Print this page

CarComplaints.com Notes: For the third year in a row, the 3rd generation Focus is experiencing massive transmission problems.

Most notably owners keep complaining about how there's bad hesitation and jerking when starting from a stop. This isn't the result of an old, worn out part. In fact, the average mileage it's reported to us is just over 15k miles.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
53,345 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2014 Ford Focus accessories - exterior problems

accessories - exterior problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2014 Ford Focus:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2014 Ford Focus Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #29

Feb 062023

Focus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

- Faulty windshield washer pump pushing liquid into the Body Control Module and harness - Damaged electrical communications communications controlled by the Body Control Module including: 1) functionality of the wipers resulting in obscuring the windshield from clear visibility of the road 2) vehicle will not reliably shut off after removing the key. It continues to run. 3) vehicle will not reliably shift into different gears due to the disruption of the electronic transmission signaling. 4) electrical system drains the battery after a few hours of sitting idle. - The problem has been identified by a dealership - A dealer has inspected the problem. - Washer pumps would intermittently function and then randomly would not.

- New Berlin, WI, USA

problem #28

Sep 202018

Focus

  • 68,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated the while the windshield wipers were activated on the high setting, there was a 5 or 6 second delay. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to al packer's white marsh Ford (9801 pulaski hwy, middle river, md 21220, (443)777-5000) and the contact was informed that the vehicle was working as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was contacted however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

- Dundalk, MD, USA

problem #27

Aug 312015

Focus 4-cyl

  • 400,000 miles
The wiper fluid sprayer stopped working. I have no idea why. Then ever since I bought the car it stutters everytime I hit the gas pedal. So each time when taking have it has a shaking sensation. Each time I have taken it to the dealer they say the same thing that the car was made to do that because its an automatic dual transmission.

- Radcliff, KY, USA

problem #26

Jan 272020

Focus

  • 204,988 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

This is in regards to my 2014 Ford Focus. When parking the vehicle the engine will not shut off, even with the key out of the ignition! faulty washer fluid pump leaks into electrical connector for washer pump and washer fluid gets pushed into wiring loom past the firewall and down into the BCM( body control module) connector part C2280D. The washer fluid then runs from the connector onto the male pins of the BCM corroding the pins and shorting out the BCM. This causes the vehicle to exhibit many faults, the worst are the vehicle not starting or as in my case, the vehicle would not shut off and continues to run even with the key out of the ignition. Ford recalled 433,000 vehicles for engines that don't shut off but my vehicle was not captured in the "build date" for the recall. I believe I missed the recall by weeks or a month at most?

- Munith, MI, USA

problem #25

Oct 112019

Focus

  • 21,000 miles
While driving my vehicle the wiper delay stops working or starts up after a delay into another setting. From delay to full wipers. Set the wiper arm into another command and it works fine again.

- Jamestown, ND, USA

problem #24

Jul 092019

Focus

  • 42,000 miles
I bought this car preowned from dealership. Within a year it had problems. Well driving at 30mph near my home the rpms shut up on the car while the speed stuttered as if the car was in neutral. I took it in right away other problems persisted on my way to the dealership such as not being able to shift correctly. They had told me they fixed the problem and all was covered under warranty so I was happy. This is where it got strange. They told me that they need to order another part and that it should be here within a week. As I am not very car savvy so I don't recall this part but it was under warranty so I was at ease. They offered to keep my car until the part arrived, which I thought was fine.. luckily I didn't because 2 1/2 weeks went by before I made it back into the dealership and I asked the person who serviced my car when my part was coming in. He said it definitely should've arrived by now and it's strange that it hasn't. I come back another few weeks later and they claim that there was never any order for me at all. I don't know who originally serviced me I just assumed they'd have my records. Flashforward a year later in the same exact thing is happening but even worse. It won't go in reverse or sport mode. It's been turning on some days and not others and it goes about 5 miles an hour. I try to take it into the Ford dealership and they're trying to say it is no longer under warranty even though my car is under 60,000 miles. They want to charge me $150 to diagnose I google several different places that will do it for free. Got the error code P2837. Ford still wants to charge me to diagnose. When I try to call and talk about how this car doesn't seem safe enough to have even sold and ask about the recalls they act like it's a one in 1 billion thing and keep connecting me to different departments where I just get an answering machine. Not right

- Honolulu, HI, USA

problem #23

Jun 072014

Focus

  • 21,964 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Purchased 2014 Focus on 6/7/14, clutch asy replaced 11/30/15, clutch asy replaced 9/12/16, install new etb 9/14/16 (throttle body), replace battery 12/20/16, given extended warranty w/$100 deductable 11/11/16 - warranty expired 6/7/19, replaced clutch asy 6/9/19 - 7/3/19. Three clutch assemby's in 5 years - very unsafe. Also 6/9/19-7/3/19 replaced side door latch (safety recall) and fuel tank deformation - replaced tube asy - fue. With this many clutch repairs Ford new they had an issue. Even though Ford gave me an extended warranty in 2016 due to the issues with my car, they backdated the warranty to the date the car was purchased. This also seems deceptive. Numerous times I was traveling on instertate roads, when I pulled out to pass a semi, the car would cut out. When accellerating in the city or on instertates, there would be no acceleration when pushing the accelator. Just the opposite would happen. The car would caugh and choke before finally catching to accelorate. I believe both Ford and the dealer should be held accountable with all the safety issues this car has had, and continues to have.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #22

Apr 012015

Focus

  • miles
As stated in other comments wiper work for a bit then stop in the middle of the window. I have had the motor replaced and wipers by a Ford dealer. This issue is a big problem when it rains. The dealer found nothing wrong; but there is a defect in the wipers. Will cause a major accident if not corrected. Seems many others state the same problems.

- Egg Harbor Twp, NJ, USA

problem #21

Mar 312019

Focus

  • 100,000 miles
Often when driving in the rain, and I have the wipers are on "low" or "high", after some time (not particularly consistent, sometimes within a minute, sometimes after several minutes) they will start working intermittently instead. That is, the wiper will be on, and then they will start pausing while at the bottom between wiper cycles, just as though it was set to intermittent, even though the wiper setting hasn't been changed. When this happens, I can switch the wiper setting to another setting and then back, and then it will start working again for a while. That is, if it's on "low" and this starts happening, I can switch the wipers to "intermittent" and back to "low", or to "high" and back to "low", and it will go back to normal "low" operation for a while (until the problem repeats). This has been happening for several years now.

- Charlton, MA, USA

problem #20

Oct 082018

Focus

  • 70,000 miles
Entire electrical sync system has shut down and no longer functions. While the sync was going out, the speakers would crackle and make loud, startling pop sounds. This caused jerky driving as they would pop without any notice, even if the sync system was turned off. Recently, the wind shield wipers turned on and were sporadically increasing/decreasing in speed and would not turn off. The car was on (not the engine) and parked when the wipers turned on. Attempted to turn the car off, reset by opening the doors, and turning the car back on. They paused and then started up again once the car was driving on city streets. The speakers popping and the radio malfunction occurs while driving, while parked, when the car is on, and when it is off. This problem has been getting worse and worse over the past year.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #19

Sep 302017

Focus

  • 49,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus SE. While the vehicle was stationary and while driving various speeds, the windshield wipers failed to operate. While the vehicle was idling at a red light, the windshield wipers spontaneously began moving back and forth. Three months ago, while driving various high speeds on the freeway, both windshield wipers spontaneously activated. Once the contact arrived at his destination, the contact turned off the vehicle and the failure recurred. The contact stated that the failure occurred continuously until the fuse to the windshield wipers was removed. A dealer and the manufacturer were not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 49,000.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

problem #18

Sep 092018

Focus

  • 56,000 miles
After having the wipers replaced during last service today the wipers began to stop mid windshield and passenger side would just drop down all the way and then driver side would drop afterwards and they may stop and start at will. Never had an issue till the wipers were replaced by the dealer during routine oil change service. Driving at highway speeds and its rain gin to have wipers just stop is a safety concern.

- Cumming, GA, USA

problem #17

May 152018

Focus

  • miles
The wiper blades are getting stuck on the window and makes it dangerous to see when it is raining and I am driving. Also when I press the accelerator (gas petal) the car hesitates to accelerate while driving.

- Williamson, WV, USA

problem #16

Aug 282018

Focus

  • 60,888 miles
After having the battery replaced I drove away and the wipers came on all by themselves and only shut off after the car had been turned off for 15min or so. The next day the wipers wont come on at all.

- Madison, TN, USA

problem #15

Jul 102018

Focus

  • 28,850 miles
Today, my windshield wipers came on by themselves when I was in a parked in a parking lot and turned the car on to turn on the ac. I thought I bumped the wiper stalk handle with my knee. But when I tried to turn it off, it wouldn't turn off. I checked my manual to make sure I was doing it correctly. I was. I turned off the engine thinking it would stop the wipers, it didn't. something was wrong, so I knew I had to take it to a Ford dealership. Luckily, the dealership was only 5-10 miles away and the weather was nice. However, I felt ridiculous having to squirt water intermittently on my windshield worrying that the wipers might do damage to my windshield if I can't turn them off. I did take it to the Ford dealership, but they won't be able to look at it until noon tomorrow and they can't turn off the wipers either, but told me it won't damage my windshield. The diagnostic cost will be $125 before any repair is done. I got a ride home from them. When I got home I started to investigate if the wiper problem I just encountered, any other Ford Focus SE 2014 owners had. There has been recalls for this problem on earlier models of Ford Focus, 140,000 2012 models and also 2013 models. None for 2014. Apparently, this is a serious safety issue and I just saw there have been 89 complaints about this and it includes Ford Focus 2012, 2013, and 2014 models, etc. This should be a Ford recall item as the wiper problem has continued on subsequent models. I looked up the estimated cost for repair for parts, replacement, & labor and it's pricey. I love my 2014 Ford Focus SE and never expected to encounter a wipers safety malfunction like this. I could only imagine in a severe rainstorm with thunder, lightening, and hail what a driver and passengers safety issue this could present.

- El Paso, TX, USA

problem #14

May 262018

Focus

  • 55,540 miles
The wipers freeze when in the intermittent mode. In took my Focus into palm bay Ford. They said that there was nothing wrong with the wipers, they were just dirty. They cleaned them with soap and water. The next in the rain the wipers froze up again.

- Palm Bay, FL, USA

problem #13

Feb 232018

Focus

  • 36,000 miles
Late in the month of February 2018 I came out to my car on a rainy Friday and when I turned on my vehicle the windshield wipers began to operate erratically and persistently with no ability to control them as the driver. The problem continued for over a week and the wipers would operate unpredictably and even when the car was fully shut off including the ignition power. This is a serious hazard caused by a known faulty part on this model of car that is susceptible to shorting out.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #12

Mar 172018

Focus

  • 36,000 miles
Windshield wipers stop mid-wipe. Wiper control can be in any operating position (high, low, intermittent). This occurs whether the vehicle is in motion or stationary. It is identical, from what I have read on line and viewed in videos, to previous model years that have been recalled. I did not see a recall for this issue for the 2014 model year on the NHTSA we site, thus the reason for this submission. I purchased this vehicle used in September of 2017. Issue started about February 2018.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #11

Sep 012017

Focus

  • 60,000 miles
Vehicle's windshield wipers come on spontaneously without turning them on at the switch. Wipers will not turn off when this happens. Wipers continue to stay on even when vehicle engine is powered off. The only way to keep this from happening is to remove the wiper fuse, which is not safe in case wipers are needed. Vehicle is at dealership now. Diagnoses: Negative monitoring sensor needs replaced. Again, the dealership is not covering this under the extended warranty, so costs for repair will come out of pocket. Regardless of cost this is a huge safety issue since the wipers running when not needed can cause distractions and damage to the wiper blades when they are running on a non-wet surface.

- Plano, TX, USA

problem #10

Aug 032017

Focus

  • 42,500 miles
When driving at low speeds transmission shimmers and there is hesitaion. Also when staring off from a stop the car is slow at accelerating. Windshield wipers when set to low or high only run for a few minutes then switch to intermittent. I was almost in an accident today telraveling at 50 mph because the windshield wiper issue in a bad storm wipers stopped and went to intermittent. The power train issue started in 2015.

- Brattleboro, VT, USA

Read the next 9 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?