I bought this car used with 10,000 miles on it. It's a beautiful car with all the bells and whistles. Almost immediately I started to feel a shudder and slipping in the transmission. The local dealership gave a me a hard time fixing it. They replaced the clutch assembly and the car rode ok for a few months until it happened again. Luckily it was covered under the warranty.

The same problem has been "fixed" 4 times and I had to change dealerships because of how horrible the first one was. Now I have 84,000 miles on the car and it is happening again. It doesn't happen consistently so if the dealership tests it it might not happen. At 100,000 miles my drive train warranty expires. I can't trade the car in because no one wants it and Ford didn't make it a recall so I'm stuck with it. I will say that I will NEVER buy another Ford after all of this.

I have had this car for less than 2 weeks now and I am already ready to drown it in the ocean. The transmission hesitates like crazy off the line or in first gear in general. I did a vin search and mine is unaffected but there is obviously a problem with it. Will never own a Ford again. Biggest pos to hit the road.

Update from Nov 2, 2023: I bought this car after having heard from many people that it was a bad idea. At the time I had at least 3 friends that had a Ford Focus between the years of 2012 and 2016 and they all said they experienced extreme problems with the transmission. I ignored them and bought the car anyway because it had low miles for the year and came with an extended warranty. I honestly regret not listening. My car experienced the same problems everybody else complained about and when I took it to the dealer they told me nothing was wrong with it and gaslit me into thinking I was just being too sensitive. They said it was operating normally, but there is nothing normal about a transmission that hesitates and shudders at 43,000 miles unless it is failing or fatally flawed. Both of which are true. I ended up selling it after 3 months because I did not trust Ford or the dealership to deal with the problem correctly. Their way of "fixing the problem" is offering an extended warranty. That is completely useless if they are just going to replace the same flawed parts with more of them. DO NOT GET ONE.

I've always bought older cheap used cars and decided I'd get myself something new and reliable. I wish I would've done more research because this car is crap.

I bought it the beginning of December 2017, I even asked the salesman if there were any issues with the transmission and he said absolutely not. -_- Well he lied. I didn't realize at the time what the warning signs were of the clutch going out but now that i've read around it all makes sense. When i was test driving i mentioned something about mild shutters and the gears shifting oddly. I asked the sales rep if that was an issue and he said no that's just how these cars run so i figured he wouldn't lie about these things... ha! also there was almost like an electrical burning smell but against my better judgement brushed it off thinking it was something outside. However he never told me the vehicle had recently been recalled for the clutch. (which is what needs replaced) so now i don't even know if it will be covered.

Anyways fast forward to this lovely day 2/20/2018. I've finally gotten my car into the shop as of yesterday. I took it in 2600 miles over my factory warranty. Ford refuses to pay for anything because it's over the mileage, even though services told me before I brought it in that it will be done free of charge due to the recall of the clutch. I got a call from the dealer telling me that it for some strange reason isn't covered now and there is no recall? sketchy! So now I'm not 100% what to do.

I'll be calling lawyers in the morning because I feel this car was sold to me quickly, because I did get one heck of a deal, to get it off the lot. Anybody got any info they can lend me that'd be great.

Bought this car used with about 25k miles on it. No problem for the first month, but then started to notice a shudder when starting from a stop. Felt like the wheels were slipping on wet road but pavement was dry. Searched online for other complaints and found many.

Took the car in for service and they said they updated the software. This seemed to resolve the issue for about a month but the problem came back. Now, in addition to the shudder when starting from a stop, the transmission is slipping out of gear and into neutral while underway. I will be taking the car back in for more service shortly.

Aside from this transmission issue I love the car. I just hope they can find a permanent fix for this.

Just a few weeks after purchasing this car BRAND NEW I had to take it to the shop. From a complete stop it would shudder so bad that it hardly moved. They couldn't find anything wrong with it (of course), however, it stopped doing it. I think they did a flash on it and didn't want to report it. The shuddering and slipping began again. Then, it started slipping into neutral by itself and would not accelerate. This happened twice....on the interstate. Then, when I would put it in reverse it would take a few seconds to catch. Took it back to the shop with 12K on it it and they had to replace the TCM (Transmission Control Module). I've bought, sold and traded used vehicles for years and FINALLY decided to buy a brand new one and it gives me issues..... go figure. I love my Focus, it's fun to drive and rides great. Mine is fully loaded and I love the features.... but I really feel like it's way too new to be giving me these issues.

I traded my 2015 Escape for better fuel economy and to have an efficient car to travel in my retirement. Instead I got a 2016 Focus that sounds and performs like an old car! The transmission hesitates while trying to get on interstates, it makes a grinding noise when I take off, and jerks when turning a corner.

I am very disappointed in my purchase with this ford. I have owned a pinto, mustang, 2 station wagons, 2 thunderbirds, bronco, pick up truck, 2014 focus, 2015 Escape and now this 2016 focus. Everyone of them except the Bronco were purchased new. But even the used Bronco I bought for my daughter performed well. I want Ford to take this crappy car back and refund the money still owed!

I took it to a transmission expert and he said to get rid of it! The transmission are not safe.

The service department keeps telling me that Ford will not fix the problem. When I call customer service I get people answering outside the Us.. I thought I was buying a US car!