Focus has been under many recalls and at Ford for repair multiple times for transmission. Every 6 months issues occur causing me to take back into Ford. Last couple weeks I noticed intermittently, when I take foot off accelorator, rpms continue to increase, and car does not slow down, causing me to pump breaks multiple times to be able to stop. Yesterday during a snow storm, I again took foor off accelerator, this time the car again would still continue to drive without my control, causing me to spin out, not once but three times. I did not get hit by other cars as everyone was going slow, but I did have to call into work as my car was not safe to drive. This is now a safety concern for my Focus, and myself, and my paycheck. Something has to give as Ford, has offered nothing but to keep bringing it back when issues occur. This is not appropriate customer service, and I feel there is a huge safety concern for my vehicle.

- Howell, MI, USA

My issues with this car started the day I drove it off the lot and have not stopped. There was an issue with the fan that made my engine sound like it was chewing rocks whenever the air/heat was on - this has been fixed. I bought the car brand new and from day one it has been grinding, shuddering and not shifting smoothly. I've had issues with the RPM's skyrocketing when I'm slowing down and the RPM's skyrocketing when I'm trying to accelerate but the car isn't moving. I've had the car feel like it's completely lost power while in stop and go traffic then "wake up" and lurch forward...my transmission has been replaced once, my clutch replaced twice. Once I've been told it's a figment of my imagination and once I was told that I need to learn how to drive the car. The clutch I have now is the same one being used in the 2015 Focus's, and though it's "better", it's still off...it's just off so sporadically that I can't bring it in because I don't want to be told it's all in my head again. This car is not safe. It is not a car that I'm comfortable passing on to my child when she starts driving next year and it's not a car that I would drive day to day if I had to drive rush hour traffic. It's too bad, too, because the design of the car is wonderful - it's comfortable, it's got the right set up, but the most important part of the vehicle is dangerous and doesn't operate properly.

- Carver, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. When the accelerator pedal was engaged at approximately 20 mph, the vehicle failed to respond without warning intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the the dealer where the technician stated that the vehicle was operating as designed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 52,000. The VIN was not available.

- Voorhees, NJ, USA

For the fifth time in only eight months, the transmission has malfunctioned in this vehicle, causing it to stop accelerating or stall. It is a safety hazard, as it has happened on the highway twice and has been on the street in motion the remaining three times. Each time we have taken it to the shop at the owner's expense and it has required towing each time because it no longer accelerates. The transmission sensors (there are two) continue to misfire and fail, despite being replaced several times. This car was bought new in 2012 and has had issues since the purchase. We have two children and another is due at the end of January and I do not feel safe driving this car, as it has almost been the result of several accidents when it stalls and shudders.

- Gallipolis, OH, USA

In 2014 I was driving from grand forks, nd to bemidji, mn on the interstate going around 60 when my car shuddered and slowed down to close to 15. I was able to get onto the shoulder after being stranded in the middle of nowhere I was able to call for help. My car was then taken the the Ford dealership in bemidji and I had someone pick me up and was able to bring me back to grand forks. (Ford had refused to give a rental) around 2 weeks after I got a call stating that my transmission was fixed. I got a ride to bemidji, picked it up and headed home. Shortly after I got it back to grand forks I was driving around a residential area in grand forks when I stopped at a 4 way stop waiting for my turn, went to go forward and my car started moving in reverse. I had to slam on my break so I didn't hit the car behind me then I brought it to the Ford dealership in town. They "fixed" the issues and gave it back to me two more times, each time I couldn't make it out of the dealership without it shuddering and refusing to shift. Finally they "fixed" it at the end of the summer in 2014. This summer I was noticing the car was shuddering when I was in residential areas and it was stop and go, I brought it back down the the dealership I bought it from and they assured me it was fine but they would replace the parts to be sure. This weekend I went home to the cities and as I was driving back it broke again. I was in the passing lane going around 70 when my car shuddered, went down to 55, shuddered again and went down to 10. I was forced to swerve quickly into the left shoulder since I had a semi-truck behind me going 70 that almost hit me and had to cross the interstate to an off ramp to be safe. They have "fixed" it four times and it still breaks down. I've almost gotten into 4 accidents, missed days from work and I'm too scared to drive my vehicle at this point.

- Grand Forks, ND, USA

While driving car lost per and almost caused a major accident I was going 65 mph computer said my transmission was not in park.

- Childs, PA, USA

Bought a new 2012 Ford Focus for my daughter so she would be safe. She just moved across the state for college. We have had constant symptoms with the transmission and she has been on the freeway 3 times when the car suddenly just comes to a crawl with the engine shaking and jerking. This makes the car unresponsive. Dealer updated tcm - PCM and replaced clutch and throw out bearing in August 2015. September 2015 she lets me know that while going to school on the freeway the car did the same thing, loss of power no control of throttle and the car is shaking and jerking. Transmission malfunction warning light came on again. Jerking and shuddering of the transmission. I'm afraid my daughter and others are going to be severely injured when this happens. No control on the freeway is very dangerous. I have read that people have changed their clutch and bearing 5 times? it doesn't seem to fix the problem and it appears to be a design flaw. It's like putting a band-aid on an open artery. Problem happens at slow and fast speeds.

- Sammamish, WA, USA

What has happened with my 2012 Ford Focus on August 18, 2015 has now happened 2 additional times since then. On 8/21/2015 my vehicle was dropped off at skinner & damulis to reprogram the transmission control module (field service action: 15B22 transmission control module reprogramming for overt tcm failure warning). On August 27, 2015 while driving down the road at 55 mph again I had the same loss of power, this time had an 18 wheeler behind me that was not slowing down, I pulled over to the shoulder and needed to use reverse and the vehicle would not go into reverse, it just revved like it was in neutral. I turned the vehicle off, called Ford, again, and told them my issue. After restarting the vehicle after the phone call I was able to put in reverse. I returned vehicle to skinner & damulis on 9/3/2015, vehicle was "repaired" on 9/4/2015 and invoice stated my concern: Car having issues with revving and won't go into reverse at times and their correction was they found tcm & PCM software update and performed software update. On 9/25/2015 I again had the same issue with revving while driving (35-40 mph) and was again unable to get the vehicle into reverse. Car had 90,111 miles at the time. Contacted Ford and was given case# cas-7944030 and will be in contact with john from Ford by Monday evening. This no longer works for me. This car needs to go, it is going to kill someone, me, people in another vehicle, something and I am not going to have my family sued because this problem occurs again. I need a vehicle as an outside sales person and no longer feel safe in my 2012 Ford Focus. This car needs to be taken back by Ford and destroyed. It has no trade value and I do not want another family to have this car and get killed because of it. Please do something about this, I know I am not the only one with these issues. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'

- Ilion, NY, USA

The transmission clipped as to a 4th replaced faulty clutch while backing into the garage. The car jerked backwards out of know where and hit the side of the garage while backing in to park. The rear fender, bumper and parking aid sensors are now damaged thank you to a faulty transmission and clutch. I am tired of not feeling safe with my daughter in the car.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

After driving for about a half hour in rush hour traffic in the southern California area, my car slipped from active gears (I believe 2nd gear) and right into neutral. I couldn't accelate and drive with trafffic, while travelling up hill my car decellerated quickly. In trying to get to the shoulder, I narrowly avoided an accident. After finally reaching the shoulder I was able to put the car in park (it started to roll downhill) and then apply the parking brake. 10 seconds later my car was running fine again. That following Monday I brought my car into the dealership to be serviced. This was the second time that this exact issue happened. The first time was the week prior to.

- San Dimas, CA, USA

First incident traveling approximately 45 mph, as automatic transmission shifts gears, the transmission slips out of gear. Shifting to neutral and back into gear does not work. Pulled vehicle onto the shoulder, put into park, turn off the engine. Engine will not start, no crank. Let vehicle sit for a minute, retry starting, vehicle runs normally. Next incident around 2 weeks later. Similar experience, but travelling approx 75 mph on highway. Required to pull over, restart vehicle. Check engine light on at restart and engine running at lower RPM than normal in all gears. Vehicle rests overnight, runs normally with no check engine light. Subsequent incidents increase in frequency, without check engine light. Simply need to pull over, restart vehicle. Most frequently occurs while traveling on the highway at higher speeds. 6th or 7th incident, about a month after the initial incident. Check engine light remains on. Vehicle service scheduled but not yet performed due to backlog of transmission service repairs at Ford service center.

- Wayzata, MN, USA

(automatic hatchback) the car rolls back when in gear, on a steep hill. Shifting gears, it will hesitate on the highway and will jump gears and studder. A few days ago I was trying to back out of my driveway to get to work and when I put it in reverse, the car didn't move whatsoever, so I put it in drive to test and see if it was working, and it got in 1st gear just fine.so I tried to reverse again with the same issue. Then the engine light illuminated, so I left the car and got a ride to work, however that night when I came home, I tested the car out again and same problem, however a message popped up "transmission is not in park (P)" and I had it in reverse, so I put it in drive and the same message popped up. Now I cannot get it to move at all. While in drive, it will rev up, but it will not move! it will start up no problem, and sometimes it will drive, but it will lose power and not move again.

- Sale Creek, TN, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle was engaged into the drive gear and it suddenly accelerated independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000. The VIN was not available.

- Eats Haven, CT, USA

It's like it doesn't want to shift and then that hesitation you feel and it'll kick in, ? driving down the street transmission will stop working. There is never any warning signs. Very dangerous. Does not matter if you are going up an hill or driving flat road and speed has no factor either. Then the car will turn off on its own. There are a lot of complaints with transmission problem with Ford Focus. Every complaint is about the same transmission issue. Ford Focus 2012 is a lemon....... now family can't ride in this car. Not safe! it just sits at home.

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

The contact owned a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving approximately 2 mph and attempting to park, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and drove over the sidewalk and crashed into a wall. No warning indicators were illuminated. It was unknown if any injuries were sustained. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000. The VIN was not available.

- New Bedford, MA, USA

This is the second time in 2 months that I've had problems with this car's transmission. Not only does it stutter when shifting and take time to accelerate, but now the transmission is not working. In April, the car completely stopped accelerating, almost resulting in a crash on the highway. The dealership diagnosed it as a transmission censor and cost was paid out of pocket. This time, the car began jerking and the transmission light flashed. I drove the car home and because of the violent jerking almost wrecked on several occasions. I am taking it to the dealership for repairs today. Considering this car is only 3 years old, it should not be having any of these problems and I consider it unreliable and a hazard to my family and other drivers on the road.

- Covington, KY, USA

While driving (at multiple speeds, on multiple occasions), transmission disengages for absolutely no reason and car must be parked and restarted to move again. The engine does not stall, and you can rev the engine, but transmission will not engage (like being in neutral) to move vehicle. Took Ford dealership multiple times to fix the issue because they needed an error code to work from, even though anecdotal evidence suggests that this is a well know defect of the transmission control module (I.e. computer chip that regulates the transmission), in this vehicle, which was eventually replaced (and now the car runs fine). Submitting this complaint because it caused multiple dangerous road situations where I could not power the vehicle on a freeway with traffic at high speeds. This could cause injury or death that is completely avoidable by the replacement of one computer chip, and Ford is most likely aware of it....updated 07/30/15

- Oakland, CA, USA

I have a 2012 Ford Focus. Only a year after buying this car I began to notice issues with shifting while driving and even complained about transmission issues to my dealer. I was told this was "normal operating condition". before the implementation of the fors customer service program happened, there was a minor recall to reduce instances of rolling back on hills. I took my car in to have that fixed only to have more intense issues surface later. My car has been in the shop for diagnostics more times than I can count with no real results on the transmission. In October of 2014 -2.5 years after purchasing a brand new car. My transmission officially failed as I tried to merge onto the highway. Ford issued a not-quite-recall announcement, and I took my Ford in to get the repair service done with 51,095 miles on the vehicle. I had transmission components (seals and clutch) replaced exactly as was instructed by Ford Motor Company. 10,000 miles later, in April 2015, I began experiencing the beginnings of the same issue again. It would seem that whatever Ford corporate claims is the issue is not the case or that the fix Ford corporate isn't an actual fix. More than this, I've been instructed to do the same replacement process when Ford confirmed that the same issue was happening and the same outcomes were imminent. I ordered the parts on 4/16 because they were on back order and not available. 2 months later, the parts needed to do this are still not available. I'm lucky that my highway merge stall-out didn't end poorly the last time but not knowing whether accelerating is possible or when your transmission will fail is scary. The fact that this is happening at 60,000 miles is inexcusable and unsafe. This "program" allows Ford to avoid fixing the issue and leaves consumers in an unsafe, unreliable and financially draining situation.

- Alexandria, VA, USA

While driving in stop and go traffic, my cars engine light came on, as I was accelerating to move forward in line a warning stating the transmission is overheating pull over safely for 8 minutes. This is the fourth time something has went wrong with the transmission since buying this car in September of 2012. The first time this happened I was driving on the interstate going 70 miles per hour and I didn't have anytime to pull over safely, I had to coast because my car was running but would not go forward. That happened in December of 2014. Then two weeks ago I was again in stop and go traffic and the engine light came on and the car would not move forward, but no warning to pull over safely. I have taken the car to two different Ford service centers and though my car has codes stored they state it is how I drive or that an update was needed. When I ask about the car just stopping with the transmission overheating they say it is a safety feature for the transmission. In most circumstances this would be great but when this happens in a situation where the car can't or won't make it to pull over safely then someone is going to be seriously injured. I am very unhappy about the way my car repair has been going especially since I bought this car new and to tell me it is just the way the car runs or it needs an update and that will take care of it is ridiculous. Someone is going to get killed driving this vehicle and I pray it is not me.

- Bethlehem , PA, USA

I was driving at a steady speed of 40 mph on a flat road. I was gradually slowing down as I was coming towards an intersection and gradually applying the brake. The car was going at about 10 mph and then I attempted to accelerate as I was about to drive on pass the intersection. However, the car suddenly lost power completely and it could not accelerate at all. I was stuck on the road. I repeatedly pressed on the gas pedal to attempt accelerating a few more times and the car just would not move. Each time I press the gas pedal, I heard a loud noise coming from the front of the vehicle but the car didn't move. The engine continued to remain running and both warning indicator and traction light suddenly came on. I had to shut off the engine by turning the key, and attempted to restart the car, both the warning indicator light and the traction light went away and the car seemed to behave like normal as I could move my car again. I then took the car to the Ford dealer to investigate the cause, but the technician said that there were error codes within the ABS module but they could not explain or figure out why the ABS module would suddenly stall the car. All they did was to clear the code in the ABS module, but that does not appear to solve the underlying problem. Plus, there was no assurance that this problem would not happen again. Sudden lost of power can lead to extremely dangerous situation and I earnestly NHTSA could take action to this investigation to improve safety for me and for others driving the same car model.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA