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 stopped on motion with an alarm stop safely now, wheels lost power, steering wheel was able to function so car had to be pushed to the side of the road.
So I was driving home last night in the rain and the speedometer was jumping around a little and the traction control flashed a couple times and I thought 'oh it's just cause the rain' well today the same thing was happening while I was driving. Then I got a warning light saying 'low brake fluid' and the brakes locked up while I was doing 30mph. It went away and drove fine but it will pop up every 4 miles or so saying low brake fluid
This car, I have been trying to get help for a long time and it seem like not one has heard me, not even the dealer, and now hear it is my car is having trouble like the trunk wont open and we tide a stream on it and the lights stay on over a hour. And car jerk when takeing off in speed when change gears.
The car automatically accelerated while parking perpendicular in a parking structure; driver had slowed/braked, to 5 miles or less, to park and taken her foot off the gas and pressed the brake. Abruptly the car accelerated and the car crashed into the wall in front with the driver air bags activated and front bumper crushed.
Stop safely now warning on dash. Car will not move. Had to be towed to dealer again. This is the fourth time to occur in 7 weeks. Been at the dealer most of the time since buying it on 12/16/2016. Ford needs to send an engineer to rectify the issue before someone is injured or killed due to this safety defect.
- Fate, TX, USA
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus electric. While driving approximately 20 mph, the engine stalled. After restarting, the vehicle resumed normal operation. The failure recurred three times. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 13V523000 (power train). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,900.
While making a left turn and accelerating out of the turn the engine, power train and breaking system stopped working. The vehicle stopped dead in the street. The dash displayed "stop safely now" and a yellow warning light symbol of a wrench appeared. I took several attempts to restart using various methods the vehicle finally reset and started.
2013 Focus electric. Was just heading to freeway when a warning displayed "stop safely now" a few seconds later the vechile power to motor stopped and vehicle was stalled in traffic with wife and grandchildren in car. Vehicle was on a full charge and 1 mile from startup.
While driving the vehicle, a loud chime sounded, with a red triangle saying, "stop safely now" as well as a yellow "see manual" indication. This was very dangerous because it was sudden and while driving. The car lost all power and I had to attempt to pull of the street so I wouldn't cause an accident. I shifted to park and turned the car off and back on and it resolved the issue. However, 2 days later the same problem occurred but this time I was unable to restart the vehicle and needed to tow the car to the dealership.
In most vehicles the cruise control will disconnect when shifting gears or braking. The 2013 Ford Focus electric does not disengage the cruise control when vehicle is placed in L to utilize engine braking. It continues to maintain speed requiring immediate application of brakes to slow vehicle. Cruise control should turn off when shifted to L.
Focus electric bev (not hybrid) - while driving at any speed, warning indication lights up on dash stating "stop safely now". the car has no power to accelerate anymore. The only control the driver has is to brake or pull over. On freeways or other highway with traffic when this occurs this is extremely dangerous as another vehicle can plow into the back of the car because you cannot accelerate and you may not be able to pull over if there is a curb or in a lane other than the right. This is very dangerous especially at night. Understand that the car has no power and you cannot use the accelerator at all unexpectedly. The only thing you can do is brake and/or steer based on the momentum of the car at the time of the warning. You cannot clear the issue until you come to a complete stop. Turn the car off by pressing the ignition button, waiting a minute or two, then starting the car back. At that time, it may or may not work. Sometimes when this procedure does work, you may only get a mile or two down the road before it does it again. This first occurred on April 17/18 and taken to a dealer to repair on a current recall notice of which symptoms include the car "losing power" among other related reasons. At the time, this event did occur and I explained that to the dealer and they informed me it would be taken care of with the recall repair. After receiving the car back, it happened again on April 29. It was taken to a different dealer this time. They attempted to fix and gave me the car back the next day on April 30th. Upon leaving the dealer on the 30th, the problem occurred again on the away from the dealer less than 3 miles away. I returned the vehicle to the dealer and it happened 3 additional times in the 3 miles back to the dealer. The dealer continues to attempt repair and has not returned the car to me. I have Ford and BBB case numbers..
Third time this has happened in last month. The first two times, I was close to home. The stop safely warning came on and car quit working. I was able to wait and car eventually started after I exited and reset. The last time, today, I was stopped at a light and as I accelerated on the green, my car stalled as the stop safely warning came on. I had no advance notice. I was able to glide over out of traffic into a side street but not able to get out of traffic turning. I tried to get to the warning but could not get to it. I exited car to try to move it myself with no luck. Once I got back in, I tried for about 5 minutes and it finally started back up. I drove straight home and made appt to take car to Ford. I am pretty sure all my recalls have been applied over the last few months.
Car has problems with the uncoupling the engine from the power train rolled down hill not engaged scary at Ford couldn't fix so they called specialist who took it apart and put it back together test drive 20 miles would not turn off! still at shop expert to return and try again taking apart car and then doing test drive again. Children and lil people to Transport!
The car wouldn't start (electric car). A instrument panel message said see owners manual along with red exclamation mark showed. Had to be towed to dealer. Was diagnosed at first with a bad high voltage battery. They ordered one ($25,000 battery). One week into waiting, Ford (factory) said its not the battery and ordered a ground cable from the high voltage to the electric drive motor. It took 27 business days to get the vehicle repaired. Another visit, in Sept. 2012 the cars interior heater failed. They took 7 business day to order and replace the electric coolant heater pump.
While driving I lost the ability to accelerate the vehicle as I approached an incline in the road and a "stop safely now" and "see manual" warning light appeared on the dash. I activated the hazard lights and pulled over into the bike lane. I shut off the car, opened the door and was able to restart the car after several failed attempts. Approximately 5 minutes later, I successfully restarted the car and drove back home, only the car lost the ability to accelerate again as I came through a major intersection. This time the warning signs were not activated until I had coasted to a stop. Then the same "stop safely now" and "see manual" warning light appeared on the dash. I placed the car in park and walked a mile home. The powertrain control module reprogram was completed by Ford in September of 2013. This is the 7th occurrence since the PCM has been reprogrammed by Ford. My safety has been repeatedly compromised and I no longer have confidence in this car nor Ford as they are unable to fix the problem and are unwilling to take responsibility. Please refer to my previous complaint filed prior to the PCM reprogramming and official recall notice.
Multiple times, our Ford Focus electric has abruptly lost power and flashed the message, "stop safely now." It's has occurred during rush hour commute on a 5-lane freeway, causing serious safety risks as we have had to make an emergency stop on the freeway. Sometimes the car will restart after multiple attempts and several times we have had it towed back to the dealer. Most recently the car was in service for 8 days at frontier Ford in stevens creek, then stalled on the freeway on the way home from the dealer -unacceptable! we bought this car for commuting but the recurring sudden stops and safety messages have totally undermined our confidence in this car. We feel unsafe, as this issues clearly puts us and our children at greater risk of serious injury or death while in this vehicle. Unfortunately, the Focus has been in the shop for repair over 30 days during the first year of purchase. We do not want to own this lemon anymore. Ford clearly doesn't know how to fix the issue - it's time for a recall on this unsafe vehicle. Why hasn't the nstb taken any action?
I was driving on high at 65mph when a safety alarm went off in the car and message read "stop safely now". which I did. Car had died by then. I was not able to turn the switch off but engine was not running. I had to get it towed to Ford dealer who failed to identify any issues. It worked well for 2 to 3 weeks, until 2 days ago when same thing happened. It has since happened 3 times, latest being today. I have contacted Ford about this. I believe it is very dangerous to lose power like that midstream. People behind me can crash into me since I have no propulsion. I have looked through internet and there are other people having same complaint with same vehicle and somebody needs to look into it. I have about 8000K on the car. I purchased about 6 months ago.
The engine abruptly shuts down as I was driving on surface street. I was able to restart the car after numerous attempts to restart. I received the same message other Ford Focus electric vehicle received, "stop safely now".
Driving our electric Ford Focus to work when left-most display screen flashes, "stop safely now!" message at the same moment that all drive power is completely cut off. Coasted to a stop, turned the car off, waited a minute or so, and turned car back on. Fortunately this occurred at 5:30 am on a two lane road, shortly after leaving my home, and before entering the interstate.
This issue has actually happened about 4 times in the last 6 months. For example, while driving home a few weeks ago, my 2013 Ford Focus electric suddenly lost all power while driving at approximately 45 mph. The dashboard error read "stop safely now". luckily I was not on the highway or in an area where I was unable to pull aside off the road quickly. It took me about 15 minutes to get the car going again. I figured out that I had to actually exit the vehicle, close the door and then open and re-enter again to get the car to restart. It sounds weird that I would have to go through that process, but I think the keyless push start had something to do with it. This has been the process to get it finally started each time after I figured it out.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Livermore, CA, USA