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.
My car had the transmission control module reprogrammed on 06/06/16 and is having the same issue as we speak 8/24/16. The car jerks, doesn't accelerate properly and is doing what it wants, very unsafe as it doesn't want to shift and jolts when it does. It's almost like its stuck in gear. This car has been nothing but problems and I'm irritated that this was repaired 2 months ago and the problem clearly isn't fixed. I'm pregnant and am very dissapointed that Ford can allow a problem like this to continue without proper resolution and safety for its customers.
Purchased 02/26/16 since purchase breaks have locked up 7 times, took to original dealer of purchase 8 times in first two months of purchase by the time they get car they find nothing wrong taken to Ford dealership 3 times they replaced censor states it will fix problem and has not have almost gotten in several accidents because breaks lock up and prevent car from going forward and unable to move.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While shifting from first to second gear, there was a loud clicking noise coming from the front of the vehicle. While stopped at a red light, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle restarted. The failures recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was functioning properly. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was approximately 69,456.
Driving vehicle on expressway and vehicle just cut off. Been complaining to Ford since I purchased vehicle about 2 years now, took it in for repairs several time. Was told that the problem is corrected but it keeps doing the same thing. It will roll back when I stop at a light or stop sign. This is dangerous. This time I was lucky nothing serious happened. Next time I might not be.
- Orlando, FL, USA
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Hesitation, jerking and clutch grinding noises. Went to make a left hand turn and my car hesitated on acceleration causing a near fatal accident from an on coming car. Luckily the oncoming car was able to slow down enough to avoid hitting my passenger side where my daughter was sitting. I have been experiencing hesitation, severe jerking and grinding of the clutch the entire weekend.
My daughter drives this car. Car stutters when driving, idle goes up to 3K, overheat icon came on, idle goes high but car decelerates, car bucks like a Bronco. Ford charged us over $500 to replace a cooling fan, did 3 software upgrades, said they replaced the transmission control module, same issues repeated except for the overheat icon, idle still went high and car stutters, bucks, again the trans stopped propelling the car. Now they say it's the throttle body and want over $800 !! to repair it. The 2011 Ford Fusion has a similar problem and is now covered for free under a customer satisfaction program, all of the windows in the car are hard to raise, you have to manually push them up while holding the up button. The throttle issue is new but why didn't those codes turn up previously when the car exhibited the same symptoms? imo this is a poorly manufactured vehicle. Only 79K miles and sooooo many problems.
The contact owned a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle lost power and the engine failed. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
This is an update to a previous complaint with my car. Previously the car gave out in the hills of a sf. The car said it had a problem with the transmission and would not give any propulsion risking going backward on a hill. The dealer updated the software. They said this was the fix. They said after 1000 miles it should fix itself. Since then the car has been running much more sluggish. It forces itself on accelerating. It jerks much more excessively when I take off the gas. It jerks much more when I brake and I hear the metal grinding and clanking together. It was a really bad software update. 1000 passed and we ran into another problem. I had the car parked in the house. Tried to turn car back on and would not turn on. I heard clicking noise as if the battery was dead. I had dome lights on for a few minutes but nothing excessive. Shouldn't die out like that. Tried several times to turn it on and nothing. Started to call roadside assistance for backup. I then removed the car charger I had plugged in and tried again. The car sputtered on and starting giving me notifications. A service and check engine light. Also the display said that there was a "transmission malfunction" and to service it now. The engine was really forcing itself as I heard it. RPM was high even going slow. Car still sputters on after a few tries. Checked the codes through obd2. Car was throwing P0606. Said that it was ECM/PCM processor problem. I have no idea what is wrong with this car. I feel like its completely falling apart all around. Horrible car with too many issues!!!! this car needs a massive recall on it!!! it is unequivocally unsafe and unfit for the road!
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While driving approximately 65 mph, the check engine and the wrench icon warning lights illuminated. The vehicle went into limp mode, causing a drastic reduction in speed. The vehicle was not able to be driven above 5 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body or the throttle body sensor needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 89,090.
In November of 2014 I received my recall notice on my 2011 Ford Fiesta about a 'shuttering' issue within the motor/transmission. Since this time, my car has gone back every 3 months to have the same issue repaired. This will be transmission number 4 within 1 year. I was already told by the dealership that my car cannot be repaired. Ford cannot fix the issue. The dealership has been great, they have been honest with me from the start. They have advised that they will continue to try and fix the car under warranty until it runs out. The 2012 Fiestas do not have the same motor or transmission thus, the issue is fixed. I called my finance company and asked them if I can return the car since the car cannot be repaired. I was advised I had to go through Ford and have them start the paperwork. I was further advised that the paperwork has to be coded to reflex the car cannot be repaired, therefore it is coded differently to reflect on my credit report as a voluntary repossession due to unrepairable vs just non-pay. I called Ford customer relation team 1-800-392-3673 options 1,4 &5. I spoke with renee who advised I had to go to Ford credit to get the paperwork. Renee advised me my car is too old for them to buy back (my car is 4 years old). She further advised the number as 800-727-7000. She advised they would be able to help me. I called Ford credit and spoke with chad who advised me he could not help me since all I want to do is return my car and have the paperwork coded that it is being returned because the car cannot be repaired. I did not do anything wrong, I pay for my car each month and even for the months when my car is at the garage. I want to return the car and have my credit score not affected by the return.
Took my car in twice for the tcm and it's even worse. Shuddering, electrical failures, loss of engagement while driving, and worst of all Ford is denying me service until I put another 1,500 miles on the car! not sure if this is even legal. Trying to press for a lemon law now.
While in motion, my vehicle had an intermittent electrical issue. The service wrench appears, and displays "engine malfunction, seivce now" the engine then derates and runs very rough. With a manual transmission, it is difficult to shift gerars without stalling. Upon turning off and restarting, the engine resets and runs normally. Occurences are random without any warning. This is a safety issue. In one instance my engine nearly stalled in a busy intersection as a result of this issue. Ford has a tsb for the issue (13-11-15) that involves changing the wiring of the car. I believe this should be elevated to recall status so that repairs are covered. Given that it is a design issue that was built in to the vehicle and requires a change to the wiring to fix, Ford should be responsible for the service. I was billed $442.85 by my dealer to correct this issue.
While driving from denver to longmont co (8/14/15) on hwy 76 the vehicle would not respond when I needed to accelerate then the engine cut off. I was able to restart and put in neutral to navigate traffic to get to side of the road. The car died. It could not be restarted. While waiting for tow truck I was able to start car again and tried to drive, it would not respond to accelerator and then died. Car was towed to longmont repair shop. The mechanic there reached out to Ford and was told they were aware of those issues but part was on 6 month backorder. Car was then picked up by Ford of longmont. They said that it wasn't the tcm and replaced 3 smaller parts. Six days later I was driving on diagonal highway in boulder co and the car refused to accelerate and the died. Car was towed to Ford of longmont again. I was told by the service department that Ford requires that when replacing the tcm they must first repair minor part and return to customer as "fixed" and wait for subsequent part failure before replacing the tcm. Ford of longmont replaced the part on 8/20/15.
About a year ago I was going up lombard street in san francisco with a friend of mine and 2 younger sisters. We were waiting in the line of cars, as there is always an amount trying to go up the famous street. After 10 minutes in traffic my engine line came up with a warning stating the engine was to hot. When the cars moved up mines would not accelerate. I tried pushing on the gas and the car would not move. I wasn't sure what to do since my car was stuck on an incline with a heavy amount of traffic so I told my friend to take the wheel. He soon noticed that although the car didn't want to go up it was able to reverse. So his idea was to go on the opposite side of the street where there were no cars going at the moment in reverse. With my little sisters frighten in the car we decided it was a good idea to get out of the heavy traffic incase I needed to call a toe truck. We reverse the car on the opposite side of the street all the way down and was able to park it corner in reverse. We decided to wait 20 minutes and see if the car would turn on, luckily it did. Soon after I took it to Ford to let them know about the problem they stated it was not the transmission and changed a small part in which they claim it would fix it. 2 months we went to get ice cream and park the car on a hill in san francisco, much smaller incline. However when we came back to the car it did turn on but then when I try stepping on the gas the car wouldn't move, again. I turned off the car and waited 5 minutes and then tried again, thankfully it moved. I am afraid if driving my car in any type of inclines fearing my car is going to stop again. It also has the tendency to shake and jerk a lot. I've always brought it up to Ford attention but they tell me that is how the car was manufactured and that it is normal.
Issues with car weak performance, car shuddering, grinding noises in engine, stalling when brake is pressed while in drive gear, car lunging forward and not wanting to engage, not wanting to go after a complete stop, not engaging in reverse, and engine light coming on randomly. Almost rear ended by a car behind me came to a screeching stop because of the hesitation to engage in first gear. Took the car to a Ford dealer and was told that I would have to pay a diagnosis fee. Because if it did not test at a certain level of performance the dealer would not pay for the testing or repair. I stated I had a customer satisfaction program 12mo1 letter for the clutch assembly and they said it did not matter. I left the dealer very upset and dissatisfied. Drove the car and the symptoms worsened. I got into my car one day and the car would not engage in reverse. Luckily on was parked on an incline and coasted out of the parking spot. Drove the car to the dealer and they did not have the new clutch assembly in stock. I then asked for a rental until the car was repaired because I felt it was very unsafe to drive my daughter in with the problems it was having, I was told no. So I was forced to drive this car with these problems for a week until the Ford dealer received the new clutch assembly. This car is a very dangerous vehicle to have on the road not only for those driving the vehicle but also for those car that drive behind these cars. Ford absolutely knows they have a major issue with the dual clutch system. Regular clutches are controlled hydraulically but these dual clutches are control electronically by the tcm which has a customer satisfaction program 14M01 that Ford has sent out. Between the leaking transmissions seal corrupting the clutch and the tcm failing that controls the clutch that is a double jeopardy situation. This is a very dangerous car to have on the roads.
I was driving my vehicle and the engine light came on as did the wrench icon signifying a need of immediate repair. The car kept driving, but I had to slow down for traffic. When I tried to accelerate again, my car had little power. I pressed the gas pedal further and the car jerked forward, then slowed itself down immediately and bucked on me a few times. I was in traffic and it caused me to almost get rear ended twice as it would abruptly stop. The engine ran, I could drive, but it wouldn't let me go very fast and kept switching gears on me. I took it to the shop, and they said it was a logic issue but could be a further transmission issue and I should drive it until something else happens. They also promised me that the logic was fixed and nothing like that would happen again. This something else happened a week later exactly as it had happened before. Again, I almost got into an accident because of how abruptly the car stopped and sped up. The internet is full of stories just like this one.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. While driving at 50 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The engine warning light illuminated and service engine, transmission soon was displayed across the message board. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who was unable to diagnose or repair the vehicle. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 6,000. MA 10/6 the dealer reprogrammed the transmission. Updated 10/15/15
On several occasions over the last winter I turned left from my driveway. As I attempted to accelerate the vehicle briefly slipped out of gear. The vehicle is controlled by an automatic transmission, but slipped from gear, leaving me in the road, unable to move forward. This has happened on several occasions. My transmission has also failed several times at red lights. I will step on the gas, and there are several seconds of hesitation, where my vehicle will not move. Then it lurches forward. Ford has sent a letter explaining there have been defects with the transmission, but I have called 3 different dealerships, and they refuse to fix the problem unless it occurs during a test drive by their technicians. If the problem does not occur during their test drive they will charge me over $100 for the diagnosis. This defect is known to Ford, yet they refuse to fix it until the problem is consistent enough that I can bring it in, knowing the problem will occur on that particular test drive. I have almost been in an accident because I was unable to get my vehicle out of the road, due to the transmission issue. I believe the problem has also caused other issues with my vehicle. My O2 sensor and catalytic converter wore out prematurely.
While parked with the vehicle running (about 30 minutes in 87 degree weather with the ac on), the transmission felt like it tried to go into drive and rocked forward slightly. I looked at the dash and the check engine light came on. I tested the vehicle and it seemed road worthy enough to try and get home. When driving home and stopped at a stop light, the car's display for park, neutral, reverse, drive, started quickly flashing between drive and park. I could not accelerate the vehicle while this was going on. I placed the vehicle in park, and then met fairly heavy resistance putting it back into drive. After a few seconds of flashing between drive and park, it stopped and I was able to drive again. The same thing happened a few minutes later while I was about to turn into the Ford dealership. This time I tried turning off the vehicle to see if that would remedy the issue. I was unable to start the vehicle for a minute or two after because it was acting as if I was in drive (or the fast park / drive flutter) and trying to start it. It's been two days, yet I haven't heard back from the dealership on what this problem is. I did receive a recall notice that spells out the exact symptoms that I had, yet the mechanic has twice said it is very unlikely that the recall part, the tcm or transmission control module (which is back ordered six weeks), is the actual problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Johnstown, NY, USA