After owning my 2013 Focus SE hatch for 20 months I finally bit the bullet, paid off my lease early, turned it in and walked away. The car is now only worth $10,500 (50% of original value) so that tells you all you need to know what the reputation of this car is doing to its value. What a shame because it truely is a great car - except for its terrible transmission. Took it in 3 times over the last 20 months to 2 different Ford dealerships and each time its deemed "normal" or the transmission is "reprogrammed with the latest update" but the shuttering, noise, hesitation, etc continues. The last straw was once again at in intersection while turning left the car hesitated and I was almost T-boned again (second time in 6 months). Complaining to Ford got me "customer satisfaction program 14M01: An extension of the warranty to 7 years. Are you kidding me! so the only way I know how to vote is with my wallet and so after over 20 years of Ford I bought a 2015 Honda Accord LX. The cvt transmission in the Accord is so smooth it's almost like driving an electric car. I'll take my Honda made in O-H-I-O over the Ford made in Mexico any day! good luck and god bless to all the other Ford Focus owners out there. I hope this never gets to the point of a fatality but unfortunately I'm not optimistic.

- Aurora, OH, USA

There is an obvious transmission problem with the vehicle. When going from 1st to 2nd gear from a stop it shudders and nearly stalls. This is a constant every day issue. I bought the car new, I have brought it to the dealership twice and was told that because there is no official recall Ford is not allowing the dealerships to fix the problem even thought there are aware of the problem across the board with the 2013 model of the Focus and the fiesta. I was basically told that with an official recall the car would have to stall out on the road or be the cause of an accident in order for the issue to be fixed.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA

Transmission went into neutral, pulled over restarted, car drove in lower gear, then went into neutral again while driving on road. Pulled over once again. Restarted, then transmission shifted erratically. Again went into neutral, then into lower gear able to limp car into nearest dealer. This is happening to many cars to be isolated. Ford needs to own the bad design.

- Derry, NH, USA

The transmission shudders during accelerating and has continued to do so fir the past 18 months. The issue has progressively gotten worse.

- Pooler, GA, USA

Vehicle failed to shift into gear during turn in an intersection. Engine revs but transmission didn't shift into gear, then it forcefully engaged into gear. Vehicle repeatedly and forcefully engages gear at low speeds causing to it jerk forward abruptly and without warning. Transmission has continuous chatter during initial acceleration.

- West Islip, NY, USA

Transmission lurches on acceleration shudders and shakes.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

No reverse on automatic transmission, and loud noises when on drive position.

- El Paso, TX, USA

When I first got the car in September 2013, the car would jerk and shake when pulling off from a stop and was also very loud. I took it to be serviced and they told me that was normal. I took it back a few months later because I didn't believe that was normal. They fixed it. But now it's starting to shake again. In June 2014 the engine light started coming O for a few days. I took it to Ford and they claim they fixed the problem. The light came back on in July, they claimed there was nothing wrong with it. The light was back on in September, they claimed yet again, nothing was wrong with it. I took it took a small transmission shop, they read my codes and immediately found a problem, claiming it was a transmission issue. A few days later, the light was back on. Each time the engine light comes on, it would stall and immediately slow down right in the middle of traffic. Each time Ford claimed nothing was wrong with the vehicle, the engine light would be on for two days. Each time I took my vehicle to Ford, they would keep it 2-5 days... I couldn't get a rental car half of the time because they wouldn't actually do their job until the last day and then tell me that nothing's wrong with my car. We all know, your warranty company needs to know the problem before authorizing a rental vehicle. This last time in October, they claim to have fixed it. They claim that a sensor had to be replaced. I will never buy another Ford vehicle. I cannot wait to get rid of this car! my car is still shaky. It makes a kind of loud noise now as well.

- Sumter , SC, USA

Vehicle bucked or shuddered when starting from a complete stop or if coasting and then gas applied. Issue was said to be fixed at this time 4/30/14, which it did run better until it happened again on 9/6/14 when I pointed out the same issue. It was determined that there was a leak coming from the bell housing and it was dripping on the clutch causing the shuddering. On 9/16/14 it was taken to the garage for repair. I am still experiencing some shuddering, especially in reverse when going slow but also at times going forward. Not satisfied that it is completely fixed, but Ford has extended the warranty to 7 years/ 100,000 miles. I will be contacting the garage in the near future for them to look at it again.

- Roaring Brook Township, PA, USA

The transmission in the car started to behave erratically once we had ~2500 miles. It was making horrible grinding noises while shifting gears. It was shifting between gears (up/down/up/down) while ascending hills like it couldn't decide what gear to be in. It seemed to have lost power such that pressing the accelerator was not resulting in an expected increase in speed. It started to roll backwards occasionally when stopped on a hill, immediately after removing my foot from the break. On several occasions it would lurch forward while coming to a stop. Occasionally it is unable to find the appropriate gear, or stays in a gear well after it should have shifted to a higher gear. It often shudders, often to a point that it feels like it is going to stall, when accelerating from a stop. In general, we don't feel safe driving this car between the random lurches/jumps and the random lack of power/response to the throttle.

- Madison, WI, USA

Vehicle shudders, jerks, shakes upon launch. Also when going uphill vehicle jerks (similar to how a standard engine would jerk when taking off in the wrong gear). Also when parking, vehicle "jumps" into park after car after engine is off or foot is taken off brake. Transmission problem"?"

- Hambleton, WV, USA

Purchased Focus in March of 2013 soon after purchase vehicle began to lurch and hesitate while accelerating almost to the point vehicle would stall gets very scary when pulling into traffic with no power to accelerate. I immediately took vehicle back to dealership and they confirmed I needed a clutch that there was a seal leaking which caused the failure! they performed repair and not even a month later the problem occurred so I returned the vehicle again just to find out the other clutch they didn't replace had failed also. They again replaced clutch and I returned home. Within 2 days of repair the vehicle started shuttering and when accelerating the vehicle wouldn't shift into any gear so I was stuck on the interstate going 40 mph in a 70 speed zone so I immediately pull over and call Ford which tells me to bring it in on Monday because there not open on Saturday. I return vehicle to there disbelief that there is an issue because it has all the latest reflashes and clutches in vehicle but low and behold they inform me my transmission control module has failed and needs to be replaced. They replace tcm and send me home. Yesterday probably 2 months after virtually every component has been replaced vehicle starts to shudder horrible probably the worst I've experienced to date so I take it to my dealership and they inform me I need another clutch!!! the vehicle has 48K miles on it I am sick of worrying about whether or not I can accelerate and merge into traffic without the vehicle getting rear ended because the clutches are slipping. Something needs to be done. Thank you

- East Bernstadt, KY, USA

Been having the transmission shudder for the past few mouths and last week I went to put my seatbelt on and it wouldn't lock.driver side seatbelt broke on the female end.

- Ohatchee, AL, USA

When at a complete stop and needing to accelerate into traffic, the vehicle hesitates and then thrusts/jerks into gear.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

From day 1, the transmission has excessively slipped through 1st gear as though the clutch is not being properly engaged (dual clutch transaxle). At one point, the car bucked upon acceleration forcefully as though it stalled. The problem is most severe when ambient temperatures are over 90 degrees (common here in Arizona). The PCM has been reprogrammed twice by the dealership and after the first 1000 miles, the slippage subsided (for the most part). Recently, the car was in for an oil change and when I got the car back, the 1st gear slippage was back very noticeably. I'm not sure if the dealership reprogrammed the PCM during its visit as there is nothing on the paperwork stating such. At times, making left hand turns in traffic is very scary because of the cars hesitation to accelerate. It's obviously a programming issue with how the clutch is being engaged by the computer... as though the clutch is only being half engaged during 1st gear acceleration.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

Was driving with my wife and noticed a loud rattling sound coming from the transmission. I had just had my Focus serviced less than three weeks ago. Seems the longer I drive the worse the transmission gets. Hesitation and slipping followed by loud noises from transmission.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Vehicle shudders between shift points, hesitates as though stalled and suffers from power train rattling. Even though the vehicle power train has been reprogrammed multiple times as well as clutch assembly repair and replacement the issues return.

- Louisville, KY, USA

Total loss of throttle, stalling in traffic, shuddering and erratic shifting with the Ford powershift transmission. Since purchasing car new in 2013, I had problems with the powershift transmission, initial problems was a noise that sounded like the muffler was dragging the road, problems got worse as mileage increased. Returned the car to several dealers for diagnosis, was told that the transmission is operating as designed and no repairs were attempted. Problem got worse and I had experienced total loss of throttle in traffic on several occasions, car stalled and jerked in traffic causing neck to snap back. After repeated attempts to get the problem fixed with two different Ford dealers, a customer satisfaction letter came from Ford detailing issues with powershift transmission. I had to take my car into the dealer again, for diagnosis and was told they got it the transmission to fail the thresholds after 6 attempts, which warranted replacement of the clutch pack and internal seals, supposedly a faulty design that allowed oil from the gearbox to leak into the clutch pack causing slippage, noise and issues. Ford returned the car 5 days later, issues went away for 3 weeks or so, and have started to reappear in the same fashion as when the car was purchased new and is getting worse each day, with over 1000 miles on the car since service. As of today I have experienced shuddering and total loss of throttle in traffic, a few times were dangerous in pulling out in front of oncoming traffic the car could have caused me to get into an accident, also lunges in slow moving traffic. I am afraid to let my wife drive the car due to the behavior of the transmission and see again I will soon have to return to another dealer (#3) for correction.

- Wellington, FL, USA

I have a 2013 Focus with 28600 miles. On a daily basis I when I accelerate it rattles and hesitates. The dealership said it was a smart transmission and is just what it does. On Oct 3rd 2014 I was at a busy intersection and waiting for the light to turn green. The light turned green and the car acted as though it was in neutral and would not drive. After about 15 seconds with everyone honking at me it started to move forward but sounded like it was going back and forth from neutral to drive and I couldn't go over 30. I barely made it to a parking lot. I pulled over and called the dealership but it was to late and the associate said I had to call back at 7 in the morning. My car shuddered all the way home especially when I had to stop and accelerate at a light or stop sign. I called in the morning and they said to bring the car in. The next day it drove fine. They thought it might be bad gas due to the fact the engine light had come on during the malfunction. That just made me mad. The dealership put it on the computer and it came up a bad transmission module? I am out a car for a week. I do not want the car back. What if it happens after 36000 miles. Ford knows about this problem. I bought this car with an expectation of it being safe. It is not. It is a dangerous car. You should be ashamed Ford corporation you are putting peoples lives in danger.

- Buhler, KS, USA

Engine shut off while driving, after displaying transmission not in park. Has happened twice now. Car just had tsb 14-013..PCM/tcm reprogrammed. They also replaced clutch and seals under same tsb.

- Andover, MA, USA