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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.

2.7

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
53,000 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 transmission problems

transmission problem

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2016 Ford Focus Owner Comments

problem #2

Jan 022024

Focus

  • miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was slipping. Additionally, the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of transmission fluid. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed clutch kit. The contact was informed that the clutch kit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Durham, NC, USA

problem #1

Jun 252022

Focus

  • 106,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the transmission warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact pulled over and waited until the vehicle cooled down. The contact stated that when she restarted the vehicle, the vehicle would not accelerate as needed. The contact stated that after several minutes, the vehicle started to operate as designed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that they could not assist because the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was 106,000.

- Midwest City, OK, USA

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