minutes later it happened again. So we had it towed in. The dealership said the battery had to be charged because it was low.
The cars steering has on 3 occasions in 2 months lost steering! the steering wheel shudders and locks up and we lose control on a turn! this has happened at 30 miles per hour and at 5 miles. It's been to Ford 4 times the transmission clutch changed twice a new motor mount but they keep stating if there is no code and it doesn't happen in front of them there isn't anything to fix. I also notified Ford Motor Company and received a case number but they denied the claim!
When driving this vehicle, the power steering fails without warning. The power steering light on the dashboard illuminates and beeps S (driver assist failure take in immediate for service). The car is is still moving. The engine is running. The steering wheel is tight and hard to turn. The first time this happen, I was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green I put my emergency flashers on and proceed with caution to the parking lot. When I restarted the vehicle the power steering was working. The second time the power steering failed, I was in the center lane. Driving 35 to 40 mph. Traffic was heavy and moving at a steady pace. The dash board light came on and the system beeped. ( driver assist failure take in immediate for service) I was not at a red light this time. I turned on my emergency flashers and reduced my speed. After the vehicle was stopped. I waited about 30 seconds and restarted the vehicle. I drove immediately to dealership and the car is in for service. My first car payment is not due. This is a pre owned certified Ford Focus 2016. I would like for Ford to repurchase this car.
"takata recall" there is a rattling noise while driving, along with vibration and transmission shudder in second gear. The car feels like it wants to give out. There is also a grinding noise while breaking and turning. All of the concerns mentioned are while driving regardless of city street or highway. The rattling noise will sometimes occur while the car is off and parked, especially right after shutting the car off.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Willington, CT, USA