CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2015 Ford Focus & its "Powershift" transmission has a defect trend where the car shudders when accelerating, especially when starting uphill.
Most owners have reported their Ford Focus remains driveable while the vehicle is still at low mileage, but the shuddering is annoying & unpleasant & may reduce the resale value of the vehicle.
However, owners of higher-mileage vehicles from earlier 3rd generation Focus model years report transmission failure & a host of other major & expensive transmission-related problems. Potential buyers beware.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
11 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
39,793 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.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while the vehicle was stopped, the contact attempted to accelerate, and the vehicle jerked before lunging forward. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the transmission needed the be replaced. The contact notified that the Extended Warranty related to the failure had expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 37,050.
The transmission bucks, jerks, jumps forward when breaking, and stalls out. The car stalled out and left my 16yr old with no way to steer or brake which could have been extremely dangerous in certain situations. It has not been inspected but I have done extensive research on this auto and it seems like this type of issue comes pretty standard on the 2015 Ford Focus. When the auto stalled out all the dash lights were lit up. My child had just left the driveway when the car stalled and had no use of the steering or brakes. This poses a huge risk.
Vehicle hesitates and jerks a lot during stop & go. Feels very unsafe when yielding to incoming traffic to make left turn and vehicle hesitates and jerks as I-??m beginning to accelerate during turn. Transmission dash light recently appeared stating -??Transmissions Hot.-??
Check engine light came on & my car just stopped, I couldn-??t proceed to drive while gear was in drive and I couldn-??t reverse when gear put in reverse, when I was driving the gears wasn-??t changing correctly it was as if I was pressing on the gas pedal and the hand would max to 5. I went to auto zone it was said it was the power train code had came up. There is a recall on my car and it-??s not listed. Ford needs to fix this I havnt had my car for two weeks.
My 2015 Ford focus is dangerous to drive the transmission slips badly and looses power while in traffic most times it won't go into 2nd gear it has almost caused 3 accidents already I'm scared something bad will happen it's my only transportation to work
- Anchorage, AK, USA
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The power train control module & transmission control module has failed since I bought the Focus 2016 at 660 m on it. I-??ve had this serviced 8 times @ Ford. Check engine light is on. Code P060A Was shown @ Ford. Mileage now is 72000. TCM & PCM were recall several times. Ford is charging me to fix it. Please tell me how this is NOT covered 10 yr. 150 k mile warranty OR by the 8th time being -??serviced-?? & UNRESOLVED?
Power train in the car. Yes the car is available for inspection if requested. 1) The car shakes, jerks, and shudders. It will randomly cut off/stall. First and Second gear upon take off makes a winding up noise then gives a big/quick jerk. When I drive down the highway there have been numerous times these issues have occurred while driving my car on the interstate at interstate speed. 2) The car was purchased from Autonation in Sanford, FL in 2017 as a used vehicle. After purchasing the car the the above mentioned issues began to occur. Upon returning back to Autonation several times with concerns regarding the issues above there was an attempt each time to correct the issue by replacing parts. Invoice is available upone request, such as sensors, and the transmission clutch. Your prompt attention to this matter and issuing a recall for the 2015 Ford Focus with the above mentioned VIN number, is necessary and should not be delayed due to safety concerns. Respectfully, Cathy Herrera (407) 715-3288
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while her boyfriend was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently shifted gear and the RPM's quickly increased. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle seemed to return to normal functionality. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V169000 (Power Train) but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 200,000.
I have a customer satisfaction program 19N08 for Transmission clutch shudder -transmission clutch warranty extension, I have 96000 miles and was told I have to pay for a new clutch
When driving in stop and go traffic 0=5 mph for about 30 mins the car began to act as if was slipping and revenge up without moving and engine light came on and would sometimes slam into gear. I placed vehicle in sport mode and it idled irratically to the point I felt it was going to shut down. Upon arrival home I realized that now reverse had went out when attempting to put car in driveway. I will be taking it into Ford today for the 1 recall on the fuel canister software but I feel that it is not related and hope they will make some discovery and fix it accordingly.
As I was driving and slowing down to come to a stop my car completely quit moving. I was informed my TCM has gone out. I've had issues previous with my Focus not wanting to reverse
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into reverse(R), the transmission failed to respond as needed. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shuddering. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000.
I am having issues with the company Ford in regards to my vehicle. It has been at Dowling Ford, in Cheshire, Connecticut for 5 weeks. I believe I am one of the unlucky 2015 Ford Focus owners who was sold a one of the cars that has a faulty transmission. After doing some research, I discovered that Ford has a lawsuit against them for unloading Ford Focus' with faulty transmissions. I will attach the link to the article stating this information. Ford is trying to charge me $5900 to fix the car that wasn't even brought in for the reasons that they are trying to charge me with. I bought the car for just under 7,000. It is only a 2015 and has 106,000 miles on it and should not be running into these problems. I have contacted the corporate office of Ford multiple times and they refuse to offer any help what so ever. I have only had the car for two years. My car was only brought in because the wipers weren't working properly and it was overheating while only in idle. It was diagnosed that the transmission module needed to be replaced which was covered under the warranty. Well, the bad news began there when I had to wait 2 weeks for that part to come in because it was "back ordered". Once that was replaced, they tried to tell me now that something else needs to be replaced which was the clutches on the transmission and it would cost $3200. Then once they fixed that which took 4 more days, they now are saying something else is wrong which is the transmission case and would be an additional $2700. My car was not brought in for any of these issues and now all of a sudden, my car needs them all replaced. Ford, hasn't even offered me a loaner during the last 5 weeks. I don't feel safe in this vehicle, and I know that I am driving an unsafe vehicle that shouldn't have even been sold to anyone.
The transmission on the 2015 Ford focus has given us issue from day one. We have replaced the transmission on two occasions the latest being done in 2021. The car has very low mileage and is now requiring a third transmission. The car has always been service and repaired by a Ford dealer - when we took the car in for a scheduled oil change, we informed them once again of the transmission slipping. They told us that we were approximately four weeks beyond the warranty and that the car is requiring a third transmission. This is an unfortunate situation as this car has been diligently cared for. The car has 49,000 miles on it and we have never replace a transmission in a car before let alone for a third time. I am looking for some sort of resolution with Ford motor company to replace the transmission at their cost.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the clutch was slipping. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V169000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was contacted and provided a case, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.
We are having the same transmission slipping issues as the 3 previous years focus and fusion. Ford hasn't recalled the 2015 Focus. Every other gear goes out. The transmission has problems shifting up or down to the next gear. This is dangerous on the expressway and even highway. They obviously haven't fixed the root cause. I've spoken several mechanics and been on several forums where plenty others are having the same issues. They need to fix root cause and include the 2015 Focus in the recall.
The contact's son owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle began decelerating independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact parked in a parking lot and called her husband. The contact's husband drove the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with needing the clutch and the transmission control module (TCM) to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact towed the vehicle to her residence and then to the local dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed with needing the clutch and the transmission control module (TCM) to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Corpus Christi, TX, USA