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.
Car shudders violently when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear often leading to control issues. It sometimes cant make up its mind whether it wants to downshift or not so it makes it hard merging onto a highway because I cant get up to speed. When is finally does decide what gear it wants to go in it will jerk forward even in stop and go traffic so I have to constantly switch between braking and giving it gas to avoid hitting the car in front of me. The car only has 34000 miles and I bought it new and the dealership won't take it back. This car is a safety risk and an accident waiting to happen. Took it to the dealership and they could recreate the problem according to them.
Transmission shudder. When the transmission warms up the car shudders upon acceleration and shifting into first, second, and occasionally third gear. This generally occurs during medium to higher rates of acceleration. The shudder is harder to identify or nonexistent when accelerating at a very low pace.
While accelerating at any pace, the vehicle will often shutter, shift very late, or fail to shift at all. When slowing down, during down-shift from the automatic dct, it makes sort of a clanking sound.
Making a right turn from a stop and switching from first to second gear, the car did not accelerate until after a few seconds. Those seconds were crucial as another car was approaching from behind traveling up to speed.
This 2017 Ford Focus is having the same transmission issues being described by other Ford owners from earlier model years. Car shutters and vibrates, often very heavily and makes light grinding noise when shifting. Current workaround is to accelerate very slow or very fast which isn't always a safe option. Please include the 2017 Focus in your investigation. Thank you.
- Grand Rapids, MI, USA
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Vehicle transmission stalls while driving, to include in intersections. My daughter drives this car, we have had it in for service which they said they fixed. Within 2 days, it was doing the same problem. We are not at all pleased with Ford for even selling us this vehicle knowing it has had transmission problems for several years!
When in motion, traveling forward in drive. The car will behave as if it has shifted into neutral -- not responding to pressure on the accelerator and revving up to as many as 6000 RPM. The car will behave this way even in cruise-control mode. When at last the car begins responding to accelerator pressure, it lurches abruptly. In addition, when making a turn from a stop (e.g., a left-hand turn from a light that has just turned green), the car will not begin moving with any consistency according to acceleration; often, it revs either shortly after moving or without any movement.
Within months after buying the car (in Oct 2017) I noticed it hesitates and shutters at low speeds when driving through city limits accompanied with a gargling sounds. It jerks hard during acceleration on the highway are noticeable because there is prominent hesitation. I took it to a Ford dealership and was told it was the clutch and fixed the issue this was Sept 2018. The car drove well for a few months and then it began to shutter again. Yet again, I've taken the car to Ford to have this replace the clutch in July 2019. This should not be an issue for a car that was brand new. At what point does this become an issue of accountability... when injury occurs.
The vehicle has the same transmission shudder issue as many others have complained about. Shifting from 1st to 2nd gear there seems to be a lull like the vehicle isn't sure what it wants to do. I didn't notice it happening in the winter too much. However, once it got warmer, it seems like it happens nearly every stop light or in low speed zones where it's shifting between 1st and 2nd frequently. I also hear a metal clanging sound on slowdowns often enough to seem like it's an issue worth mentioning. It's been happening since around 8K miles and I am at 45K on the vehicle. I will be having it looked at now since the warranty will be coming up and I don't want this issue to linger.
I have a 2017 Focus that the transmission thats sluggish/slipping. I bought the car new and at 13,000 I already had to replace the transmission for a clicking/stalling/slipping. When I bought it in and explained the reason its like they already knew about the issue and the part was on back order. Had to wait about a month before the part got changed. Now at 15,000 the transmission acting up again. The transmission revs high before switching gears. It sluggish when merging onto the highway. Even when needing that little bit extra power going up a hill, it bogs down and I have to move over in lanes make sure no one behind me gets stuck. I'm already thinking about taking my car back in again before my 30,000 mile warranty hits to try and get it replaced once again. The transmission is unreliable and not effective. I wish I didnt buy this car and went with a Nissan or Toyota. But im stuck with this unreliable car.
The transmission skips, lunges, and does not shift well. It has been in for transmission flash and automatic transmission clutch rebuild at 19,000 miles. Was in for check and trans flash at 29,000 miles week of June 27th 2019. Was in today, July 16 for check because it operated worse after it was looked at three weeks ago. The service manager says clutch has to be rebuilt/replaced again...it has about 30,000 miles on it. This is a safety problem as we cannot trust the vehicle to get out of the way or move properly when gas pedal is put down. Ford knew about this problem for years and still sold defective vehicles
Bought car new took test drive all seemed fine did paper work drove home, first stop on off ramp when light turned green I gave car gas and it just sat there slipping and not shifting. Cannot drive it in summer months gets hot and slips and will not up or down shift right. No good to me if I can only drive it in winter. Car has 11,000 miles on it and it is just sitting in my driveway with dead battery. And mine was a new 2017 witch was suppose to be fixed, now the dealer wants me to trade it in so they can make more money.they are as bad as Ford cos they know there bad and keep selling them too!! there have been more then one episode with this car, its even worse with two adults in car. They should not be on any road.
This 2017 Focus was brought brand new. When it hit about 1500 miles, it began to shutter and shake under the hood upon acceleration. This happened at stop signs or on the highway. This happens with any sort of acceleration. It happens when the car is straight, like accelerating from a "stopped" position at a stop sign when it is my turn to go. It also has happened when I was attempting to pass another vehicle. I called the dealership and was told this was "normal" with these cars. I took it in and was told if they checked it out & it was determined this was a "normal" shutter with these cars, I would have to pay for their time. Not able to afford that, I did not have them check it out. At about 2500 miles, I was passing a vehicle and while in the opposite lane, the car began to shutter & stall. Me & child were nearly hit head on. I took it back to the dealership. This time they kept it to check it out. They kept it a week. It was determined that it was indeed this particular transmission and currently, Ford had no recalls and therefore they could not do anything. The dealership done what they could do as far as what my Ford warranty would pay for. Basically, I'm stuck paying for a car that, at times, is unsafe. I can't pull out on the road or pass a vehicle because I do not know if this will be time the that my car shutters and we are hit head on. According to the dealership, Ford is aware of this transmission issue and has continued to sell them in these cars. This car is dangerous and I am cannot afford to turn it in nor can I afford to replace it.
Purchased new at 9000 miles transmission started to shudder and slip on acceleration, had clutch replaced at 11K miles, at 22K miles it occured again this time jerking into gear while accelerating, replaced clutch again 24K miles at 37K miles had it replaced again for the same reason. 3 clutch replacements in under 40K miles and it is happening again. This is unsafe in heavy traffic and highways transmission failure is dangerous. Transmission jerking, shuddering takes longer to get up to speed and maintain speed in traffic. Also shudders and slips when starting off from a stoplight.
About a couple of months after purchase I started noticing a "shudder" in the transmission. When I would try and take off from a stop it would shudder and feel as though my tires were skipping across the pavement pretty bad. Eventually it was so bad that I would not turn in front of an oncoming car that was even a half mile away out of fear it would stall or simply not move. I ended up taking my car in for repair after seeing numerous complaints of the same issue and deciding it wan't all in my head. I was charged $130 for them to tell me they cleaned the clutch and it was "normal" for this type of car and that I need to drive it harder due to the transmission it has in it. It does not matter how hard I drive my car it is still there. Cleaning of the clutch or whatever they did to it, worked for about a week. Here I am back to having the same issue and it is gradually getting worse. I am seeing all types of complaints for this same issue and feel this is not normal. A brand new car should not feel like crap to drive. Buyer beware!
My car was at a standstill and my car stuttered like the transmission was going to fall out, I talk with kevin at Liberty Ford in Aurora Ohio and he said didn't the salesman tell you about the transmission problems and I said no. My radio has stopped working twice, I didn't have this problem until Liberty Ford did my oil change back in May 2019, also my car is missing while driving. Not happy with being sold a lemon. Consumer no longer has the vehicle.
Upon coming to a stop (such as at a traffic light or stop sign, ) the vehicle makes extremely loud "clunking" noises when shifting down in gear. The sound seems to come directly from the transmission area and is in sync with the changing of gears. Upon acceleration from a stop, the transmission will make grinding sounds and stutter the entire car in a jerking-type motion. When this happens, the entire car feels as if there is a loss of power and makes it hard to accelerate properly in high-speed/high-traffic areas (such as freeway on-ramps or state highways.) I personally believe that this could be a dangerous thing because if I were to pass someone on a dotted line, or even pull out onto a roadway, the car may either stall or stutter so slowly that I wouldn't be able to get up to speed correctly, resulting in a possible collision. Lastly, I would like to mention that on 3 separate occasions now, when I am trying to park the car in a parking space, the transmission would not switch it into reverse at all. My gear shifting stick was in reverse, as well as the gauge-cluster displaying I was in reverse, however, my car acted as if it was in neutral. I would have to place the car back into park or drive again, and then try again for the transmission to successfully switch into reverse. I did contact my local Ford dealership, however they said they were many weeks out and I never could get ahold of anyone there to schedule a time to look at it. I will add on that my car only has 17,000 miles on it as of July 2019. From my research, I have seen many others post complaints or worries in regard to the 2017 Ford Focus and its transmission. I hope that NHTSA will look into this further and can find answers as to why many, many of these cars are having issues with stalling, stuttering, and grinding noises and motions coming from the transmission.
My 2017 Focus developed a problem with the power shift dual clutch transmission slipping at low speeds. It would launch well initially, but then start to shudder and slip until 2nd gear was fully engaged. The problem was more pronounced when turning onto a road while accelerating to merge with traffic, and the shuddering was stronger at the end of a drive than at the beginning. Gradually the symptoms became more severe, until I did not feel safe merging into traffic at normal speeds. At that point I took it in to the dealer. The dealer did a road test and inspection and concluded the clutch needed replacement. The part was on national backorder and took 8 weeks to arrive; in the meantime I had to continue driving my Focus with its defect. The dealer replaced the clutch and half-shaft seals under warranty at no charge. The issue was resolved, and has not reoccurred.
When accelerating from a stop and when turning while in motion on a city street and when accelerating after slowing down on the highway the transmission hesitates and makes the car jerk and shake as if the transmission is slipping and/or going out. This has been an ongoing issues since approximately a week after I purchased the vehicle in July of 2017
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Abilene, TX, USA